PwC

"pwc" redirects here. For other uses, see PWC (disambiguation).

PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited
PwC
Company typeMembers have different legal structures; both UK and US firms are limited liability partnerships
IndustryProfessional services
Founded1998
(PricewaterhouseCoopers)
1849
(Price Waterhouse)
1854
(Coopers & Lybrand)[1]
FoundersSamuel Lowell Price
Edwin Waterhouse
William Cooper
HeadquartersLondon, England
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Mohamed Kande (Chairman)[2]
ServicesAssurance
Risk assurance
Risk advisory
Tax advisory
Legal services
Data and analytics
Management consulting
Digital Transformation
Financial advisory
Forensic accounting
RevenueIncrease US$55.4 billion (2024)[3]
Number of employees
370,000 (2024)[3]
Websitewww.pwc.com

PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited[4] is a multinational professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world[5] and is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Deloitte, EY, and KPMG.[6]

PwC firms are in 149 countries, with 370,000 people.[3] As of 2019, 26% of the workforce was based in the Americas, 26% in Asia, 32% in Western Europe, and 5% in Middle East and Africa.[7] The company's global revenues were US$50.3 billion in FY 2022, of which $18.0 billion was generated by its Assurance practice, $11.6 billion by its Tax and Legal practice and $20.7 billion by its Advisory practice.[8] The firm in its recent actual form was created in 1998 by a merger between two accounting firms: Coopers & Lybrand, and Price Waterhouse.[1] Both firms had histories dating back to the 19th century. The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of a rebranding effort.[9]

The firm has been embroiled in a number of corruption controversies and crime scandals. The firm has on multiple occasions been implicated in tax evasion and tax avoidance practices. The firm has frequently been fined by regulators for performing audits that fail to meet basic auditing standards. Amid Russia's war in Ukraine, PwC assisted Russian oligarchs to hide their wealth and contributed to bypassing global sanctions placed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.[10][11]

  1. ^ a b "Chronology". PricewaterhouseCoopers. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Our leadership team". PricewaterhouseCoopers. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "PwC Global Annual Review 2024". pwc.com. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  4. ^ PricewaterhouseCoopers. "How we are structured". PwC. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  5. ^ Dakers, Marion (4 October 2016). "Deloitte overtakes PwC as world's biggest accountant". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Big 4 Accounting Firms – Who They Are, Facts and Information". accountingverse.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Revenues". PwC. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Revenues". PricewaterhouseCoopers. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  9. ^ Sinclair, Lara (20 September 2010). "Logo puts case first and last". The Australian. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  10. ^ Chenoweth, Neil (15 November 2023). "Emails show PwC helped Russians dodge sanctions". AFR.
  11. ^ Weinberg, Neil (14 November 2023). "Cyprus ignores Russian atrocities, Western sanctions to shield vast wealth of Putin allies". ICIJ. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.