Accenture Ltd. is the largest consulting firm in the world, incorporated in Bermuda with its main U.S. office in Chicago, Illinois. It has made the outsourcing of jobs into big business.
The company was established as the consulting wing of Arthur Andersen, Andersen Consulting, splitting off in 2000, when it changed its name to Accenture.
KPMG is one of the Big Four accounting firms. KPMG LLP, is the U.S. limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative.
Through its member firms, KPMG provides audit, tax, and other advisory services.
Deloitte & Touche is one of the Big Four accounting firms. It is made up of a series of national partnerships owned by the partners in each country. The local firms are affiliated through a global network that administers the sharing of a common brand name, standards, and procedures. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss verein (German for "union") or membership organization, oversees Deloitte's international organization. Deloitte Touche Tomatsu does not perform any audits or other services for outside clients.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is the largest of the Big Four accounting firms, with 770 offices in 150 countries. The firm provides audit and assurance, tax advisory, and consulting services to large corporations and other clients.
According to its website the firm is "structured as a network of member firms, connected through membership in PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited." PwC was formed by the merger of Price Waterhouse with Coopers & Lybrand in 1998.
Ernst & Young is one of the Big Four global accounting firms, providing assurance (audit), tax planning and strategy, transaction, and advisory consulting services.
E&Y's network of professional service partnerships operate in some 140 countries. Each firm is a separate legal entity and directly or indirectly a member of either Ernst & Young Global Limited (“EYG” -- the British-based principal governance entity of the global Ernst & Young organization) or Ernst & Young International, Ltd (“EYI” -- a Cayman Islands company.)
