In return for the protection offered by limited liability partnerships accountants are going to have to become used to publishing plc-style accounts. In spite of this development, a number of firms preferred to keep details of their fee income to themselves when surveyed for the 1998 Accountancy Age Top 50.
Where firms refused to provide the necessary information, we turned to other published sources or applied an inflation factor to our previous survey. However, more than two-thirds of the firms questioned were happy to co-operate, enabling Accountancy Age to compile an important guide for decision-makers seeking professional financial advice and services.
| Firm | Fee income (#m) | Year end | % growth | UK partners | Fee per partner (#) |
| 1 PwC | 1,324.58* | Apr 98 | n/k | 1,000 | 1.32m |
| 2 KPMG | 726.00 | Sep 97 | 17.0 | 569 | 1.28m |
| 3 Andersen Worldwide* | 714.82 | Apr 98 | n/k | 400 | 1.79m |
| 4 Ernst & Young | 525.00 | Jun 97 | 15.0 | 411 | 1.30m |
| 5 Deloitte & Touche | 442.40 | Sep 97 | 10.4 | 328 | 1.35m |
| 6 Grant Thornton* | 123.60 | Apr 98 | n/k | 210 | 588,500 |
| 7 BDO Stoy Hayward | 122.06 | Mar 98 | 14.7 | 234 | 521,624 |
| 8 Pannell Kerr Forster | 72.72 | Apr 97 | 8.0 | 140 | 519,428 |
| 9 Horwath Clark Whitehill** | 63.56 | Mar 98 | n/k | 228 | 278,772 |
| 10 Kidsons Impey** | 58.70 | Apr 98 | n/k | 140 | 419,285 |
| 11 Moore Stephens | 49.80 | Dec 97 | 1.2 | 136 | 366,176 |
| 12 Smith & Williamson | 45.30 | Apr 98 | 18.0 | 72 | 629,167 |
| 13 Robson Rhodes** | 43.34 | Apr 98 | n/k | 70 | 619,142 |
| 14 Baker Tilly (inc Casson Beckman) | 40.90 | Mar 98 | 34.4 | 92 | 440,000 |
| 15 Neville Russell | 40.77 | Dec 97 | 6.6 | 90 | 453,000 |
| 16 Moores Rowland | 34.95 | Apr 98 | n/k | 90 | 388,333 |
| 17 Haines Watts | 28.00 | Mar 98 | 4.5 | 60 | 466,000 |
| 18 Saffery Champness** | 18.16 | Apr 98 | n/k | 43 | 422,326 |
| 19 Chantrey Vellacott** | 18.05 | Apr 98 | n/k | 42 | 429,762 |
| 20 MacIntyre Hudson | 16.90 | Mar 98 | 16.2 | 32 | 527,000 |
| 21 Levy Gee | 16.80 | Apr 98 | 15.0 | 37 | 454,000 |
| 22 Kingston Smith | 16.66 | Apr 98 | 26.2 | 36 | 476,200 |
| 23 Hacker Young | 14.56 | Apr 98 | 17.00 | 42 | 347,000 |
| 24 Solomon Hare | 13.70 | Mar 98 | 7.8 | 25 | 548,000 |
| 25 Latham Crossley & Davis* | 12.86 | Oct 97 | n/k | 17 | 756,470 |
| 26 Fraser Russell | 11.94 | May 98 | 10.5 | 37 | 322,675 |
| 27 Bentley Jennison | 11.5 | Dec 97 | 21.0 | 37 | 310,000 |
| 28 Littlejohn Frazer | 10.14 | Mar 98 | n/k | 24 | 422,500 |
| 29 Hays Allen | 8.65 | Apr 98 | 17.8 | 16 | 353,125 |
| 30 Cooper Lancaster Brewers | 8.36 | Apr 98 | 11.5 | 25 | 335,000 |
| 31 Menzies | 8.11 | May 98 | 9.5 | 21 | 386,000 |
| 32 Morison Stoneham | 7.68 | Apr 98 | 2.6 | 18 | 427,000 |
| 33 Morley & Scott | 7.21 | Sep 97 | 6.7 | 19 | 380,000 |
| 34 Brooking Knowles & Lawrence | 7.20 | Apr 98 | 15.4 | 19 | 379,640 |
| 35 Cooper Parry | 7.00 | Apr 98 | 14.5 | 17 | 412,920 |
| 36 Francis Clark | 6.95 | Apr 98 | 5.6 | 22 | 316,000 |
| 37 Wilkins Kennedy | 6.80 | Apr 98 | 12.4 | 17 | 387,000 |
| 38 Larking Gowen | 6.61 | Mar 98 | 9.5 | 15 | 440,700 |
| 39 Morgan Brown & Spofforth | 6.30 | Apr 98 | 13.7 | 15 | 420,000 |
| 40 Rothman Pantall & Co | 6.06 | Jul 97 | 3.4 | 23 | 265,037 |
| 41 Buzzacott | 6.06 | Sep 97 | 8.1 | 17 | 357,000 |
| 42 Lubbock Fine** | 5.81 | Nov 97 | n/k | 14 | 415,000 |
| 43 Price Bailey | 5.56 | Mar 98 | 15.0 | 16 | 347,000 |
| 44 Brebner Allen & Trapp | 5.40 | Apr 98 | 16.0 | 17 | 318,700 |
| 45 James & Cowper | 5.05 | Apr 98 | 11.0 | 18 | 280,000 |
| 46 Gruber Garrett* | 4.94 | Apr 98 | n/k | 18 | 274,444 |
| 47 Critchleys | 4.90 | May 98 | 16.0 | 18 | 272,000 |
| 48 Forrester Boyd | 4.70 | Mar 98 | 16.4 | 15 | 314,000 |
| 49 Bishop Fleming** | 4.65 | Apr 98 | n/k | 16 | 290,625 |
| 50 MacIntyre & Co | 4.63 | Mar 98 | 6.0 | 14 | 331,000 |
Notes
* Calculation based on published sources ** Calculation based on Accountancy Age survey 1996