Over 600 Firms to Change Their Auditors Under Companies Act, Move Towards Transforming India’s Audit Market

Over 600 companies will have to change their auditors over the next four years under the Companies Act, setting in motion a once-in-a-decade shakeup that will transform India’s audit market.

Apart from facing an opportunity to win marquee clients and the risk of long-held accounts slipping away, the looming upheaval has ignited a ferocious poaching war among top audit firms to arm themselves with the correct talent for upcoming client bids and pitches.

The Big Four – KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC – are bulking up their audit benches with forensic analysts, tax auditors and chartered accountants, while other rivals such as BDO and Grant Thornton are also angling for their share of the spoils. Senior partners have been warned to hold on to their high potentials using incentives such as global postings or even additional bonuses.

A senior executive in one of the Big Four firms said that its audit team comprises 15% of the firm, which is now hiring, keeping the rotation in mind.

An executive said, “We are looking for partners who are professional in emerging technologies to cater to the audits of new-age firms.”

A spokesperson for Walker Chandiok & Co LLP said that “We also see this as an opportunity to leverage technology in audit and have a healthy balance of new audit automation tools conducted by AI and hiring of skilled employees.”

Walker & CoLLP has around 2,500 auditors and accepted that this is “likely to be” the largest hiring taking place from internal referrals. Provided some other firms that will also end up being ‘net losers‘ in this rotation opportunity, we believe there will be a shift of personnel from some of these other firms to firms like ours.