EY achieves highest FY growth in 20 years

EY has welcomed its highest growth in nearly two decades, reporting combined global revenues of $45.4bn (£40.1bn) for the year ending June 2022, an increase of 13.7% in US dollars.

The Big Four firm attributed its latest results to the EY NextWave strategy to deliver “long-term value for EY people, clients and society”.

All EY service lines recorded strong revenue growth in FY22. Consulting experienced “exceptional” growth of 24.5%, while Strategy and Transactions also grew by a “significant” 22.8%. Meanwhile, assurance grew by 6%  while revenues from the Tax service line rose by 7.9%, making EY the largest tax services organisation in terms of market share and the number one brand among the Big Four.

Over the financial year,  EY invested $3.2bn (£2.8bn) in audit quality, innovation, technology and people, part of a $10bn (£8.8bn) three-year commitment announced in FY21. This included $1bn (£882m) in a new assurance technology platform, part of a sustained focus on “providing high-quality audits and responding rapidly to changing expectations from regulators, governments, standard setters, audit committees and boards”.

The latest results come as EY is set to go forward with a split of its audit and consulting units in what has been deemed as the “biggest shake-up of a Big Four accounting giant in decades”.

EY has recommended that the organisation evolves into two distinct, multidisciplinary organisations. 

One would be a global network of multidisciplinary member firms committed to assurance, tax and advisory services. The other would be a new global corporate entity comprising Consulting, Strategy and Transactions (SaT), the majority of Tax, and managed services.  

According to the firm, this division would allow it to better serve EY employees, clients and broader stakeholders in a “once in a generation opportunity to redefine the future of professional services”, creating “better and more dynamic” career opportunities.

It would also mean increased access to capital to reinvest in people and client services and solutions, according to the firm, while provisioning more choice for clients for both audit and transformation services.

EY will now engage in more detail with EY member firm partners, whose votes will determine whether it moves forward with the proposal. In the UK, the firm will require 75% of its partners to vote in favour of the plan if it is to be ratified.

Carmine Di Sibio, EY Global Chairman and CEO, said: “EY has achieved significant growth and continues to operate from a place of strength. 

“I am proud that our growth has been grounded in delivering stakeholder value, executed under the EY NextWave strategy. We have tremendous momentum right now, and growth means opportunity – for EY people, clients and broader stakeholders.”