PCAOB 2021 inspection reports: PwC sees best results again; EY deficiencies increase
By 
Maria L. Murphy2022-12-22T17:40:00
For the second straight year, PwC fared the best among inspection results released by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) for the largest U.S. audit firms, including each of the Big Four, Grant Thornton, and BDO.
The results, posted Monday, cover the 2021 inspection cycle. Only two of PwC’s 56 audits reviewed (3.6 percent) returned deficiencies, a slight increase over last year’s rate (1.9 percent) but still a far cry from the 30 percent the firm was at in 2019.
Second place among the Big Four firms went to Deloitte (13 percent), followed by EY (21.4 percent) and KPMG (25.9 percent). EY’s 2021 inspection results ended the firm’s prior trend of declining deficiencies in each year from 2017-20, while KPMG’s results improved for a fourth consecutive year.
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