Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
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| Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu | |
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| Type | Swiss Verein |
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| Founded | London, United Kingdom (1849) |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Key people | William G. Parrett, CEO Piet Hoogendoorn, Chairman |
| Industry | Professional services |
| Products | Audit Tax Consulting Enterprise risk services Financial advisory |
| Revenue |  $20.0 billion USD (2006) |
| Employees | 135,000 (2006) |
| Website | www.deloitte.com |
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (branded as Deloitte) is one of the largest professional services firms in the world, and a Big 4 accountancy firm, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG. In addition to its accounting practice, Deloitte is one of the largest business advisory firms in the world, providing strategic and operational management consulting services to Fortune 500 companies.
It was previously known as Deloitte & Touche, which was formed by the merger of Touche Ross and Deloitte Haskins & Sells (outside of the UK) in 1990.
Confusingly, in the United Kingdom the local firm of Deloitte, Haskins & Sells merged instead with Coopers & Lybrand (which today is PricewaterhouseCoopers). For some years after the merger, the merged UK firm was called Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte and the local firm of Touche Ross kept its original name. In the mid 1990s however, both UK firms changed their names to match those of their respective international organisations.
In 1993, the international firm was renamed Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, the third name coming from the firm Tohmatsu & Co, which merged into Touche Ross in 1975. The names in the company title refer to William Welch Deloitte, George Touche, and Admiral Nobuzo Tohmatsu. The name "Deloitte" is the firm name in longest continuous usage in the accounting profession. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein, a membership organization under the Swiss Civil Code whereby each member firm is a separate and independent legal entity. Its global headquarters are located in Manhattan, New York City.
According to the firm's website, as of 2006, Deloitte had a total of 135,000 professionals at work in 150 countries, delivering audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services to more than one-half of the world's largest companies. As of 2005, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, Deloitte's U.S. firm, employs over 33,000 people.
Deloitte recently implemented the Women's Initiative (WIN) which is intended to make Deloitte a firm where "high-performing" women can find careers that are both satisfying and that provide expanding advancement opportunities. Deloitte USA also claims to have the highest percentage of women directors, partners, and principals among the Big Four accounting firms.
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[edit] History
John Ballantine Niven established Touche Niven alongside Haskins & Sells in the Johnston Building at 30 Broad Street in 1900 in New York. At the time, there were fewer than 500 CPAs practicing in the United States, but the new era of income taxes was soon to generate enormous demand for accounting professionals.
In 1913, Niven opened the organization's first branch offices in Minneapolis and Chicago. That same year, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution allowed income tax to be levied on Americans for the first time. Compared with modern levels, the 1913 rate of 1% on taxable incomes over $3,000, rising to 7% on taxable incomes over $500,000, seems low, but, as the Journal of Accountancy noted that year, it was "indubitable that the income tax law is to have a more far-reaching effect upon public accountants than upon any other profession or business in the country.
The Journal was so convinced of the demands that it added a tax column—and asked Niven to be the editor. His column advised accountants on income tax requirements, preparing them for the impact of World War I, when federal spending rose from $742 million in 1916 to $18.9 billion in 1919. By then, income tax provided 58% of federal revenues, and the experts who handled income taxes found their skills in high demand.
[edit] After the Crash: Audits and regulations
There were numerous calls for independent auditing in the early decades of the century. But these calls were largely ignored by Washington and Wall Street regulators. The stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Depression brought the issue into the public spotlight, especially when it became obvious that proper accounting practices might have prevented some bankruptcies and consequent unemployment.
On April 1, 1933, Colonel Arthur Carter, President of the New York State Society of CPAs, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. Carter helped convince Congress that independent audits should be mandatory for public corporations. The 1933 Securities Act subsequently required public corporations to file independently certified registration statements and periodic reports. A year later, the Securities and Exchange Commission was created to administer the new legislation.
