Chair's letter

This year, deep changes are afoot that represent turning points for humanity. From explosive advances in AI deployment to the accelerating impacts of climate change, it is clear that the world will be profoundly and permanently different in coming years.  

This fast-changing environment is making it even tougher for companies to achieve sustained outcomes and earn the trust they need to succeed. In fact, our 2023 Global CEO Survey revealed that 40% of business leaders don’t think their companies will be viable in ten years if they stay on their current course. 

The New Equation is our strategy to help business leaders enhance trust with their stakeholders and achieve sustained outcomes amidst turbulent change. Today, leaders must build trust in more and more areas from sustainability to the responsible use of AI. We support leaders to earn confidence that they are having impact where it matters most. What’s more, our work with 87% of the Fortune Global 500 in more than 150 countries and virtually all industries means we can help our clients transform rapidly to succeed. 

We are here to enable business leaders to be visionary pragmatists, making big bets on long-term transformation while achieving daily executional excellence. We support leaders as they manage today’s issues while keeping their eyes on the horizon, helping them shape business models that deliver today while simultaneously transforming to succeed in a future that will look very different. 

On behalf of all of our leaders at PwC, I’d like to say how proud we are of what our talented community of solvers around the world has achieved this year to support our clients and our wider society to reach positive outcomes in the face of tumultuous change. Fundamental to our success is the depth and breadth of our community of solvers including: our alliances with innovative companies and organisations, our deployment of advanced technology which multiplies the value our people can deliver, and our people’s range of skills which makes it possible to help solve complex challenges — all underpinned by our unwavering commitment to quality.

On behalf of all of us at PwC, I would like to thank each and every one of our people for their hard work, enthusiasm and dedication. The wide range of capabilities and experiences they bring to work every day are the foundation of our success. 

In this year’s Global Annual Review, we’ll share some of the ways we are delivering on our purpose to build trust in society and solve important problems, focusing in particular on how we are helping businesses and other stakeholders navigate the tectonic changes of climate and AI.

Highlights of our year

This year, our revenue grew by 9.9% to US$53.1 billion. Revenue increased in all of our regions of operation and all of our lines of business. We believe this growth is a result of our ability to help our clients achieve sustained outcomes and earn the trust of their stakeholders.

We have continued to make significant progress on the commitments we made when we launched our strategy, The New Equation, in June 2021:

• Our headcount grew by 11.1% this year to over 364,000, so we’re already two-thirds of the way to our goal of creating 100,000 net new jobs over five years — and it’s only year two. 

• We are building our people’s capabilities to address the challenges of the 21st century. This year, almost 180,000 of our people completed sustainability upskilling, and 78,000 undertook Inclusive Mindset training. 

• We are continuing to invest US$1 billion in a multi-year programme to empower our auditors to deliver next-generation, technology-assisted audits. 

• We have made 17 acquisitions and 5 strategic investments to expand our professional capabilities in key areas from cloud to climate to cybersecurity.

• We continue to grow and demonstrate the value of our tech capabilities and alliances.

  • We invested nearly US$2 billion across our network to grow and scale our AI capabilities, launched partnerships with multiple AI leaders from Microsoft to Harvey, and rolled out AI tools across our lines of service. 

  • We won awards in 14 categories for Microsoft Partner of the Year 2023 and were awarded 2023 Digital Innovation of the Year for our global suite of AI services in audit.

  • We launched fresh partnerships with innovative companies like SAP in order to make a greater impact on issues like sustainability. 

  • This year’s PwC Solvers Challenge recognised the best of nearly 1,000 tech-powered solutions to client challenges created by PwC people.

This year, we continued to be a positive force in helping to solve urgent issues for society and business.

• We helped to demonstrate how business can be a force for good on issues from inequality to sustainability.

• We collaborated with global organisations like the World Economic Forum, the Global Solutions Initiative, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development that are dedicated to accelerating progress on societal issues.

• We contributed to debates at global events such as Davos, Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Milken Institute Global Conference, Climate Week NYC, FT Moral Money Summit, B20, the Global Solutions Summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.

• We launched our Centre for Nature Positive Business, expanding capabilities and expertise in areas such as biodiversity, water, regenerative agriculture and forestry. 

• We continued our progress toward our net zero commitments. Today, 91% of our electricity comes from renewable sources, and we have reduced our scope 1 & 2 emissions by 61% when compared to FY19.

Building trust

Building trust is at the heart of our strategy. We help our clients build trust with their stakeholders, and our own success depends on others’ confidence in us. Trust is earned slowly and lost quickly, so building and maintaining a strong ethical culture grounded in quality and integrity is a continuous journey that requires focus, dedication, and leadership from the top. 

This year, we have continued to reinforce a culture of quality. All of our major territories have committed to rolling out an initiative, spearheaded by PwC US, to further enhance trust in our assurance practice, including actions on accountability, independence, quality, and transparency. The initiative will help to enhance the quality of — and confidence in — information that drives the capital markets. By working toward a globally consistent approach, the PwC network will establish a leading position, reinforce the value of our profession, and most importantly continue to build trust with our clients and our stakeholders.

To continue to reinforce our commitment to maintaining and driving a strong ethical culture, our Global Code of Conduct and Global Tax Code of Conduct were updated this year. The Codes highlight the importance of ethical conduct, including maintaining confidentiality and supporting a speak up culture in which our partners and staff feel safe raising a question or concern, even when it is difficult to do so. An extensive year-long communications campaign is planned across the PwC network, led by our global leadership and local Territory Senior Partners, to introduce the updated codes and emphasise the key messages about our ethical culture. 

We have taken action on behaviour that goes against our values as a network. This year, it became apparent that significant breaches of confidentiality had occurred in PwC Australia. While these breaches occurred a number of years ago, the former leadership of PwC Australia had not taken appropriate responsibility for or action to investigate or remediate them since that time. These behaviors violated our standards and codes of conduct and are completely unacceptable. Under new leadership, PwC Australia has taken a number of steps to address its governance, culture and accountability in response to these issues.

In addition, we are taking steps to enhance monitoring activities, within our member firms and at the network level, as robust monitoring and remediation create the feedback loop to inform risk assessment and drive continuous improvement.

A key to society-wide change

We are proud of what our community of solvers has helped our clients achieve this year in confronting some of the world’s toughest issues. For our economy to endure sustainably, we need boundaries that reflect what is good for people and the planet. 

When I talk to business leaders, many tell me they welcome well-designed regulation that frees them to act in accord with society’s best interests. That’s why, this year, we supported policies in the public interest such as rigorous sustainability disclosures. As the range of social and environmental reporting metrics expands, we are supporting our clients to make robust disclosures — helping our clients earn trust from their stakeholders, and helping society progress faster on issues that matter. 

A year of solving together

Despite the world’s challenges, we look to the future with hope and confidence because we’ve seen first-hand what’s possible when a community of solvers comes together. We see that challenges often present opportunities, not least to build a more sustainable world. I’m proud to be part of a network that views our era of change as an opportunity to reimagine our future and embrace a more resilient and tech-empowered path. We hope you enjoy reading about what our people have helped to achieve this year working with our stakeholders on the big issues that affect us all. 

If you have comments or questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’ll be delighted to hear from you. 

Bob Moritz,
Global Chair of PwC