What companies pay their accountants, from the filings that state it: the annual audit fees of 2,379 US public companies for fiscal 2024, the auditor named on 393 IPOs and the accounting expenses itemized in 169 of their registration statements, and published prices for quality-of-earnings reports in M&A diligence.
Merger filings do not itemize accounting or diligence costs, so the quality-of-earnings figures below come from firms’ published prices and market surveys, not filings.
Annual audit fees by company size
Across 2,344 US public companies, the audit fee for fiscal 2024 had a median of $1.93M, from $473K for companies with revenue under $100M to $10.5M for companies with revenue of $10B+. As a share of revenue it fell from 2.59% to 0.046%.
The audit fee each company reported for fiscal 2024 in the fee table of its 2025 proxy statement, which every US-listed company must include, against its calendar-2024 revenue as filed in XBRL. The audit fee covers the annual audit, including the audit of internal control where required, and the quarterly reviews; audit-related, tax and other fees are separate and not included. Companies whose table could not be read reliably are left out.
Company revenue
Companies
Median audit fee
Middle half
% of revenue
Under $100M
566
$473K
$246K–$847K
2.591%
$100M–1B
721
$1.51M
$973K–$2.29M
0.380%
$1–10B
794
$3.54M
$2.26M–$5.39M
0.122%
$10B+
263
$10.5M
$5.99M–$16.3M
0.046%
How audit fees changed year to year
Among 2,296 companies that reported both years, the audit fee for fiscal 2024 was a median 5.5% higher than for fiscal 2023, and 67% of companies paid more. A year earlier the median change was 6.5% across 2,043 companies.
Only companies that reported the fee for both years are compared, each with itself, so the result is not moved by which companies are in the data. Where two proxy statements report the same year, the later one is used.
Change
Companies
Median change
Paid more
Fiscal 2022 → 2023
2,043
+6.5%
70%
Fiscal 2023 → 2024
2,296
+5.5%
67%
Annual audit fees by auditor
For companies with revenue of $100M–1B, a Big Four audit had a median fee of $1.79M (509 companies), against $933K with other firms (208). A Big Four firm audited 71% of the companies here.
Median audit fee by the tier of the audit firm and by company revenue, and the share of companies in each revenue band audited by a Big Four firm. Cells with fewer than eight companies are not given a median.
Auditor
Under $100M
$100M–1B
$1–10B
$10B+
Big Four
$948K176
$1.79M509
$3.74M722
$10.6M259
Other annually inspected firm
$417K122
$944K122
$2.17M53
too few (2)
IPA 100 firm
$471K72
$1.06M50
$2.15M16
—
Not on a tier list
$273K149
$682K36
too few (1)
—
Company revenue
Audited by a Big Four firm
Under $100M
31%
$100M–1B
71%
$1–10B
91%
$10B+
98%
Annual audit fees by industry
By the company’s SEC standard industrial classification. Industries differ in typical company size, so compare the median revenue alongside the fee.
Industry
Companies
Median audit fee
Median revenue
% of revenue
Industrials & business services
593
$2.54M
$1.68B
0.168%
Technology & telecom
432
$2.4M
$667M
0.368%
Healthcare & life sciences
423
$1.15M
$86.8M
1.089%
Consumer & retail
297
$2.03M
$1.91B
0.115%
Financial services
257
$2.44M
$976M
0.263%
Real estate
174
$1.13M
$335M
0.318%
Energy, mining & utilities
153
$2.22M
$1.51B
0.128%
Other
15
$1.43M
$459M
0.380%
Audit firms and their public clients
Every audit firm with three or more clients in this set, with the median audit fee it billed and the median revenue of those clients.
Audit firm
Clients here
Median audit fee
Median client revenue
Deloitte
475
$2.22M
$1.16B
EEY
455
$2.91M
$1.8B
PwC
411
$3.53M
$2.08B
KPMG
325
$2.65M
$1.45B
Grant Thornton
137
$1.09M
$421M
BBDO
75
$1.08M
$286M
RRSM
45
$948K
$385M
CCBIZ
41
$491K
$33.9M
CCrowe
29
$761K
$98.6M
Marcum
24
$304K
$18.7M
Moss Adams
20
$707K
$70.2M
WWithum
19
$470K
$24.6M
Baker Tilly
18
$453K
$66.2M
EEisnerAmper
11
$400K
$28.7M
UUHY
11
$514K
$30.1M
CBCherry Bekaert
10
$230K
$10.6M
CCohnReznick
9
$376K
$45.7M
HWHaskell & White
9
$198K
$16M
WWeaver
7
$343K
$74.4M
RRBSM
5
$285K
$11.7M
WCWolf & Company
5
$392K
$59.3M
PMPlante Moran
5
$558K
$139M
MMaloneBailey
4
$218K
$14.1M
SSS.R. Snodgrass
3
$284K
$67.9M
EBEide Bailly
3
$123K
$24.5M
TTo ratify the appointment of BPM
3
$678K
$10.8M
YHYount, Hyde & Barbour
3
$285K
$127M
BBPM
3
$611K
$19.4M
FMForvis Mazars
3
$205K
$8.82M
FMForvis Mazars
3
$735K
$9.37M
AArmanino
3
$275K
$89.3M
TTo ratify the appointment of Forvis Mazars
3
$1.2M
$380M
FDFrazier & Deeter
3
$590K
$184M
MMaloneBailey
3
$269K
$464K
CConnell
3
$1.15M
$116M
Every company’s audit fee
Search by company or audit firm. Each fee links to the proxy statement it comes from.
