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The decision about which firms to apply for can be a difficult one for many applicants in the milkround. Understanding the relative pros and cons of big versus small firms and the differences between each of the Big Four/Ten can leave many applicants confused and frustrated. For many, it is hard to distinguish between the firms while for others, particularly those who do not find the Big Four appealing, it can be difficult to ensure they have covered all the relevant accounting firms out there.

One good source for a list of accounting firms is the annual list of the top 20 accounting firms in Ireland by Finance Dublin. While not exactly a detailed insight into what it’s like to work for each of the firms, it does provide students with a good overview of the main players in the sector and a list of potential employers to research further. For students who are interested in smaller firms a good starting point would be CAI’s list of approved training firms and their training vacancy listing.

The charts below are a summary of the tables of data available from the the current and previous surveys from Finance Dublin.

Market Overview 2014

 

Firm Snapshot (Interactive Excel file available below)

 

Trend Comparison (Interactive Excel file available below)

See here for an article on the most recent list.

Click on the image below to download the interactive excel file.

News

There have also been a number of movements in the accountancy firms over the past year including;

 

Additional Sources

Two additional sources of information that also may be useful when attempting to compare and contrast accountancy firms are the Irish Times auditor watch (which analyses who audits Ireland’s largest companies and the fees paid – see here for more) and gradireland’s list of top employers in the accountancy sector, which is particularly useful in the context of researching potential employers.

For more on the firm choice decision see my page here.