The Forum of (some) Firms

News that Baker Tilly International (BTI) has announced its intention to withdraw from the Forum of Firms at the end of the year has caused much discussion amongst others in the accounting profession - and perhaps further afield too.  The fact that the news has only recently emerged when BTI would have had to have given notice on 31 December is, perhaps, an indication of the efforts to which the Forum must have gone to try and persuade BTI to stay.

The Forum, membership of which was originally promoted as being essential to those global organisations that wanted to carry out multimational audits because of the kitemark that it would provide to its members, has had a troubled history.  Goalposts moved as the profession was battered by scandals in its early years, and more recently there has been internal dissent over rising costs - and the way they are allocated.

Geoff Barnes of BTI is quoted as citing 'costs' and 'value for money' as reasons behind their decision.  David Maxwell of the Forum talks of the large number of firms considering membership.  One wouldn't expect either of them to say anything else.

The mid tier clearly can provide an alternative to The Big 4 accounting firms in many situations.  Certainly within MSI Global Alliance (www.msiglobal.org), we are seeing more and more evidence that clients are recognising this too. 

And with certain international organisations flourishing despite not being members of the Forum, it will be interesting to see how things evolve for the Forum as a result of the BTI decision.  As firms and networks begin to feel the pinch, there is a feeling amongst some within the profession that, with BTI having taken the lead, others may feel emboldened to follow suit.  We shall see.

James Mendelssohn (jmendelssohn@msiglobal.org)
www.msiglobal.org

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