Crowe Horwath

Crowe Horwath, LLP

Type	Limited Liability Partnership
Industry	Professional Services
Founded	South Bend, Indiana, U.S. (1942)
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Key people	Charles M. Allen, CEO
Services	Audit Tax Consulting Financial Advisory
Revenue	US$664.6 million (2014)
Number of employees	3,000 (July 2014)
Website	www.crowehorwath.com

Crowe Horwath LLP is a North American member of Crowe Horwath International, one of the 10 largest networks in the world. It is one of the largest professional services firms with offices throughout the United States, including California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.^[1] In addition to its U.S. presence, Crowe serves clients worldwide as an independent member of the Crowe Horwath International global professional services network.^[2] Crowe's services include assurance, benefit plans, financial advisory, forensic services, performance consulting, risk consulting, tax and technology, among others. Crowe customers primarily consists of large and middle market public companies and large privately held businesses.

According to Accounting Today, SourceMedia’s publication servicing the public accounting profession in the United States, Crowe ranked eighth in net revenue among the nation's top 100 public accounting and consulting firms in 2014.^[3] According to its company website, Crowe brands itself as "The Unique Alternative to the Big Four."^[4]

History

Crowe was founded in 1942 in South Bend, Indiana by Fred P. Crowe Sr. and Cletus (Clete) F. Chizek. Fred previously worked in public accounting for many years and served as the St. Joseph County auditor for eight years. Clete was head of the accounting department at the University of Notre Dame and worked part-time in public accounting. According to the company website, the firm has offices coast to coast and 3,000 personnel across the U.S.

Crowe also serves clients worldwide as a leading independent member of Crowe Horwath International, a global professional services network that it joined in 1991. The name of the firm was changed from Crowe Chizek and Company LLC to Crowe Horwath LLP on September 1, 2008.

Services

Crowe offers the following services:

• Audit: services include external audit, financial reporting, accounting advisory, benefit plan audit and specialized audits.
• Tax: services include federal, state and local, international, tax accounting and private client.
• Advisory: services are categorized into 10 service lines:

1. Bankruptcy and insolvency
2. Benefit plan consulting and compliance services
3. Business management
4. Forensic services
5. Fresh-start accounting
6. Investment banking
7. Restructuring advisory
8. Transaction services
9. Merger and acquisition integration
10. Valuation

• Risk: services include enterprise, regulatory, technology, fraud, operational and financial risk.
• Performance: services include revenue enhancement, operational improvement, advisory services and change management.^[5]

Industries overview:

• Construction
• Financial Services
• Food & Commodities
• Government
• Healthcare
• Higher Education
• Manufacturing and Distribution
• Not-for-Profit
• Private Equity Groups
• Retail Dealer^[6]

Industry Recognition

• Crowe won PAR's (Public Accounting Report’s) annual audit crown for the 2009 calendar year.^[7] This title is determined by weighing net audit wins, as well as net gains in the revenue audited of new clients, net gains in the assets audited of new clients and net gain in audit fees. PAR noted that Crowe’s “net gain of 24 SEC entities was tops among the firms analyzed…” and “Crowe posted across-the-board net gains in revenue audited, assets audited and audit fees gained for the year, according to PAR’s analysis of data compiled by AuditAnalytics.com.” Additionally, PAR noted that Crowe’s “dominant financial institutions practice” played a role in its 2009 success. The firm gained eight SEC audit wins with either commercial banks or savings institutions, including five that were previously Big Four clients. Four of Crowe’s won SEC clients in the banking or savings institutions categories boasted assets audited of more than $1 billion. Additionally, five of those new banking clients were headquartered in New York, where the firm officially opened an office after its combination with Hays & Co in 2009.

• PAR ranked Crowe as the eighth largest public accounting and consulting firm in the nation, based on 2013 U.S. net revenue.^[8]

• Crowe is one of only nine firms to be inspected annually by the Public Company Audit Oversight Board (PCAOB)because of the size of its public company audit practice, with smaller firms having an inspection every three years. As reported by World Accounting Intelligence in May 2009, Crowe received a relatively "clean bill of health" in its most recent PCAOB inspection report.^[9]

• The American Bankers Association (ABA) endorsed Crowe’s governance, risk and compliance management consulting services. Crowe’s risk management consulting services were chosen after a thorough review and analysis by ABA and its affiliate, the Corporation for American Banking, based on a wide range of factors including functionality, regulatory compliance, management strength, financial soundness and customer service. Crowe provides risk management consulting services to more than 500 financial institution clients nationally.^[10]

• Crowe has been named to the Microsoft Business Solutions President's Club. The President's Club recognizes the top 5 percent of Microsoft Business Solutions partners worldwide and their dedication to delivering solutions that meet their customers’ needs, their active pursuit of product and technological advancement and their impressive sales performance.^[11]

• The public company auditing profession and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) launched the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) in 2007. Along with the AICPA, Crowe is one of the eight firms that co-founded the CAQ. Its mission is to foster confidence in the audit process and to aid investors and the capital markets by advancing constructive suggestions for change based on the profession’s core values of integrity, objectivity, honesty and trust. The CAQ convenes a public dialogue with key stakeholders across the country, facilitates discussions about improvements to the quality, relevance and integrity of financial reporting and conducts research on these topics.^[12]

• In 2009, Crowe received the National Balance Award from the American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA) for its commitment to work/life balance and sensitivity to the concerns of women.^[13]

References

1. ↑
2. ↑ "Crowe Horwath LLP | Audit, Tax, Advisory, Risk, and Performance Services". Crowehorwath.com. 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2014-01-13. 
3. ↑ "Accounting Today - 2014 Top 100 Firms". Digital.accountingtoday.com. 2013-02-26. Retrieved 2014-01-13. 
4. ↑
5. ↑ "Crowe Horwath LLP Services Overview | Crowe Horwath LLP". Crowehorwath.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13. 
6. ↑ "Crowe Horwath LLP Industries Overview | Crowe Horwath LLP". Crowehorwath.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13. 
7. ↑ Public Accounting Report, January 31, 2010.
8. ↑ Public Accounting Report, July, 2014.
9. ↑
10. ↑
11. ↑
12. ↑ "Center for Audit Quality". The CAQ. 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2014-01-13. 
13. ↑

External links

• Crowe Horwath - Main site
• Crowe Horwath International - The Swiss Verein of which Crowe is part.
• Crowe Horwath companies grouped at OpenCorporates