History
The name "Deloitte" has the longest continuous
existence of any firm name in the accounting profession.
Global Office
1633 Broadway
New York, New York 10019-6754
UNITED STATES
Phone Number: +1 (212) 489-1600
Fax Number: +1 (212) 489-1687
The Journey to Today: Select Moments in the History of Deloitte
It has been more than 150 years since William Welch Deloitte opened his own
accountancy office across the street from Bankruptcy Court on Basinghall Street
in London.
19th Century 20th
Century 21st
Century
1833 At the age of 15, William Welch
Deloitte becomes an assistant to the Official Assignee at the Bankruptcy Court
in the City of London. This was the ideal apprenticeship at that time for a
young man with an interest in the rapidly developing field of public
accounting.
1845 Deloitte opens his own accountancy
office opposite the Bankruptcy Court on Basinghall Street, London.
1849 In connection with the accounts of the
Great Western Railway, W.W. Deloitte becomes the first person ever appointed as
an independent auditor. Deloitte makes his reputation in particular through his
work in the railroad industry — the "Web" of its day. During the 1850s and
1860s, he develops the system for keeping railway accounts, subsequently
adopted as the industry standard, that protected investors from mismanagement
of funds. He also develops a system of account-keeping for hotels that was
universally adopted by large hotels in Great Britain and overseas.
1854 Royal Charter is granted to the
Society of Accountants in Edinburgh, the first organized body of public
accountants in the world. Among its founders was Alexander Thomas Niven, under
whose tutelage George A. Touche would qualify as an accountant in Edinburgh 29
years later, before setting off for London to practice his profession.
1857 Deloitte accepts his first partner,
Thomas Greenwood, who contributed £800 in capital. The firm becomes known as
Deloitte & Greenwood.
1867 The Railway Companies Act lays down
the auditor's duties and responsibilities. A statutory form of railway accounts
was prescribed in 1868, and it is believed that Deloitte played a major part in
designing the form and contents of such accounts — probably the first
prescribed form of accounts in the modern sense.
1869 Admission to the partnership (at age
24) of John George Griffith, who exercised a major influence on the growth of
the firm until his retirement in 1902. For this entire period, the firm is
known as Deloitte, Dever, Griffiths & Co.
1880 Royal Charter issued incorporating the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, with W.W. Deloitte,
Henry Dever, and John Griffiths among the founding members. Philip S. Ross
co-founds North America's first accounting society.
1880 First overseas Deloitte office opens
in New York. Branches of this New York outpost are subsequently established in
Cincinnati (1905), Chicago and Montreal (1912), Boston (1930), and Los Angeles
(1945).
1895
Charles Waldo Haskins and Elijah Watt Sells form Haskins & Sells. In 1978,
the firm became formally known as Deloitte Haskins & Sells.
1897 Retirementof William Welch Deloitte.
1898 George Touche establishes his own firm in London
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