An increase in ICAEW students in 2023 has bucked the trend of sluggish sectoral growth over the past year, with ACA student numbers in the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI) increasing 8.5% to 24,348, compared with a cross-institute average 0.2% decrease. 

The Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) 22nd edition of its Key Facts and Trends report offers a comprehensive overview of the UK accountancy and audit landscape across seven accountancy bodies, which between them boast more than 405,000 members in the UK and the ROI and more than 616,000 members worldwide. 

Student numbers stabilise

Overall, membership of the accountancy bodies continues to grow both in the UK and worldwide, and student numbers have stabilised following a decline in recent years, according to the latest analysis by the accountancy regulator. 

However, ICAEW’s 5.5% compound annual growth rate of student members in the UK and ROI between 2019 and 2023 compares with an average decline of 1.4% over the same period and outperforms other institutes.

At the same time, ICAEW student numbers worldwide increased 6.7% from 2022 to 2023 compared with a negligible 0.1% sector average increase. This brings the total number of worldwide ICAEW students to 38,490.

Accountancy – an attractive career choice

More broadly, the survey reaffirms the attractiveness of accountancy as a career choice, with the total number of students in the UK and ROI now at more than 155,000 and global student numbers surpassing 585,000.

Will Holt, ICAEW Managing Director, Education and Training, says: “This report from the FRC demonstrates that the accountancy profession continues to be a popular choice for those who are starting their careers.

“Our membership numbers remain robust and this data shows the recent growth in the number of people choosing to train with ICAEW.”

Audit market consolidation

The report also shows that the trend of consolidation across the audit market shows no sign of abating, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of audit firms registered with the Recognised Supervisory Bodies (RSBs). At 31 December 2023, the total number of registered audit firms was 4,038, compared with 4,310 in 2022 and 4,745 in 2021.

Despite this, there was an increase in the number of FTSE 350 audits undertaken by firms outside of the Big Four, now reaching a tally of 41, up from 35 in 2022.

After the relatively high growth in total fee income of 11.9% last year, the Big Four audit firms again saw total UK fee income increase by 11.1% in 2023. For firms outside of the Big Four, while total fee income increased by 13.2% in 2023, this was lower than the 18.5% increase in 2022. This could partly be explained by the net increase of one more non-Big Four firm responding to this year’s survey. 

Audit fees up

In 2023, total fee income for Big Four UK firms and non-Big Four firms grew by less than last year but still rose by 11.1% and 13.2% respectively. Audit fee income for the Big Four UK firms increased by 19.5% in 2023, compared with a 7.6% increase last year. 

Meanwhile, audit fee income for audit firms outside the Big Four increased by 23.2% in 2023 compared with a 23.3% increase in 2023, again likely to be because of the inclusion of figures from an additional non-Big Four firm in this year’s survey. The increase in audit fee income for non-Big Four firms was 18.3% on average. 

Fees for non-audit work to audit clients decreased by 8.9% for the Big Four UK firms, compared with a decrease of 16.4% in 2022. In contrast, non-Big Four firms saw a decrease in these fees of 4.5% in 2023, compared with an increase of 6.2% last year. The decrease in fees for non-audit work to audit clients for non-Big Four firms was 4.4% on average.

Non-audit work to audit clients down

Fee income for non-audit work to audit clients fell by 8.9% for Big Four UK firms and 4.5% for non-Big Four firms in 2023, even with one more non-Big Four firm answering the survey this year.

This year’s report features data from 33 firms with Public Interest Entity (PIE) clients, out of a total of 41, representing a diverse range of company sizes: 11 firms with under 200 employees, 12 with 200-2000 employees and 10 with more than 2000 employees. It also provides data on the profession’s demographics, including age, gender and ethnic diversity across seniority levels and firm sizes, highlighting both progress and persistent disparities.

Read the full report, containing detailed statistics and trend analysis.