Orange County’s top accounting firms combined to grow their local offices by 4%, continuing a run of employment gains for the third straight year.
The 51 largest firms here have 4,483 employees, according to this week’s Business Journal list, which ranks them by local employment. The list includes 36 firms that are based in OC and 15 that have headquarters elsewhere and significant operations here.
Local growth slightly outpaced the firms’ overall gains. Companywide employment grew nearly 3% to about 622,000.
This week’s list also includes other information, such as the numbers of certified public accountants and partners in the firms’ OC offices, though those figures don’t affect the rankings.
More than 60% of the listed companies—31—said they expanded their OC workforces over the past year, while eight said they made job cuts.
Nine firms reported no change, and the Business Journal estimated numbers for three firms as flat.
The “Big Four” firms, all based in New York, kept their top rankings on the list.
Deloitte LLP, KPMG LLP, Ernst & Young LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP collectively have 1,970 employees in Orange County and account for about 44% of the total on the list.
• No. 1, Deloitte, has 759 employees here, about flat from a year earlier. It has 202,885 employees firmwide, up 5%.
• KPMG, No. 2, had a 5% increase in its OC workforce to 419. Overall, the firm has 155,180 employees, up about 2%.
• Ernst & Young followed closely behind with 408 local employees, up 3%; it has 167,000 employees overall, unchanged year-over-year.
• No. 4, Pricewaterhouse, has 384 employees in OC, down by two. It made 900 hires firmwide for a total of 37,500.
• Chicago-based McGlad-rey LLP grew its Irvine office by 10% to 152 employees and moved up one spot on the list to sixth place. McGladrey has 7,000 employees overall, up 2% year-over-year.
“We’ve made a lot of efforts to grow the California branch, and Orange County has been one of those markets that had tremendous growth,” said Don Natenstedt, managing partner for the Western region.
“This past year, the firm grew [revenue] 8% nationally. Orange County grew 10%, and our staffing grew 10% here, as well. There’s been more aggressive growth in the Southern California area, specifically in consulting, where we grew by 18%.”
McGladrey provides audit, tax and consulting services and focuses on the “middle market,” a segment that’s been ripe with “tremendous opportunities,” Natenstedt said, adding that the firm is also growing in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.
• The Irvine office of Seattle-based Moss Adams LLP inched up one spot to No. 8 with 15% growth over the past year to 140 employees. Moss Adams grew 5% overall to a workforce of more than 2,000.
“The last few years, we’ve had a concerted effort on growing the California office,” said Roger Weninger, regional managing partner.
“Orange County is a Moss Adams market from the standpoint of the types of clients that are here. The client base is responsive to the firm that fits in the middle. We’re not the biggest, we’re not the smallest. We have a lot of services that these companies are looking for, not just audit and tax but also consulting.”
Moss Adams is slated to move its Irvine office in coming months to a nearby building on the Irvine Concourse campus. It’s taking on 36,500 square feet of space, about 25% larger than its current size, in a move that will help accommodate the recent hires and more to come, Weninger said.
• Newport Beach-based Anton & Chia LLP grew its local operations by 131% to 30 employees. The jump pushed the firm up 12 spots to No. 33. The list has three newcomers.
• Lake Forest-based Conrad LLP debuted at No. 48 with 13 employees, up from five a year ago. The 160% increase was the largest percentage gain on the list.
“We have been growing aggressively over the last year,” said Managing Partner Matthew Conrad, who founded the firm with his brother in 2011.
“Our volume and client base continue to increase at a brisk pace, so our hiring decisions to date have been relatively easy to make. We have been very fortunate in finding quality and experienced staff.”
Conrad LLP focuses on audit services and serves real estate and pension fund clients, as well as the federal government. It recently opened a satellite office in the Washington, D.C., area to complement its government practice, Conrad said.
• Other newcomers were No. 45, Irvine-based The Pun Group LLP, which was formed late last year in a merger between Pun & McGeady LLP and C.G. Lamb Accountancy Corp. Pun Group has 16 employees in OC out of a companywide total of 30.
• Irvine-based Skinner Fouch & Olson LLP made the list at No. 46 with 15 employees, up by one.
