Dezan Shira & Associates’ Global Alliance Reaches US$2.9 Billion Revenues in 2013

March 4, 2014 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Leading Edge Alliance, the international group that Dezan Shira & Associates are primary members of, recorded revenues of US$2.9 billion in 2013. The International Accounting Bulletin, the industry benchmark for accounting firms worldwide, reported that the Leading Edge are now the second largest accounting association globally.

Accounting firms are divided into two categories worldwide: “Networks”, which include large single brand franchises such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte, and “Associations”, which are global alliances under which firms trade under their local names.

The top six performing firms under the Networks category were as follows:

The top six performing Associations were as follows:

Leading Edge Alliance firms are typically the largest non-big four practices in each particular city they operate in. The Leading Edge Alliance consists of:

212 Firms
586 Offices
102 Countries
2,056 Partners
16,640 Professional Staff
23,090 Total Staff

Dezan Shira & Associates was invited to join the Alliance a decade ago, and have themselves grown to include offices throughout China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam and Singapore. The practice has also been active in building alliances with other Leading Edge practices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, as well as holding liaison offices in Europe and the United States.

The practice was begun by Founding Partner Chris Devonshire-Ellis in Hong Kong and Shenzhen in 1992, and now employs several hundred legal and tax professionals across eighteen offices. Dezan Shira & Associates specializes in handling foreign direct investment into Asia, and provides corporate establishment, due diligence, tax planning, business advisory, tax filing, bookkeeping, accounting, payroll and financial review services throughout Asia. About 50 percent of the firms work is derived from North American clients, and roughly 35 percent from Europe.

Chris Devonshire-Ellis commented that “it is positive that under difficult global trading conditions the Leading Edge Alliance showed continued revenue growth during 2013. American practices in particular are now becoming more adventurous concerning their international clients and are beginning to now invest more time and resources into assisting those clients’ needs overseas. This includes the placing of other firms American staff in our Dezan Shira offices in Asia, as well as our staff being placed in American offices to properly overview client work. The sharing of resources and intelligence between firms on a global basis has never been more prevalent. Asia is at the forefront of global growth and Dezan Shira & Associates, as part of the Leading Edge Alliance, is well positioned to become the dominant firm in Asia over the coming decade.”

Issue 533 of the International Accounting Bulletin concerning the 2013 review of accounting firms and alliances worldwide can be accessed here through a digital subscription.

Dezan Shira & Associates is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in emerging Asia. Since its establishment in 1992, the firm has grown into one of Asia’s most versatile full-service consultancies with operational offices across China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Vietnam in addition to alliances in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand as well asas well as liaison offices in Italy and the United States.

For further details or to contact the firm, please email china@dezshira.com, visit www.dezshira.com, or download the company brochure.

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