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How many accountancy firms are there in the UK?
As seen on
How many accountancy firms are there in the UK?
It’s estimated that there are around 40,275 accountancy firms in the UK. The majority of these are fairly small in headcount—around 80% of them are made up of four or fewer employees, not necessarily surprising given the UK’s well developed freelance professional services market.
Income-wise, roughly 46% of firms generate under £100,000 per year. While these numbers aren’t broken down by size of firm, given an average chartered accountant will earn around £134,000 in salary, with an average yearly bonus of over £17,000. So it might be fair to assume the lower end of the market primarily consists of freelance/independent accountants, with perhaps a few 2-3 person businesses (that might include 1-2 non-chartered accountants) at the upper end.
Let’s take a deeper look at the numbers and consider the health of the UK’s accountancy market, which many consider to be among the strongest (and most competitive) in the world.
How many accountancy firms are there in the UK by region?
The UK’s 40,275 accountancy firms are broken down by country as follows:
| Region | Number of VAT/PAYE registered enterprises |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 40,275 |
| England | 36,425 |
| Scotland | 1,910 |
| Wales | 1,225 |
| Northern Ireland | 715 |
How many accountancy firms are there in England?
There were 40,275 VAT/PAYE registered accountancy-related enterprises in England in 2023.
Within England, London and the South East account for nearly 50% of the total accountancy firms, reaffirming the status of London and its surrounding areas as a financial hub, both within England and further afield—especially unsurprising given that Lloyd’s of London, one of the world’s leading insurance markets, is based in the capital.
| Region | Number of VAT/PAYE registered enterprises |
|---|---|
| London | 9,670 |
| South East | 6,755 |
| East | 4,335 |
| North West | 3,690 |
| South West | 3,200 |
| West Midlands | 3,130 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 2,415 |
| East Midlands | 2,370 |
| North East | 860 |
How much do the UK’s accounting firms make?
The median UK accountancy firm would be at the lower end of the £100,000-£249,999 turnover per year band, likely somewhere around the £125,000 mark.
As there aren’t a huge number of firms at the very top of the market, the differences in the size of the turnover bands at the upper end versus the lower (for example, from £10,000,000-£49,999,000 versus from £50,000-£99,999) make any ‘average’ turnover estimate heavily weighted in favour of the top end (assuming a typical firm in each band makes the median value of the band, so £74,500 for our £50,000-£99,999 group). That being said, the average turnover for the data set comes in around £520,000+ per year.
| Turnover banding | Number of VAT/PAYE registered enterprises |
|---|---|
| £0-£49,999 | 7,280 |
| £50,000-£99,999 | 11,290 |
| £100,000-£249,999 | 13,745 |
| £250,000-£499,999 | 3,825 |
| £500,000-£999,999 | 2,055 |
| £1,000,000-£1,999,999 | 1025 |
| £2,000,000-£4,999,999 | 595 |
| £5,000,000-£9,999,999 | 190 |
| £10,000,000-£49,999,999 | 200 |
| £50,000,000+ | 70 |
How many employees does an average UK accounting firm have?
The median UK registered accounting enterprise has between 1-2 employees, likely as a result of the strong freelance accountancy market within the UK. The ‘average’ firm, again as a result of wider upper bands, has just over 5.5 employees.
| Number of employees | Number of VAT/PAYE registered enterprises |
|---|---|
| 0-4 | 31,570 |
| 5-9 | 4,975 |
| 10-19 | 2,205 |
| 20-49 | 990 |
| 50-99 | 275 |
| 100-249 | 140 |
| 250+ | 120 |
Number of accountants in the UK
The Central Council of Accounting Bodies (CCAB) has around 275,000 members within the UK and Ireland. The CCAB is made up of five member organisations—ACCA, CIPFA, ICAEW, ICAS and Chartered Accountants Ireland—and represents the qualified chartered accountants of the UK and Ireland.
It's more difficult to say how many total accountants there are in the UK, as many have never qualified or may have achieved qualifications unrecognised by the CCAB (especially at the junior end of the market). For what it's worth, the general number of accountants in the market appears to be down, as analysis by the FRC ending 2023 put membership of the 5 CCAB bodies at roughly 400,000.
| Body | Number of members (FRC, October 2023) |
|---|---|
| ACCA | 109,625 |
| CIMA | 85,953 |
| CIPFA | 12,347 |
| ICAEW | 139,050 |
| ICAS | 20,660 |
| AIA | 1,406 |
Methodology
Figures are taken from the Office of National Statistics, and represent any VAT/PAYE registered enterprises engaged in accounting, bookkeeping/auditing or tax consultancy activities. Data represents a snapshot as of March 2023, unless otherwise stated.
Figures include any enterprise that is either PAYE registered, or meets the VAT earnings threshold of £85,000, which might comprise of small/medium/large businesses, partnerships and sole traders.