Samil Accounting Corporation, Industry's First to Join the '1 Trillion Won Club'... Big 4 Combined Revenue Approaches 3 Trillion Won

Sam-il, First to Surpass 1 Trillion Won in Sales Solely from Accounting Firm
Growth in Scale Despite 'Peak Out' Concerns... Profitability Mixed
Consulting Growth Clearly Influences Big 4's 'Size'

Sam-il Accounting Corporation and Han-young Accounting Corporation, both fiscal year-end corporations in June, disclosed their '2023 fiscal year' results, revealing the 'report cards' of the Big 4 accounting firms. Sam-il became the first in the industry to join the '1 trillion won club' in revenue. While overall industry growth continued, profitability showed mixed results.

According to the electronic disclosure system on the 30th, Sam-il and Han-young disclosed their 2023 fiscal year results (July 2023 to June 2024). Sam-il recorded revenue of 1.0231 trillion won, marking the highest revenue ever recorded. This is the first time an accounting firm alone, excluding consulting, has surpassed 1 trillion won in revenue. Net income was 25.2 billion won. Han-young posted revenue of 480.4 billion won and net income of 2.6 billion won. With this, the Big 4's results disclosures for this year were completed, including Samjung Accounting Corporation (April fiscal year-end, revenue 852.5 billion won, net income 7.7 billion won) and Anjin Accounting Corporation (May fiscal year-end, revenue 515 billion won, net income 1.3 billion won).

Record High Revenue... Anjin and Han-young Improve Profitability

Looking at the Big 4's performance, the external growth of the accounting industry has continued since the introduction of the new External Audit Act (New External Audit Act) at the end of 2018. Sam-il's revenue grew 5.2% from 972.2 billion won the previous year. Samjung (840.1 billion → 852.5 billion) and Anjin (504.6 billion → 515 billion) also saw revenue growth, while Han-young was the only Big 4 firm to experience a revenue decline, dropping 4.83% from 504.8 billion won to 480.4 billion won. The combined revenue of the Big 4 also reached a record high of 2.871 trillion won.

With successful revenue growth, concerns about a 'peak-out' (reaching a peak and showing signs of decline), which had been steadily raised in the industry this year, seem somewhat alleviated. However, net income, which indicates profitability, showed mixed results among the Big 4. Compared to the 2022 fiscal year net income, Sam-il decreased by 6.66%, and Samjung by 18.8%, while Han-young increased by 40%. Han-young, which had been criticized for focusing on external growth without substance, improved its profitability. Anjin turned from a deficit to a surplus. Among the Big 4, the top two firms in revenue focused on 'growth,' while the third and fourth focused on 'substance,' which characterizes this year's accounting firm performance.

Now an 'Unignorable Side Business': Consulting

As revenue increased, the number of employees also grew. Among the Big 4, Samjung, with the most employees (4,205 → 4,319), was followed by Sam-il, which surpassed 4,000 employees for the first time, increasing from 3,979 to 4,100. Anjin saw a slight increase (2,723 → 2,751), while Han-young decreased (2,500 → 2,308). Looking only at the number of certified public accountants, Sam-il had the most with 2,742. The average annual salary was highest at Sam-il with 181.92 million won, followed by Samjung (131.61 million won), Han-young (126.15 million won), and Anjin (114.72 million won). Since the 2020 fiscal year, the Big 4's salaries have all exceeded 100 million won and have been on an upward trend.

Meanwhile, except for Samjung, Sam-il, Han-young, and Anjin each have separate consulting firms. Since these are separate entities, their results are disclosed separately. Consulting, once considered a 'side business,' has recently grown significantly to the extent that it substantially affects the 'scale' of the Big 4. In particular, EY Consulting recorded revenue of 302.4 billion won and operating profit of 3.1 billion won, approaching 60% of the accounting firm's revenue (480.4 billion won). Combining accounting and consulting revenues, the total reaches 782.8 billion won, surpassing Deloitte Anjin. Anjin's accounting firm revenue was 515 billion won, with consulting at 100.7 billion won, totaling 615.7 billion won. Sam-il PwC, the top consulting firm in the consulting industry, posted revenue of 390 billion won. Including Samjung, which integrates consulting within its accounting firm, the combined consulting revenue of the Big 4 is estimated to exceed 1 trillion won.