Showing the first 300 rows. Use the search box to narrow the list.
IPO accounting expenses by offering size
An IPO issuer's estimated accounting expenses had a median of $600K across 169 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, from $287K on offerings under $10M to $1.76M on offerings of $250M+.
The issuer’s estimate of its accounting expenses for the offering, from the itemized expense table in the last registration statement (S-1 or F-1) filed before pricing. It usually covers the audit of the financial statements in the prospectus, interim reviews and comfort letters, and is the issuer’s estimate rather than an invoice from the auditor.
Offering size
IPOs
Median accounting expenses
Middle half
% of proceeds
Under $10M
59
$287K
$113K–$464K
4.44%
$10–25M
28
$365K
$105K–$668K
2.53%
$25–50M
11
$751K
$543K–$1.07M
2.26%
$50–100M
8
$1.14M
$624K–$2.09M
1.37%
$100–250M
17
$1.58M
$828K–$1.85M
0.93%
$250M+
46
$1.76M
$1.2M–$4.24M
0.36%
IPO accounting expenses by auditor
Where a Big Four firm audited the issuer, estimated accounting expenses had a median of $1.62M (66 IPOs, median offering $319M); with other auditors, $336K (103 IPOs, median offering $9M). Big Four firms mostly audit larger offerings, so compare within the same offering size.
Median estimated accounting expenses by the tier of the named auditor and by offering size. Tiers come from the public lists in the advisor directory. Cells with fewer than eight IPOs are not given a median.
Auditor
Under $10M
$10–25M
$25–50M
$50–100M
$100–250M
$250M+
Big Four
too few (1)
too few (1)
too few (5)
too few (5)
$1.59M13 IPOs
$1.9M41 IPOs
Other annually inspected firm
$250K9 IPOs
too few (4)
too few (2)
too few (1)
too few (3)
too few (3)
Not on a tier list
$288K49 IPOs
$365K22 IPOs
too few (4)
too few (2)
too few (1)
too few (2)
Who audits IPOs of each size
A Big Four firm audited 88% of IPOs of $250M+ and 1% of IPOs under $10M, across 393 IPOs with a named auditor.
Offering size
IPOs with a named auditor
Audited by a Big Four firm
By another annually inspected firm
By a firm on no tier list
Under $10M
79
1%
14%
85%
$10–25M
36
6%
11%
81%
$25–50M
12
42%
17%
42%
$50–100M
16
50%
19%
25%
$100–250M
30
80%
17%
3%
$250M+
78
88%
6%
4%
Quality-of-earnings report prices
Prices for a quality-of-earnings (QoE) report, the accounting diligence a buyer or seller commissions before a sale, as published by accounting firms or quoted in market surveys. These are published prices and estimates, not filing data, and a real engagement is scoped and priced case by case.
What was priced
Price
Source
firm fixed-fee QoE price, small deals (<$2.5M revenue)
Each of the 17 audit firms named on five or more IPOs, with the accounting expenses its clients itemized and its most recent IPOs. Each profile has its own link.
Deloitte & Touche was the named auditor on 41 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $296M. In 477 public-company proxies filed in 2025 it billed a median audit fee of $2.2M for fiscal 2024. On 22 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $1.42M (0.65% of proceeds).
Tier: Big Four
Exchanges: Nasdaq Global Select Market (16), New York Stock Exchange (14)
Industries: Healthcare & life sciences (10), Technology & telecom (9), Industrials & business services (7)
The 6 most recent of 41 IPOs; all of them are in the IPO file.
WWC was the named auditor on 38 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $7.6M. On 8 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $520K (5.11% of proceeds).
Tier: Not on a tier list
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (33), Nasdaq Global Market (1)
Industries: Industrials & business services (16), Healthcare & life sciences (6), Technology & telecom (5)
The 6 most recent of 38 IPOs; all of them are in the IPO file.