[edit] Postwar growth
After World War II, America stood on the brink of historic economic expansion. In this environment, in 1947, Detroit accountant George Bailey, then president of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, launched his own organization. The new entity enjoyed such a positive start that in less than a year, the partners merged with Touche Niven and A.R. Smart to form Touche, Niven, Bailey & Smart. Headed by Bailey, the organization grew rapidly, in part by creating a dedicated Management Consulting (MC) function. It also forged closer links with organizations established by the cofounder of Touche Niven, George Touche: the Canadian organization Ross, Touche and the British organization George A. Touche. In 1960, the organization was renamed Touche, Ross, Bailey & Smart, becoming Touche Ross in 1969. John William Queenan joined Haskins & Sells in 1936. As managing partner from 1956 until his retirement in 1970, he led the organization through major developments in the profession. Haskins & Sells experienced its own major development by merging with 26 domestic organizations and establishing offices in Canada, Central and South America, Europe, and Japan.
[edit] The 1950s
In 1952, Touche Ross became the first large accounting organization to automate its bookkeeping. Later, Gordon Stubbs wrote Data Processing by Electronics and Introduction to Data Processing, the first two professional brochures of their kind. In 1964, the organization's work with statistical sampling led to the Auditape System, which brought computer technology to audits. The organization's MC group, which provided computer systems advice, felt the greatest impact from the technology revolution. The organization did work for several leading corporations and for many government agencies. At Touche Ross, the discipline matured during the 1960s and 1970s under leaders like Robert Trueblood and Michael Chetkovich.
[edit] The 1980s
In 1982, David Moxley and W. Grant Gregory succeeded Russell Palmer as leaders of Touche Ross. In 1985, Edward A. Kangas, a management consultant, was appointed managing partner of Touche Ross. In 1984, J. Michael Cook became managing partner of Deloitte Haskins Sells.
Touche Ross and Deloitte Haskins Sells merged in 1989. The newly formed Deloitte & Touche was led by J. Michael Cook and Edward A. Kangas.
[edit] The 1990s
In 1995, the partners of Deloitte & Touche voted to create Deloitte Consulting. Deloitte's stated goal continues to be to “simplify work so that it can be done more rapidly and more effectively.”
[edit] Clientele
Major clients include: Gateway, Inc., Fannie Mae, Vodafone, Nissan, Sotheby's, Mittal Steel, Procter and Gamble, Solutia, Monsanto, Huntsman Corporation, Sky Financial Group, Microsoft, General Motors, UnitedHealth Group, Best Buy, Starbucks, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Canada, Comcast, CVS Corporation, Tyco International.
In the Aerospace Industry: Boeing, US Airways, Continental Airlines, ATA Airlines, United Airlines/UAL Corporation, and Midwest Airlines.
[edit] Diversity
Deloitte was named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" by Fortune magazine and "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" for 2004 by Working Mother magazine.
[edit] Notable current and former employees
[edit] Business
- R. Anthony Benten - Treasurer of The New York Times Company (2003-present)
- John Cederberg - consultant
- Cynthia Cooper - internal auditor
- Eric Forth - Member of the British Parliament (1983-97)
- Fred Goodwin - CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland (2001-present)
- Sam Morgan (entrepreneur) - founder of TradeMe
- Eugene Shvidler - President of Sibneft (1998-2005)
- Orin C. Smith - CEO of Starbucks (2000-05)
[edit] Politics and public service
- Vito Fossella - Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1997-present)
- Bill Owens - 40th Governor of Colorado (1999-2007)
- Pierre Pettigrew - Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs (2004-06)
- Nicol Stephen - Deputy First Minister of Scotland (2005-present)
- Bola Tinubu - Governor of Lagos State (1999-present)
[edit] Other
- Keith Bradshaw - cricketer
- Dave Karnes - U.S. Marine
- Howard Irwin Ross - academic administrator
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Data
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| Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu | Ernst & Young | KPMG | PricewaterhouseCoopers | |
