Global 2008 revenues in excess of US$2 billion

Jan. 9 – The Leading Edge Alliance, the global network of international accounting and audit firms that Dezan Shira & Associates is the China member of, has just been ranked as the third largest international association of independent accounting firms by the International Accounting Bulletin, the accounting industry research specialists.

The report showed a global growth rate for 2008 for the Leading Edge Alliance firms of 29 percent, while total annual revenues hit US$2.078 billion for the year. The number of LEA member firms increased to over 140 in 90 countries, with firms collectively possessing 430 offices, 1,433 partners, and over 10,000 staff.

“This excellent achievement is the result of tremendous efforts on behalf of the LEA member firms to globalize, integrate more professionally with each other and start to develop as serious challengers to the dominance of the Big Four firms,” said Chris Devonshire-Ellis, senior partner of Dezan Shira & Associates. “Such an impressive growth rate and revenue stream shows that we are starting to challenge, match, and in some cases overtake the service capability of the major players and provide a real credible on the ground alternative to them. We wish to thank all LEA member firms for their support and assistance during 2008 and are looking forward to seeing more professional developments within the network during 2009.”

The full press release with details can be found here.