According to research, the four largest worldwide audit firms earned a total of N6.13 billion in audit fees from 11 Nigerian banks in 2020.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), KPMG, and Ernst & Young are the main four accounting firms.
The money was earned as the total audit fees of 11 Nigerian banks, including Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC, First Bank, UBA, Union Bank, Fidelity, Sterling, First City Monument Bank, and Ecobank, according to data from bank corporate filings.
The four firms were in charge of the majority of bank audits. Grant Thorton, a fifth firm, audited at least one bank.
Because the amounts in this study only represent those highlighted in the banks' financial filings, the auditors most certainly made more money auditing banks. Services held by unquoted institutions, as well as those not published, are not covered.
Auditors are financial professionals that check and evaluate the records of corporate organizations to verify accuracy, honesty, and compliance. Internal or external audits are performed by financial auditors.
Audits might be done quarterly, biannually, or annually, and auditors must be replaced at least once every ten years to maintain their independence.
A study of the data shows that PwC earned the most money, N2.98 billion, from auditing three of Nigeria's main five banks, known as FUGAZ (FBNH, UBA, GTB, Access Bank and Zenith Bank).
Zenith Bank paid PwC N786 million, Guaranty Trust Bank N1.179 billion, and Access Bank N1.017 billion.
KPMG came in second, with N1.33 billion in revenue from two commercial banks, Stanbic IBTC and First Bank. First Bank contributed N950 million, while Stanbic IBTC contributed N376 million.
Another of the major four, Ernst and Young (E&Y), earned N1.15 billion for auditing three of the 11 banks on the list, namely Fidelity, UBA, and Union Bank.
Fidelity paid N200 million, UBA N773 million, and Union Bank N179 million to the firm.
In Deloitte's example, two commercial banks contributed N674 million: Sterling Bank and First City Monument Bank. Deloitte was paid N250 million by Sterling Bank for its audit services, while First City Monument Bank paid Deloitte N424 million.
EcoBank did not disclose the amount it paid Deloitte and Grant Thornton, its auditors.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a professional services firm (PwC).
PwC has been operating in Nigeria since 1953, through its predecessor firms Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse. PwC is a global network of firms with over 276,000 employees in 157 countries.
PwC offices around the world generated $43 billion in gross revenue as of June 2020, according to the firm's headquarters in London, United Kingdom.
The firm is one of the "Big Four," as it is the world's second-largest professional services firm.
Assurance, advice, tax advisory, tax controversy, strategic consulting, data & analytics, management consulting, financial advisory, actuarial, and legal services are among the services it provides.
With close to 400 partners and over 9,000 individuals in 34 countries, PwC is Africa's largest provider of professional services. PwC has over 1000 employees and 31 resident partners in Nigeria, with offices in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.
It is dedicated to becoming a force for honesty, common sense, and sound solutions to the difficulties that businesses and capital markets face.
PwC offers its employees the option of earning ICAN or ACCA certifications.
PwC was the biggest auditor in terms of the cash received among the 11 listed banks on the Nigerian stock exchange.
Deloitte & Touche is a consulting firm that specializes in financial services.
Deloitte is the world's largest professional services network in terms of revenue and personnel count. It is expected to earn $47.6 billion in sales by 2020.
Deloitte, based in London, UK, employs around 330,000 people in 150 countries to provide audit, consulting, financial advising, risk advisory, tax, and legal services.
The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) member firm in Nigeria was founded in 1952 by Akintola Williams, considered as the first African to qualify as a chartered accountant.
KPMG
KPMG, based in the Netherlands, is a global network of organizations with over 219,000 employees and partners providing financial audit, tax, and advisory services.
After ranking 36th in 2019 and 29th in 2018, KPMG was ranked 32nd on Fortune's list of the 100 best businesses to work for in 2020.
The UK regulator determined in July that KPMG's bank audits needed to be improved for the third year in a row.
According to Reuters, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) claimed that reviews of 103 audits by KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, EY, Mazars, Grant Thornton, and BDO from 2019 and 2020 revealed that about a third of the required improvement, which is only modestly better than the previous yearly survey.
In April 2020, KPMG was appointed as FBN Holdings' external auditors, replacing PWC, which had served as the bank's and bank's holdings' auditors for eight and ten years, respectively.
Ernst & Young is a professional services firm.
E&Y is an international professional services organization headquartered in London, UK, that primarily provides assurance, tax, consulting, and advising services to its clients.
It was founded 32 years ago, following the merging of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co., and now employs 280,00 people across 150 countries.
E&Y was ranked third among the top 100 accounting firms in the United States by Accounting Today in 2020. In its most recent report, the company made $15 billion.
It provides professional services in Nigeria through teams made up of over 410 professionals with a variety of specialized talents chosen from a pool of 25 partners.
Grant Thornton is a professional services firm that specializes in
Grant Thornton ranks as the world's seventh-largest professional services network of independent accounting and consulting member companies in terms of revenue. It offers assurance, tax, and advisory services to privately held corporations, public interest entities, and government bodies.
The company, situated in the United Kingdom, has a revenue of over $1.95 billion and employs over 56,000 people in over 140 countries.
Grant Thornton and its member firms are legal entities in their own right. Its services are provided by member companies.
This item first appeared in the Premium Times' 2020 Annual Banking Report, which was published in August. More in-depth studies of the sector's performance are available.
