Professional services: Follow one offering through the chain
Audit, tax, legal, consulting and engineering design firms selling expert judgement
Follow one offering through the chain
The annual audit of a listed company
Follow one statutory audit of an Indian listed company from the CA exam hall to the signed opinion investors rely on.
A qualification few manage to pass
10.97%CA Final both-groups pass rate, Jan 2026Only a chartered accountant can sign an Indian company's statutory audit, and becoming one takes years of study plus articleship in a firm. The exams are a steep filter: in the January 2026 CA Final, just 10.97% of the 22,293 candidates sitting both groups passed, and 7,590 people qualified in all. Trainees still do much of an audit's routine work.1
Constraint Low pass rates and multi-year articleship mean the supply of qualified audit staff responds only slowly to demand. Education and researchRules on who may audit
10 yearslongest audit tenure for one firmThe law limits how long one firm may audit a listed company: under the Companies Act 2013 an audit firm can serve at most two terms of five years before it must rotate out. The National Financial Reporting Authority, created by the same Act, inspects audits of listed companies and can fine firms and debar auditors, while ICAI disciplines its members.2
Constraint Rotation forces listed companies to change auditor at least every ten years, yet few firms have the scale for the largest audits. Public administration, defence and securityDesks in Grade A towers
82.6 msfoffice space leased in India, 2025Audit teams and delivery centres work from leased Grade A offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad and Chennai. India's top nine cities leased a record 82.6 million sq ft of office space in 2025, CBRE reports, with global capability centres taking about 39% in the last quarter, and Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR about 61% of the year's total.3
Constraint Offices need air conditioning and diesel backup, and a few metros hold most Grade A space, concentrating talent and rents. Cem CementSt SteelAl AluminiumHFC Fluorochemicals and refrigerantsHP Heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigerationReal estateConstruction and infrastructureAudit software and AI review tools
$1.3bnThomson Reuters tax and audit revenue, 2025Auditors work through software: audit management platforms, analytics that test every ledger entry, and legal and tax research databases sold on subscription. Thomson Reuters, one of the largest vendors, earned US$ 1.3 billion in 2025 from tax, audit and accounting professionals, up 11% organically against 7% for the group as a whole as AI drafting and review tools spread.4
Constraint A few publishers own the core legal, tax and audit databases, and switching means retraining staff and migrating years of working papers. Software and IT servicesAI and digital platformsData centres and cloudLegwork done in Indian delivery centres
2,117global capability centres in India, FY26Much audit legwork, from testing transactions to drafting working papers, is done by large delivery teams, including centres the big networks run in India for their US and European practices. India hosted 2,117 global capability centres employing more than 23.6 lakh people in 2025-26, with estimated revenue of US$ 98.4 billion, much of it finance, analytics and engineering work.5
Constraint Delivery depends on US and European clients, so visa rules, currency moves and outsourcing tax proposals can shift work quickly. Dist Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectorsICE Internal combustion engines and gensetsBld Energy in buildingsSoftware and IT servicesTelecommunicationsReal estateSix networks sign most opinions
66%Nifty 500 audits by six networks, FY26Finally the audit partner signs an opinion that the accounts give a true and fair view, which investors and regulators rely on. Six networks, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, Grant Thornton and BDO (through MSKA in India), audited 330 Nifty 500 companies in 2025-26, about 66%, Prime Database found. Deloitte alone earned US$ 70.5 billion worldwide in fiscal 2025.6,7,8
Constraint Concentration means one firm's scandal or ban hits many listed companies; Britain's Big Four took 98% of FTSE 350 audit fees in 2024. Software and IT servicesFinance: banking, insurance, marketsAI and digital platformsWhat the chain shows
Audit capacity is set by people and law, not materials: exam pass rates, rotation rules and a few networks decide supply, while India supplies ever more of the labour.
Sources
- ICAI CA Final January result 2026: pass percentage drops to 10.97%; over 7,500 qualify Careers360, 2026
- The Companies Act, 2013 (sections 132 and 139) India Code, Ministry of Law and Justice, 2013
- India office leasing hits record 82.6 mn sq ft in 2025 led by GCC demand (CBRE data) IANS, 2026
- Thomson Reuters reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results Thomson Reuters (via Nasdaq), 2026
- India's GCC industry records $98.4 billion revenue in FY26 (Awfis and Zinnov report) Free Press Journal, 2026
- Big Six tighten grip on India's audit market despite mandatory rotation (Prime Database study, via The Economic Times) CAalley, 2026
- Deloitte reports FY2025 revenue Deloitte Global, 2025
- Audit market and competition developments: 2025 update Financial Reporting Council (UK), 2025