KPMG acquires Canberra finance technology consultancy Chartertech
Big Four professional services firm KPMG has snapped up fast-growing Canberra-based consultancy Chartertech, adding a team of close to 150 technology and finance specialists.
Chartertech was established in Canberra in 2017 by directors George Skillin and Michael McRoberts, and today generates annual revenues of around $30 million with a focus on financial technology advisory and solutions.
Skillin and McRoberts become partners in KPMG’s mid-market Enterprise business, with Chartertech itself having executed a number of acquisitions in recent years, including TechnologyOne specialist Screen Consulting.
“Chartertech is such a highly innovative and forward-thinking business,” said KPMG chief Andrew Yates. “This is a significant investment in our Enterprise business, which is focused on advising emerging, private, family, government and mid-market organisations. Together, we’ll become one of the leading TechnologyOne teams in the country and have greater capacity to serve our clients.”
In addition to Screen Consulting, Chartertech also added IBM planning analytics consultancy Cubicus in 2021, with fellow ‘IBM TM1’ firm Infocube coming on board the following year and pushing the firm’s headcount to beyond the 100-mark across outlets in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart after starting out just five years earlier with a team of seven.
“Following a period of rapid growth we are excited to be entering our next phase as part of a global firm,” said Skillin, a former senior manager at Synergy Group. “KPMG is the perfect match for us. Being part of something values-aligned and bigger will enable us to better support our staff with a new generation of career opportunities, and better serve our clients through expanding services.”
KPMG has also been making purchases in the tech space over the past few years, including Adelaide-based SAP specialist Think 180 last year, preceded by intelligent automation & data engineering firm Rubicon Red of Brisbane and Oracle specialist Certus APAC in the two prior years. KPMG recently rejigged its management consulting division with a greater focus on tech.
“Tech transformation is the number one area of demand for mid-market clients and it’s incredibly hard to access this talent,” said KPMG Enterprise national managing partner Naomi Mitchell. “George and Michael and their team are trailblazers in finance technology and enterprise planning and forecasting. Coming together in this way makes great sense for both organisations.”
