KPMG and the Accounting Scandal

By Ian Verrender

Topic: Corporate Governance

On Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 4:51 am

KPMG is in a global scandal because of its work in Australia

Accountants are often seen as boring

Before famous accountants, people thought accountants were nerdy and uninteresting

There's a funny scene in Monty Python's Flying Circus about an accountant

In the scene, a man says being an accountant is dull and boring

The man says he wants to live and have fun, not just do boring work

The counselor tells the man that he is indeed a dull person

Times have changed for accountants

Now, accountants are often in the news for bad behavior

In recent years, accountants have been creative with numbers

There are allegations of secret deals and misuse of information

KPMG is the latest accounting firm to be in a global scandal

Former and current KPMG leaders will be questioned by parliament

KPMG is accused of using secret information to get new clients

Three years ago, PwC was in trouble for leaking government secrets

KPMG has made its problems worse by ignoring a whistleblower

Accountants have been in trouble before

The Big Four accounting firms used to be the Big Five

Arthur Andersen was the biggest accounting firm, but it failed

Arthur Andersen was in trouble for hiding debts and shredding documents

The firm was also in trouble for its work with Bond Corporation

There have been many accounting scandals in Australia

EY, KPMG, and PwC were in trouble after the global financial crisis

PwC was fined $60 million, but penalties are rare

PwC was fined for its work with Storm Financial, but it got off easy

The Big Four firms have made a lot of money from government contracts

Audit work is not very profitable, but it leads to more lucrative work

The Australian government has paid the Big Four billions of dollars

John Howard cut the public service, but the work still needed to be done

The Big Four firms took over the work and made a lot of money

In the last decade, the government paid the Big Four over $10 billion

The Department of Defence spent almost $4 billion on contracts

KPMG is in trouble for its actions

It started with a speech in the Senate by Deborah O'Neill

She talked about allegations that KPMG used secret information

The allegations said KPMG used information from an audit to get new work

KPMG has been in trouble for the past three months

The CEO and audit boss left the firm after the allegations were proven

The government has almost 300 contracts with KPMG, worth $653 million

KPMG apologized and said it would do better

The firm elevated the whistleblower to a protected status

There will be a parliamentary hearing to investigate KPMG

Lend Lease leaders will be at the hearing to talk about the allegations

KPMG leaders will be questioned about their actions

Independent board members will also be questioned

Other senior executives will be asked about their roles

Law firm partners will be questioned about their involvement

Deborah O'Neill wants to find out the truth

She says KPMG and its advisors tried to stop the investigation

KPMG has been frozen out of government contracts for three months

The Greens have referred KPMG to the National Anti-Corruption Commission

KPMG is still working on 297 government contracts

PwC survived a scandal by getting rid of its consulting arm

The effects of the scandal are affecting KPMG's global operations

KPMG International refused to investigate the allegations

The London-based firm hopes it won't be linked to the scandal

On Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 4:51 am

On Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 8:31 am

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