Crowe Global banks $5.8 billion in revenues on the back of 10% growth
Accounting and consulting network Crowe Global – the affiliate of Findex in Australia – has grown its revenues by 10 percent over the past year to $5.8 billion, with the Asia Pacific a top performer.
The firm said its latest double-digit growth, after first breaking through the $4 billion barrier in 2018 on the back of a massive 43 percent spike in the Asia Pacific, altogether marked more than a decade of consistent gains, with its APAC business up by a more modest but still impressive 16 percent over the past twelve months.
Meanwhile, Crowe’s latest global figures add to the congestion of competing mid-tier organisations sitting between the $5 billion to $6 billion revenue mark behind the Big Four and a rung below BDO, RSM and Grant Thornton, with HLB, Baker Tilly, Nexia, and the newly-formed Forvis-Mazars also within that mix, and Moore recently moving into the bracket.
“Throughout our industry, global trends have had an impact, challenging all of us to explore new technologies, shift our business models, and consider varied approaches to talent acquisition,” stated global chief executive Kamel Abouchacra following his first full financial year in charge after taking over from long-term boss Jim Powers in mid-2023.
Abouchacra continued; “We have responded to these trends by choosing to look through the lens of opportunity, investing further in areas like artificial intelligence and people development, with our efforts in AI producing numerous tools that our member firms are using to add greater efficiencies so that they can spend more time sharing experience and knowledge with clients.
The 16 percent growth in Crowe’s Asia Pacific business – a region which has generally cooled off of late in advisory terms due to China’s economic slowdown – trailed the 23 percent rise in the Middle East, but compared favourably to the 13 percent growth in Crowe’s well-established European practice. In North America, growth ended the year at 7 percent.
Crowe did however note the addition of new member firms in China and Indonesia as growth-drivers, along with the ascension of its Malaysia practice as one of country’s top-five leading providers and its fresh entry into Kosovo and Martinique, the latter extending its coverage to more than 150 countries worldwide with a global headcount of 42,000 professionals.
Australia: Findex
Meanwhile, Crowe’s Australian affiliate, Findex, grew by 15 percent over its past financial year according to the AFR’s annual rankings, adding more than $460 million to the network’s overall figure and entrenching the local firm as the country’s sixth largest organisation of its kind, behind the Big Four and BDO’s $540 million take but well ahead of RSM in seventh spot.
The figures represent something of a bounce-back for Findex, which had recorded growth in low single-digits over the preceding three year. Globally, Crowe attributed its consistent growth trajectory to strategic investments in talent, collaboration platforms, and technology, along with a number of key appointments, with Findex’s John Baillie tapped as APAC regional leader last year.
