Grant Thornton LLP

Grant Thornton LLP

Type	Limited Liability Partnership
Industry	Accounting Tax Business Advisory Services
Founded	1924; present name and components in 1986
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Key people	J. Michael McGuire, CEO; Billy Moore, CFO
Products	Professional services
Revenue	$1.45 billion USD (2015)
Number of employees	7,283
Website	www.grantthornton.com

Grant Thornton LLP is the American member firm of Grant Thornton International, the sixth largest accounting network in the world by combined fee income.^[1] Grant Thornton LLP is the sixth largest U.S. accounting and advisory organization. The firm operates 58 offices across the US with approximately 7,000 employees, 550 partners, and produces annual revenue in excess of US$1.45 billion.^[2][3]

Headquartered in Chicago, Grant Thornton LLP has three service lines: audit, tax, and advisory services. Specific advisory services and areas of expertise include: Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, mergers and acquisitions advice, tax, and business valuations. Target industries include construction, distribution, energy, financial services, food and beverage, health care, hospitality and restaurants, life sciences, manufacturing, not-for-profit organizations, private equity, public sector, real estate, retail, technology, and transportation.^[4]

History

Early History

In 1924, Alexander Richardson Grant, a 26 years old senior accountant with Ernst & Ernst (later Ernst & Young) decided to leave the firm and start his own business with William O’Brien. Alexander Grant & Co. was built in Chicago and dedicated to providing quality services for middle market. The firm was growing rapidly and nationally under the guidance of several new leaders during the next three decades.

In 1961, the company established its national office in Chicago and earned net revenue of more than $5 million. During this time, a competitive firm that was also committed to providing services to middle market established in Europe, and this firm later became known as Binder Dijke Otte & Co. (BDO).

During the mid-1960s, the firm decided to expand its business internationally. In 1969, Alexander Grant & Co. merged with companies from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom to form an organization called Alexander Grant Tansley Witt.

By 1980, Alexander Grant & Co. had joined with 49 international accounting firms, including a UK firm named Thornton Baker, and formed a professional global network, Grant Thornton International.

In 1985, Alexander Grant & Co. merged with Fox & Co. and became the ninth largest accounting firm in the United States, just behind the nation’s “Big Eight” firms. At that time, the company had 80 offices and more than 3,000 employees.^[5]

In 1986, Alexander Grant & Co. changed its name to Grant Thornton, resulted from its affiliation with the United Kingdom firm Thornton Baker, which also changed its name to Grant Thornton.^[6]

Recent History

In 2002, Grant Thornton acquired 7 offices, 43 partners and 396 employees from ex-Arthur Anderson.^[5]

In June 2014, Grant Thornton announced that J. Michael McGuire as the firm’s new chief executive officer.^[7]

Today, Grant Thornton is the sixth largest accounting firm in the United States and has 58 offices nationwide with more than 550 partners and 7,000 employees. Its revenue for fiscal year 2015 is $1.45 billion.^[2]

Services

Grant Thornton offers three main service lines^[8]

• Audit/Assurance: Provides not only the financial statement audits, but also uses professional tools and processes to conduct integrated audits required by SEC and under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
• Tax: Offers clients plenty of professional tax services including: federal, local and state, international tax advisory & compliance, compensation & benefits consulting, private wealth services, and tax accounting & risk advisory services.
• Advisory: Helps clients to solve problems and manage risks by providing services in business strategy, governance, risk & compliance, performance improvement, and information technology.

Tax Desk

Tax desks is developed by Grant Thornton US and it connects other member firms in different countries to help client grow their business and solve their common problems in the global market. Grant Thornton US has established the desks between the United States and the UK, the United States and China, and the United States and Japan.^[9]

Awards

• In 2016, Grant Thornton ranked No. 8 in the Crain's Chicago Business list of “Best Places to Work 2016”. Thirty-two employees currently take advantage of customized work schedules that differ from the traditional workweek.^[10]
• In 2014, Grant Thornton US was named one of the “2014 Working Mother 100 Best Companies”. Those who want to add to their families may benefit from its Mentor Moms program, which offers advice on transitioning back to work after maternity leave.^[11]
• In 2013, Grant Thornton was the winner of Network of the Year by the International Accounting Bulletin.^[12]

Criticisms

• Several audit deficiencies in the firm’s audit work at eight companies were found by Public Company Oversight Board when it was doing the inspection of Grant Thornton‘s 2005 audit. In the PCAOB’s report, the Board concluded that the firm didn’t have enough evidence to support its audit opinions. Grant Thornton responded to the PCAOB’s criticism on June 4, 2007. In its response letter, the firm wrote “We strongly disagree with the use of overly broad comments such as ‘failed to identify’, ‘failed to perform,’”.^[13]
• In April 2012, Grant Thornton was accused by its client Bill Yung and his family. The firm hid real information from its clients and sold a tax shelter to them. There was a 90% chance the IRS would reject the shelter. Kentucky State Court ordered Grant Thornton to pay $20 million in compensatory damages and $80 million in punitive damage. (resources: $100M Verdict Against Grant Thornton Shows Why Client Sue Advisers.^[14]

Sponsorship

• On March 2016, Grant Thornton signed a multi-year agreement with the National Center for the Middle Market(NCMM),a leading organization dedicated to providing critical data analysis, insights, and perspectives for companies, policymakers, and other key stakeholders, to help accelerate growth, increase competitiveness and create jobs in middle market.^[15] Through the multi-year sponsorship, Grant Thornton will help NCMM continue its five-year track record of funding and publishing journal-quality research, and determine the strategic direction of the organization.^[16]
• In 2015, Grant Thornton has become a multi-year sponsor of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team. The Hornets and Grant Thornton will enter into a multi-year advertising arrangement that includes the renaming of the Crown Club as the “Grant Thornton Crown Club.”^[17]

References

External links

• Grant Thornton LLP – official website
• Grant Thornton International – official website