As India grows into its new economic might, KPMG can be consequential with the opportunity-rich environment that exists in the firm:  CEO Arun M. Kumar 

One of the world's leading professional services firms, KPMG, established its firm in India in 1993. In 24 years, the firm has grown to help over 2700 companies in succeeding and growing in this hyper-competitive market. It offers its clients a full range of services including financial and business advisory, tax and regulatory, and risk advisory services.

The client portfolio includes leading information technology companies, and has a strong presence in the financial services sector in India and serves a number of market leaders in other industry segments.

The firm also actively engages with regulators, tax authorities and other stakeholders, to advance the conversation around some of our industry's most complex challenges.  The firm operates from 12 offices across the country.

Despite being the youngest firm among the Big 4 in India, KPMG has achieved tremendous growth, which is a testament to the passion and innovative thinking it brings to its clients.

In today's volatile business climate, the firm's strategic investments in technology, alliances, and its people, are fueling its growth across geographies and service lines. It has a well-defined strategy to significantly increase its portfolio and capitalize opportunities towards becoming the 'clear choice'.

In the current disruptive scenario, organisations, especially professional services firms, strive to operate in a highly competitive, niche environment. The focus is on being sharper and relevant to changing needs of clients.

Early this year, Arun M. Kumar was elected as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the firm for a five-year term. Arun Kumar brings a wealth of international leadership experience to KPMG India, including his tenure in public service in the United States for the last three years as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of US and Foreign Commercial Service in the Obama Administration.

In that role, he led a global organisation of senior professionals present in 78 countries and all the 50 states in the US and served with distinction.

On behalf of the US Government, Arun also worked to strengthen commercial ties between India and the United States and played a key role in establishing the India-US Strategic & Commercial Dialogue and a renewed India-US CEO Forum.

On his journey so far at KPMG in India, Kumar said: "It has been very energizing to work with a team, that has a reputation for integrity, hardwork and professionalism. I believe India as a growth market is challenging and fun. As the country a grows into its new economic might, KPMG India can be consequential with the opportunity-rich environment that exists in the firm."

Zealously moving in its strategic direction, the firm is building a 'One Advisory' culture within the firm and an operating model aligned to 'Go to Market'. In 2017, KPMG in India also announced the merger of the Transactions (M&A) and Risk Consulting Businesses of BMR (BMR), a firm that has consistently been rated among the top Tax and M&A brands in India.

The merger combines strengths of both organisations across corporate finance, transactions tax, transaction support and risk consulting businesses, that has helped KPMG secure its position as one of the most respected transactions teams in the country, a clear endorsement of its market momentum, its values and culture.

KPMG in India works closely with a number of the world's leading technology companies, in alliances that bring together world-class innovation, business expertise and leading-edge technology.

This year, the firm launched a comprehensive, secure and affordable invoicing platform – "GST solution" – to help transition millions of traders and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to the revolutionary Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, in collaboration with HP India.

The "GST solution" has the capability to support users to file all their transactions as per the new tax norms in a convenient manner and reduce the invoice reconciliation requirements of large companies.

The solution acts as a unified platform that can ensure ease of invoice generation and reconciliation across vendors and sub-vendors in the ecosystem.

Commenting on the unique initiative, Kumar said, "To help MSMEs make the transition and alleviate associated IT challenges, KPMG has joined hands with HP to provide a comprehensive GST invoicing solution, GST solution. KPMG is proud to assist in advancing the adoption of GST and in fact to be associated with all of the signature initiatives of the Government of India."

KPMG believes in serving a Higher Purpose to achieve inclusive growth coupled with people commitment which makes it one of the most sought-after employers in the professional services domain.LinkedIn 2017 Top Companies List for India ranked KPMG in India third among the 25 most sought-after companies by professionals in the country.

This is the second consecutive ranking for the firm, having risen from the fifth position in the 2016 listings. Kumar said, "Year on year, we have created and cultivated a talent pool that is driven by trust, teamwork and transparency.

We consistently nurture an environment that supports a collaborative spirit where an individual's purpose is aligned with the higher purpose of the Firm, bringing together the leadership and all employees towards achieving it. This is reinforced for each individual consistently, from the stage of goal-setting through the entire year".

The firm has appointed Office Managing Partners at its Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad offices. The leadership team introduced these roles to facilitate increased market focus and cross functional collaboration that will take KPMG to the next growth phase.

The OMPs lead the firm in their respective markets and focus on expanding KPMG's business footprint.

On the road ahead for the firm, Kumar said, "There is a big push for the firm in advisory consulting services. The India firm has built significant capabilities across areas where we see significant opportunities and we will be hiring in large numbers in this space. Also, we have strengthened our focus on Japanese business corridor making us the largest provider of services to Japanese firms in India."