Forvis Mazars, a French-headquartered audit, tax, and advisory firm, has laid out an ambitious growth plan for India, aiming to scale up its workforce to 6,000 people and become one of the top six auditing firms in the country by 2030. Bharat Dhawan, Managing Partner at Forvis Mazars in India, shared the firm’s vision and strategic priorities in an exclusive interview with ETCFO.
“Our mission is to be among the top 7 or 8 firms in the next six years. We will be number 6, 7, or 8,” he said.
With a robust growth plan, strategic mergers, and a focus on quality and ethics, Forvis Mazars is well-positioned to achieve its ambitious targets and become a leading audit and advisory firm in India by 2030,” Dhawan said.
Strategic recruitment and expansion
Forvis Mazars’ strategy includes aggressive recruitment and geographical expansion. “We aim to recruit senior-level people to drive businesses, sectors, or services, and build teams under them. We are also expanding into geographies where we currently do not have a presence,” Dhawan said.
Major merger with Forvis
A landmark development for Mazars is its merger with Forvis, which became effective on June 1. “We are now going to be known as Forvis Mazars. This merger will position us as a top eight firm in the US and globally,” Dhawan said. This strategic merger is expected to significantly enhance Mazars’ client base and service capabilities in India.
Growth in FY24
“FY24 has been a very good year for us. We grew about 35 per cent during that year,” he said. This growth was driven by significant investments in new services such as forensic technology, consulting, and M&A.
Mazars currently has a workforce of 1,500 people across India. Dhawan outlined the firm’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan, aiming to scale up to 6,000 employees in the next six years. “We will continue to grow between 30 and 40 per cent per annum and become four times our current size within six years. That’s our ambition,” he stated.
Balanced growth in audit and non-audit segments
Dhawan detailed the firm’s balanced growth across various segments. “Audit grew about 20-25 per cent. The other segments grew faster, say about 40-45 per cent. So the average came to 35 per cent,” he noted. He anticipates audit will continue to be a strong driver, comprising about 45-50 per cent of the business in India and globally. Meanwhile, non-audit services, including consulting, financial advisory, technology, and internal controls, are expected to see rapid growth due to their smaller base and untapped potential.
Challenges and opportunities
Addressing the broader challenges in the audit business, Dhawan pointed to staffing and fee structures as key issues. “The major challenge is on the staffing side – getting good quality people is a challenge we deal with daily and try to overcome. The second challenge is that the level of fees in India is quite low given the quality standards that auditors are required to maintain,” he said.
Focus on quality and ethics
Dhawan emphasised Mazars’ commitment to quality and ethical standards in its services. “We are looking for a very high level of competence, which comes from experience. We seek people who have worked in good quality firms and handled a good quality portfolio of clients. We also look for strong virtues such as ethics and independence,” he said.
Expectations from the new government
“I think the previous governments have done quite a few positive reforms in the taxation regimes, both on the direct and indirect sides, including faceless assessments and GST,” Dhawan said. “Continuing a strong focus on these is what we are expecting. We’re not looking for anything new but to streamline the processes to make doing business easier. This has made a significant difference to companies, but we expect the next government to help businesses navigate tax challenges. It’s more on the process side.”
