Allinial Global, formerly PKF North America, has broken ranks with PKF International potentially leaving the network without members in the region.
Allinial Global president Terry Snyder has confirmed to this magazine that the new association’s board members had voted unanimously to leave PKF North America.
"It was necessary for us to create a brand we own and that we could develop for our members in North America. That was the starting point for Allinial Global," he said.
Allinial Global started life as Associated Regional Accounting Firms (ARAF), which was linked to Polaris International. Both joined PKF International in 2002 to increase their presence, and thus PKF North America was born.
"Over a period of years, we noticed that PKF and ARAF, now Allinial Global, had different strategies," Snyder said.
He explained that ARAF member firms were reluctant to incorporate the PKF branding into their original names, as it may have caused confusion in the market place.
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By GlobalData"We never stood in the middle of that, but we thought it should be an individual decision," Snyder continued.
Snyder said that to his knowledge none of Allinial Global’s firms (that were formerly under the PKF North America branch) have indicated they will seek independent membership with PKF international.
"If members wish to conduct business with PKF International, they still can," he added.
Presently and according to their website, Allinial Global has 97 firms in 13 countries and annual fee incomes of $1.6bn for FY14.
According to International Accounting Bulletin latest world survey, PKF International reported revenues of $1.6bn in North America which would suggest that the network as lost all its member firms in the region.
However there has not been an official announcement as to how many firms PKF International has retained in the North America region.
At the time of publication PKF International had not responded to this magazine’s inquiries for comment.