PwC’s releases first audited accounts, discloses fall in annual profit to $619 million

PwC Australia has challenged rivals by publishing its first audited financial accounts, revealing a near 17 per cent fall in annual profit to $619.2 million.

The profit for the 2024 calendar year was shared by the firm’s 628 owner-partners, who pocketed an average $767,000 but are liable for the tax payable on the income.

PwC’s audited accounts, published on Friday, set a benchmark for the other so-called big four audit and consulting groups - EY, Deloitte and KPMG - which as private partnerships are also under no obligation to detail their financial performance.

The decision to shed light on its books and align part of its disclosures with ASX corporate governance principles make good on promises made by chief executive Kevin Burrowes’ as part of his commitment o improve the firm’s transparency after the 2023 tax leaks scandal that battered its reputation and forced the sale of its government consulting arm.

“In a period of change, growth and reform, we have set the foundations for a firm that is well-managed, grounded in ethics and integrity, with culture at our core,” Mr Burrowes said on Friday.

“We are delivering a new level of transparency for the firm, giving our clients, people and stakeholders an unprecedented level of knowledge around our firm’s performance, governance and operations,” he said.

“We introduced major governance reforms, armed our people with the latest developments in artificial intelligence and launched a new strategy that puts culture at the heart.

“These are all important steps, as we seek to realise our vision of becoming the pre-eminent professional services firm.”

PwC said revenue for the year fell 6.5 per cent to $2.15 billion, affected by the sale of the government consulting arm to private equity group Allegro for $1 in 2023 when the the firm was excluded from new government work.

Earlier that year, the firm was enveloped by controversy with the disclosure that a PwC partner advising Treasury in 2016 passed on confidential information on new tax laws to other partners, who then used it to try and drum up work with multinational companies.

An external review of the firm’s conduct by Ziggy Switkowski identified significant failures across PwC’s governance and culture, finding its risk controls “were immature — lacking the stature, capability and rigour required”.

The 2024 accounts show that the firm’s audit arm was the biggest contributor to revenue, accounting for $777m, followed by advisory on $759m and tax and legal advice on $475m.

The report also revealed that five of PwC’s 7150 staff either resigned or were sacked for misconduct during the year.

PwC said its people and ethical conduct panel substantiated 21 of 28 complaints of serious misconduct - 15 for bullying, harassment and other workplace misconduct, one for sexual harassment and five for data breaches.

As a result, 16 staff received written warnings and five left the firm.