Public Company Audit (SEC)
PCAOB-registered firms performing audits for SEC-registered issuers.
Market snapshot
These figures describe Audit & Assurance (1.1.1), the segment that Public Company Audit (SEC) sits within — not Public Company Audit (SEC) on its own.
- Market size
- ~$145B
- Growth
- ~7.0%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
- Companies
- ~50,885 firms
95.3% of firms have fewer than 20 employees — 48,511 micro-businesses, below most mandates.
- 20–99
- 2,01585%
- 100–499
- 27111%
- 500+
- 884%
Percentages are of the 20+ employee universe. 20–99 and 100–499 are the lower-middle market; 500+ is at scale.
Audit is one service line within these offices — receipts span audit, tax, and advisory.
NAICS 541211. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Engagement fees on recurring annual audit and attestation cycles
Key economics
- Revenue per firm
- $2,844,243
- Revenue per employee
- $243,722
- Employees per firm
- 11.3
- Recurring revenue
- High
- EBITDA margin
- 15–25% (owner-comp adjusted)
- Capex intensity
- Low
annual audits renew with high switching costs
Characteristics
- Balanced cost base — payroll is 37% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
- Moderate strategic-buyer pool — 88 firms exceed 500 employees; a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
- Independence rules constrain cross-selling and shape how PE can own audit firms.
- Annual recurrence and regulatory necessity make revenue durable and predictable.
- Talent scarcity — the CPA pipeline — is the binding capacity constraint.
NAICS 541211. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.
M&A deal context
Who’s acquiring
- PE-backed platforms (alternative practice structures)
- National & super-regional CPA firms
- Consolidating regional firms
What’s driving deals
- Independence rules pushing deals into alternative practice structures that separate attest from advisory.
- Aging partners and succession gaps driving sales of independent firms.
- Buyers chasing capacity and talent more than the audit margin itself.
Find Public Company Audit (SEC) acquisition targets
Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Public Company Audit (SEC) (1.1.1.4) and build a targeted deal pipeline.
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