Deloitte, Touche, Tohmatsu. The name of this world-known auditing company − Deloitte, Tou-

The name of this world-known auditing company − Deloitte, Tou-

che, Tohmatsu − owes its existence to its founders who, from the very

start of their careers, realized the importance of world-wide practice.

The history of the company can be traced through their names: Deloitte,

Touche, Tohmatsu.

Deloitte. William Welch Deloitte was one of the fathers of accoun-

tancy. He came from a rich French family who had to leave France dur-

ing the Revolution. He began learning business at the age of 15 working

as an assistant to the Official Assignee at the Bankruptcy Court in the

City of London. At that time accountancy profession grew from its early

days in the business of sorting out the affairs of bankrupts. At the age

of 25 Deloitte opened his own office opposite the Bankruptcy Court in

London. He was the first independent auditor in Britain. He made his

name with the industry of the day – the railways. In 1849 he discovered

frauds on the Great North Railway and invented a system of accounts

to protect investors from mismanagement of their funds. His reputation

as a professional accountant was rather high. Some years later he be-

came president of the newly created Institute of Chartered Accountants

in Britain. In 1893 he opened offices in the United States and began to

audit different businesses.

Touche. George Touche came from Scotland, and when he qualified

as an accountant in Edinburgh, there was no e at the end of his name.

It was Touch and was pronounced in the same way as the Scottish loch.

But since it was often mispronounced he decided to change it later. In

1883 he graduated from Edinburgh University and set off to the south

to seek his fortune. Investment trust business was experiencing a boom,

and that gave him a chance for making a career in this field. He took

up saving businesses from financial disasters which were very frequent

in those days because investment trust business was quite new. George

Touche had a lot of clients and had to work very hard. Soon he earned

a very good reputation for a true flair for his business and honesty. In 1899

he started his own business ‘George A. Touche and Co’. In 1900, he and

John Niven set up the firm of Touche, Niven and Co in New York. Many

large companies of both in the US and Britain became his clients. His

company enjoyed high reputation and popularity among businessmen.

Tohmatsu. The Japanese company of Tohmatsu owes its origin to

Admiral Nobuzo Tohmatsu. He started his career as a naval attache at

the London Embassy. At that time he was also an instructor at the Na-

val Academy. Many of his students were talented people taking interest

in economics. Tohmatsu took an interest for accounting. He qualified

as a certified public accountant at the age of 57. After that he became

president of the Japanese Institute of CPAs. At that time Japanese gov-

ernment wanted to establish national audit firms. Tohmatsu, together

with one of his students decided to respond to the challenge. So in 1968,

Tohmatsu and Co was incorporated. From the very beginning this com-

pany was internationally focused. It was not surprising, that it merged

with another globally focused company Deloitte & Touche.

Today Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is one of the largest auditing com-

panies of the world. It provides their clients with efficient consultative

services wherever they are.

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