Private Equity Methodology

IFAC determines the number of accountancy firms impacted by private equity ("PE") investment using the following terminology and data resources.

“Impacted” refers to 1) accountancy firms that receive direct equity investment from private equity investor or 2) accountancy firms that are acquired, merged, or otherwise amalgamated with an entity that has already received direct equity investment from private equity.

Accountancy firms ("Firms") are defined as organizations that perform one or more of the following services:

• Accounting software
• Advisory & consulting
• Audit and assurance
• Bookkeeping
• Internal audit
• Financial reporting
• Outsourced finance department
• Payroll services
• Tax

IFAC identifies and records PE investment transactions in four ways:

1. Google text searches in 15 languages
2. Press releases from accountancy entities and/or private equity asset managers who have entered into transactions
3. Industry news outlets
4. Notices from IFAC's stakeholder network