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    Consulting

    Today

    Former Air Force officer Bee Levett is one of 49 new partners at KPMG.

    KPMG appoints ex-RAAF officer as part of halved partner intake

    KPMG has announced a significantly reduced intake of new partners as it pivots away from generalist consulting.

    • Maxim Shanahan

    Yesterday

    Kerryn Coker and Kate West believe the cooperative model has, in addition to its benefits for work-life balance, allowed more effective strategic and operational guidance of the company.

    ‘Non-conforming bid’ that took dynamic duo to the top

    The winners of the Professional Services category are two Arup engineers who proposed a unique joint arrangement to enable them to balance leadership and family commitments.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    Michael Simkovic, left, of CSO Group with Wayne Gowland of xAmplify who are joining forces.

    ‘Merger of equals’ as two Aussie tech services firms become one

    The combined business will compete in a growing but crowded field as firms scramble to up their cybersecurity and add AI to their services.

    • Nick Bonyhady

    This Month

    Ilan Leshetz and Asha Walsh, of Oaktree Talent Group, say lifestyle considerations are a factor in consultants wanting to exit their firms.

    Tough jobs market for consultants wanting to jump ship to industry

    Advisers seeking exit opportunities or new roles after job cuts are facing fierce competition for ‘transformation’ and ‘strategy’ roles in companies.

    • Edmund Tadros
    Accenture dwarfed its high-profile rivals, booking $341 million in contracts starting in FY2021, down from $432 million in 2019-20.

    Consultants to lose $5.76b of UK government work

    Public sector consultants are under attack in the UK, following a pullback on their use by the Australian government.

    • Simon Foy
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    • AI

    EY looks to Microsoft as consultants seek AI sales edge

    EY is giving all staff access to Microsoft’s new AI sales assistant in an effort to win tech-related advisory and software installation contracts. 

    • Tess Bennett
    Jeremy Thorpe hsa left PwC after almost 17 years as a partner and is now a director a Sapere in Sydney on June 14, 2024. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

    Economist Jeremy Thorpe goes boutique after PwC Australia

    The long-time PwC partner said there had been a clear shift in client demand “away from the big four consulting firms”.

    • Edmund Tadros
    Anshuman Sengar is from consulting firm Kearney, a local AI leader.

    How this senior consultant uses AI to get more work done

    Kearney’s Anshuman Sengar says using generative AI tools to summarise meetings, write emails and research topics has helped him become more effective at work.

    • Edmund Tadros
    KPMG partner Paul Howes.

    From union boss to KPMG chief: ‘Unlearning’ key to Paul Howes’ success

    The senior KPMG partner is as surprised as anyone else that he will chalk up 10 years at the firm next month.

    • Edmund Tadros

    KPMG launches radical overhaul, cuts 200 senior jobs

    KPMG Australia will overhaul its consulting business to focus on tech-related advisory and software installation as part of an $80 million cost-cutting exercise that will include cutting about 200 roles at the firm.

    • Edmund Tadros
    The Senate inquiry has been met with relief inside the sector.

    Consulting pile-on wound back

    The argument for a more company-like corporate form and regulation of professional services partnerships raises two questions that will need thinking through.

    • The AFR View
    Former PwC partner Wayne Plummer.

    Former PwC Australia partner flags legal action against firm

    A former senior partner, Wayne Plummer, has indicated he will sue the firm after being publicly linked to its tax leaks scandal.

    • Edmund Tadros and Maxim Shanahan
    What the Senate inquiry into the consulting industry found about each of the big four firms.

    What Senate inquiry said about big four, now trying to ‘rebuild trust’

    The big four consultancies have welcomed the Senate’s final report into the sector, which largely avoided direct criticism of individuals and firms.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    Ian Gow, University of Melbourne professor and author, warned of a potential extinction-level event over tax auditing among the big four.

    Big four can’t be allowed to stay in ‘grey zone’ of PwC scandal

    The Senate report makes it clear the big accounting firms have fallen through the regulatory gaps. That structural problem must eventually be addressed.

    • James Thomson
    A Senate inquiry wants the big four consulting firms to be subject to stricter oversight.

    The consulting free-for-all in Canberra is coming to an end

    A Senate committee’s recommendations go beyond changes made by the federal government after the PwC tax leaks scandal.

    • Edmund Tadros
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    The consulting inquiry’s Senator Barbara Pocock.

    Greens call for accounting firms to be limited to 100 partners

    The maximum size of accounting partnerships should be cut from 1000 to 100, and audit firms should be forced to separate their consulting divisions, the Greens say.

    • Edmund Tadros and Maxim Shanahan
    Key players in the Senate inquiry into consultants: Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, Liberal senator and committee chairman Richard Colbeck and Greens senator Barbara Pocock.

    Inquiry calls for strict new rules for big four consulting firms

    Parliamentary approval of contracts and a review of laws governing partnerships are among the final recommendations of a Senate inquiry into outsourcing.

    • Edmund Tadros and Maxim Shanahan
    Karen Chester says if companies want to tender for government consulting work, they must be “a proprietary limited company, and thus subject to directors’ duties”.

    The simple fix to the PwC scandal that consultants would hate

    On the eve of the final report of the Senate inquiry into the consulting sector, a simple way of ensuring accountability has been proposed.

    • James Thomson
    Courtney Houssos, the minister for domestic manufacturing and government procurement.

    Consultants costing NSW twice as much as public servants: report

    The government report also found the big four consulting firms were “increasingly doing generalist work” for the NSW public sector.

    • Edmund Tadros

    The rare bright spot in a difficult consulting market

    The Australian arm of Alvarez & Marsal has expanded to 54 managing directors and 300 staff since its launch and is now generating “tens of millions” in local revenue.

    • Edmund Tadros