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1. Introduction
This article presents in detail the history， evolution and reorganization of the Big Four along with presenting the future of the firms. As we all know， the Big Four is the name given to the top four professional consultancy firms of the world namely PwC （PriceWaterhouse Coopers）， KPMG， Ernst and Young and Deloitte. These firms provide audit， accounting， taxation， financial and other professional consultancy to the clients （being businesses and companies）. The discussions below is the history of these firms including the reason of formation of the Big Four and their journey towards being big four.
2. The History of the Big Four – The Big Eight
This name was given to the eight top most audit and accounting firms of the world in the beginning of the twentieth century. Before their evolution as the Big Four， the Big Eight comprised of the following accounting and auditing firms （Mattera 2002）：
a） Arthur Andersen
It was an international professional services firm founded in the year 1913 and went out of business in the year 2002 because of the major ethical and business scandal involving Enron Corporation （as discussed below in detail）. The firm majorly provided consultation services， assurance services， taxation services， corporate finance and legal services to its clients. It operated in around 84 countries. In 1989 this firm was ranked as the world’s second-largest accounting and auditing firm and United States’ biggest accounting and auditing firm. （Gaines and Cohen 1989）
b） Arthur Young and Company
The firm had its headquarters in the New York， United States and was ranked as the sixth largest auditing and accounting firm in the world in 1980s （Gaines
This article presents in detail the history， evolution and reorganization of the Big Four along with presenting the future of the firms. As we all know， the Big Four is the name given to the top four professional consultancy firms of the world namely PwC （PriceWaterhouse Coopers）， KPMG， Ernst and Young and Deloitte. These firms provide audit， accounting， taxation， financial and other professional consultancy to the clients （being businesses and companies）. The discussions below is the history of these firms including the reason of formation of the Big Four and their journey towards being big four.
2. The History of the Big Four – The Big Eight
This name was given to the eight top most audit and accounting firms of the world in the beginning of the twentieth century. Before their evolution as the Big Four， the Big Eight comprised of the following accounting and auditing firms （Mattera 2002）：
a） Arthur Andersen
It was an international professional services firm founded in the year 1913 and went out of business in the year 2002 because of the major ethical and business scandal involving Enron Corporation （as discussed below in detail）. The firm majorly provided consultation services， assurance services， taxation services， corporate finance and legal services to its clients. It operated in around 84 countries. In 1989 this firm was ranked as the world’s second-largest accounting and auditing firm and United States’ biggest accounting and auditing firm. （Gaines and Cohen 1989）
b） Arthur Young and Company
The firm had its headquarters in the New York， United States and was ranked as the sixth largest auditing and accounting firm in the world in 1980s （Gaines