Marcum Asia CPAs was the named auditor on 28 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $9M. In 24 public-company proxies filed in 2025 it billed a median audit fee of $304K for fiscal 2024. On 10 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $433K (3.99% of proceeds).
Tier: Other PCAOB annually inspected
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (22), Nasdaq Global Market (5)
KPMG was the named auditor on 27 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $330M. In 331 public-company proxies filed in 2025 it billed a median audit fee of $2.62M for fiscal 2024. On 13 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $1.4M (0.32% of proceeds).
Tier: Big Four
Exchanges: Nasdaq Global Select Market (10), New York Stock Exchange (8)
PricewaterhouseCoopers was the named auditor on 26 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $383M. In 417 public-company proxies filed in 2025 it billed a median audit fee of $3.5M for fiscal 2024. On 19 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $1.9M (0.72% of proceeds).
Tier: Big Four
Exchanges: New York Stock Exchange (13), Nasdaq Global Select Market (6)
Industries: Healthcare & life sciences (8), Industrials & business services (7), Financial services (3)
The 6 most recent of 26 IPOs; all of them are in the IPO file.
Ernst & Young was the named auditor on 25 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $361M. In 461 public-company proxies filed in 2025 it billed a median audit fee of $2.87M for fiscal 2024. On 12 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $1.77M (0.47% of proceeds).
Tier: Big Four
Exchanges: New York Stock Exchange (11), Nasdaq Global Select Market (9)
Industries: Healthcare & life sciences (8), Financial services (5), Industrials & business services (5)
The 6 most recent of 25 IPOs; all of them are in the IPO file.
Onestop Assurance was the named auditor on 23 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $6M. On 9 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $355K (4.80% of proceeds).
Tier: Not on a tier list
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (18), NYSE American (2)
Friedman was the named auditor on 14 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $8M. On 5 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $185K (1.73% of proceeds).
Tier: Not on a tier list
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (11), NASDAQ Capital Market (1)
ZH CPA was the named auditor on 13 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $9M. On 3 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $813K (8.13% of proceeds).
Tier: Not on a tier list
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (9), Nasdaq Global Market (2)
Industries: Industrials & business services (10), Consumer & retail (1), Other (1)
The 6 most recent of 13 IPOs; all of them are in the IPO file.
Audit Alliance was the named auditor on 8 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $8.2M. On 3 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $500K (6.10% of proceeds).
Kreit & Chiu CPA was the named auditor on 8 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $11M. On 5 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $443K (3.69% of proceeds).
Tier: Not on a tier list
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (6), NYSE American (2)
Industries: Industrials & business services (4), Other (1), Consumer & retail (1)
The 6 most recent of 8 IPOs; all of them are in the IPO file.
TAAD was the named auditor on 8 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $7M. On 4 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $438K (5.88% of proceeds).
Tier: Not on a tier list
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (6), NYSE American (1)
BDO USA was the named auditor on 7 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $283M. In 76 public-company proxies filed in 2025 it billed a median audit fee of $1.06M for fiscal 2024. On 3 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $765K (0.38% of proceeds).
Tier: Other PCAOB annually inspected
Exchanges: Nasdaq Global Select Market (3), Nasdaq Global Market (2)
Industries: Healthcare & life sciences (3), Technology & telecom (1), Real estate (1)
The 6 most recent of 7 IPOs; all of them are in the IPO file.
Marcum was the named auditor on 5 US IPOs priced 2023–2026, with a median offering of $7.13M. In 24 public-company proxies filed in 2025 it billed a median audit fee of $304K for fiscal 2024. On 3 of them the issuer itemized its accounting expenses, with a median of $250K (3.23% of proceeds).
Tier: Other PCAOB annually inspected
Exchanges: Nasdaq Capital Market (1), NASDAQ Global Market (1)
Industries: Healthcare & life sciences (3), Industrials & business services (1), Consumer & retail (1)
A firm’s figures describe the specific IPOs in these filings. Accounting expenses are each issuer’s estimate of its own accounting costs for the offering and are not the named firm’s fee or rate card. Quality-of-earnings prices are as published by the firm or survey cited and may not reflect current pricing. No firm has reviewed or endorsed these figures, and naming a firm does not imply any affiliation with it. Confirm fees directly with the firm before relying on them.
Data and citation
Annual audit fees are in the annual audit fees file, the IPO figures in the IPO costs file and the quality-of-earnings prices in the benchmarks file (data version 2026.09.10, CC BY 4.0). Cite as Deal Cost Index, “How much do accountants charge on a deal?”, data version 2026.09.10, with a link to this page.
Deloitte & Touche #