With more than 31,000 employees in more than 110 offices across
the U.S., KPMG LLP has rightfully earned its place among
accounting's Big 4. KPMG, the fourth largest accounting firm in the
U.S. by revenues, is the independent U.S. member firm of a Swiss
entity KPMG International Cooperative, whose member firms can be
found in 154 countries and have 197,000 professionals, including
more than 9,000 partners. KPMG's service lines are divided into
audit, tax, and advisory, with industry-specific focus in
each.
In the U.S., KPMG works for clients in 16 industry sectors:
banking and capital markets; building, construction and real
estate; insurance; investment management; alternative investments;
retail; food, drink and consumer goods; industrial manufacturing;
energy, natural resources and chemicals; healthcare and
pharmaceuticals; government and public sector; technology; media
and telecommunications; high growth mid market and venture capital;
private equity; high growth emerging markets; and Japanese
Practice, which works closely with KPMG member firms in Japan to
serve Japanese companies doing business in the U.S.
In addition to being one of the top firms by revenue, KPMG LLP
was inducted into Training magazine's hall of
fame in 2011, singled out for placing among the top 10
in Training's annual top 125 companies rankings for
four consecutive years. And in 2018, KPMG ranked No. 29 on
Fortune's annual 100 Best Companies to Work For list,
after ranking No. 12 the previous year. KPMG also regularly appears
on Working Mother's 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers
list.
The history of KPMG dates back to 1870, when British accountant
William Barclay Peat hung his shingle in London. In 1911, Peat
reached across the Atlantic, joining forces with New York's
Marwick, Mitchell and Company to form Marwick, Mitchell, Peat &
Co. After separating for a short while, the two firms
re-established their partnership in 1925 and became Peat, Marwick,
Mitchell. This was shortened to Peat Marwick International in 1978.
Meanwhile, in 1979, a group of international accounting firms in
Western Europe and the U.S. made a merger of their own, forming
Klynveld Main Goerdeler (KMG). KPMG Peat Marwick was born in 1987
when KMG and Peat Marwick merged, the accounting industry's first
(but not last) mega-merger; its name was further shortened to KPMG
in 1995.