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Consulting
GSA tells agencies to target top 10 consulting firms for cuts [Federal News Network]
The General Services Administration is making a second, more direct push to strongly encourage agencies to cut “nonessential” consulting contracts by March 7. And this time, it’s telling agencies to target contractors they believe agencies are spending the most with. “Based on available procurement data, we have identified the 10 highest paid consulting firms listed below are set to receive over $65 billion in fees in 2025 and future years. This needs to, and must, change,” wrote Stephen Ehikian, acting GSA administrator.
Because of AI, Consultants Are Now Expected to Do More [Inc.]
Artificial Intelligence is driving a seismic disruption in consulting, altering everything from how firms structure projects to how individual consultants add value. Firms that fail to adapt will be left behind. The good news? Those who embrace AI will unlock new levels of efficiency, insight, and strategic impact. The latest Management Consulted Salary Report 2025 underscores this shift: “Clients are now asking firms to help them deliver on a dual mandate: Drive growth and optimization simultaneously.” AI is at the core of this demand, forcing consultants to think differently about how they deliver value.
‘Hiring is back on’ for UK consulting [Financial Times]
“Hiring is back on,” says Lisa Fernihough, head of KPMG UK’s advisory division. “There are areas across industry where we’re running very hot with [demand for] certain skills,” she adds, especially in data, cloud services, cyber, technology and risk. “We’re in the foothills of AI discovery, and we need more people for a period of time. Any time you have a transformation you need more people.”
Saudi Arabia’s PIF bans PwC advisory, consulting services: What to know [Al-Monitor]
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has temporarily suspended the global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers from advisory and consulting services contracts, according to a report published Friday, restricting its business in one of the world’s fastest growing markets. Executives at the Public Investment Fund, which has more than 100 subsidiaries, have been told to stop granting consulting projects to PwC until February 2026, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The sources said PwC’s auditing projects would not be affected. The reason behind the decision is unclear.
ICYMI: Deloitte’s Lucrative DOD Business Is Looking Cooked, Guys [GC]
We found nearly $2 billion in @DeptVetAffairs contracts that we’ll be canceling so we can redirect the funds back to Veterans health care and benefits.
No more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides and write meeting minutes! pic.twitter.com/z1gv3PKhfA— VA Secretary Doug Collins (@SecVetAffairs) February 25, 2025
TowerBrook Capital Partners acquires BRG [Consulting.us]
Private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Berkeley Research Group (BRG), an Emeryville, CA-based management consulting firm. As part of the transaction, Endeavour Capital will exit its investment in BRG. The Portland, OR-based private equity firm invested in BRG in 2017.
M&A
Baker Tilly to snap up Hayflich CPAs [International Accounting Bulletin]
Advisory, tax, and assurance firm Baker Tilly has announced its intent for the acquisition of Hayflich CPAs, an accounting firm serving West Virginia, US. With offices in Huntington and Charleston, Hayflich CPAs has been in operation since 1952. As part of the transaction, Baker Tilly US will acquire attest assets, while Baker Tilly Advisory Group, will acquire non attest assets.
Audit
Keller school board member frustrated that colleagues hid cost of district audit [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]
Keller school board member Chelsea Kelly said she wasn’t privy to an invoice that was recently shared on social media that showed the district spent more than $90,000 on an audit from Chicago-based RSM, a financial consulting firm. Another FW S-T article on the topic states “In recent days, parents on a Keller Facebook page have questioned the cost of the RSM audit, as well as the process by which RSM was selected to perform the audit.”
State audit finds ‘systemic lack of internal controls’ at Tulsa Public Schools [The Oklahoman]
After two and a half years investigating Tulsa Public Schools, state auditors reported they found a pervasive lack of transparency when spending money and repeated efforts to avoid school board scrutiny. State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd released a 60-page audit report Wednesday reviewing financial irregularities in the state’s largest school district. Auditors investigated financial records from 2015 to 2023, focusing on the actions of top-level administrators. “Any dollar wasted in education is cheating a child out of a needed resource, and we have to find a way to make sure that the money we allocate to schools gets to the teachers and the students who need it,” Byrd said at a news conference revealing the auditing findings.
Legal battle heats up as Chicago Teachers Union refuses to release years of missing audits [The Lion]
“What are they hiding?” That’s the question the Chicago Teachers Union is facing after failing to release audits for more than four years, despite its own legally binding bylaws requiring the union to do so. The CTU’s bylaws state that the union’s financial secretary “shall furnish an audited report” each year, but it has not done so since 2019.
Talent
How Mass Layoffs at the IRS Will Affect Tax Season [Time]
In a statement obtained by the Washington Post, former IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, who worked under President Donald Trump’s first term, stated that “there should not be a significant impact on current filing season operations.”
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News
German court says EY not liable for damages in Wirecard lawsuit [Reuters]
A German court said on Friday that EY Germany cannot be held liable for damages in a lawsuit by former Wirecard shareholders over its allegedly flawed audits of the now-defunct payments group. EY faced considerable fallout from the 2020 collapse of Wirecard – one of Europe’s biggest ever accounting scandals – including a two-year ban on taking on new audits for companies of public interest. The auditing company could not be held liable because its reports on Wirecard did not qualify as a “public capital market information”, Judge Andrea Schmidt said in justifying the decision
More than 75% of CFOs Expect to Increase or Maintain Sustainability Investment After Trump Election: BDO Survey [ESG Today]
Over three quarters of CFOs expect that their companies will maintain or increase sustainability-focused investments even after the recent U.S. election, although investment focus will shift away from environmental and social impact, and towards areas addressing stakeholder expectations and business operations, according to a new U.S.-focused survey released by accounting and advisory firm BDO.
House Passes G.O.P. Budget Plan for Deep Cuts to Taxes and Spending [New York Times]
The House on Tuesday narrowly passed a Republican budget resolution that called for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $2 trillion reduction in federal spending over a decade, a first step for advancing major elements of President Trump’s domestic agenda. The plan’s passage — shortly after the vote appeared to have been canceled — set up a fight among Republicans over what federal programs to slash to finance major tax cuts.
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