Rankings

Based on our studies, we regularly publish rankings of the “best consultants” and the “best auditors” from the perspective of the decision-makers surveyed. For this purpose, we continuously talk to executives from major German companies – board members, heads of specialist departments, sponsors of consulting engagements, and project managers. Their experience and evaluations form the foundation for our rankings.

In the following we have compiled some of the most recent rankings for the leading management consultants, the most important specialist consultants and the major accounting firms. In order to keep the data as easily comprehensible and comparable as possible, we have chosen a uniform presentation in all rankings: 100 percent corresponds to the maximum achievable value and thus an excellent attribution of competence. The intervals between the consultants are not always statistically significant and should therefore be understood as a tendency statement.

Since it is our aim to identify those consultants who are perceived as particularly effective in the market, but not to discredit particular consultants, we have only listed the five best consultants in each category in all rankings.

We have compiled the most important questions and answers on a FAQ page for anyone who would like to find out more about the statistical and methodological basis of our rankings.

The leading management consultants

In this section, we focus on the most important management consultants in Germany (McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, Strategy&, EY-Parthenon, Kearney, AlixPartners and Alvarez & Marsal), the management consulting division of the leading IT consultant Accenture and the consulting divisions of the four major accounting firms (PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte).

You can also find detailed and up-to-date rankings at this link (in German).

Selected rankings

Last update: September 2025
(n = 1,049)

Strategic Planning
Boston Consulting Group 84%
McKinsey & Company 82%
Bain & Company 80%
EY-Parthenon 70%
Strategy& 68%
Operations & Performance
McKinsey & Company 83%
Boston Consulting Group 80%
Roland Berger 75%
Kearney 74%
Bain & Company 73%
Organization & Talent Management
McKinsey & Company 82%
Boston Consulting Group 81%
Bain & Company 77%
Strategy& 74%
Roland Berger 71%
Restructuring
AlixPartners 85%
Alvarez & Marsal 83%
Roland Berger 82%
McKinsey & Company 78%
Boston Consulting Group 72%
AI/Digitalization
Boston Consulting Group 83%
McKinsey & Company 81%
Accenture 80%
Deloitte 77%
Bain & Company 72%
ESG/Sustainability
Boston Consulting Group 82%
McKinsey & Company 81%
Deloitte 75%
PwC 75%
EY 73%

Max = 100 % (excellent)

The most important specialist consultants

In this section, we look at medium-sized specialist consultancies that are less well known than the leading management consultants, but whose expertise in their field is certified by their clients as higher than that of the three “champions” McKinsey, BCG and Bain & Company. We refer to them as “hidden champions”.

Selected rankings

Last update: January 2024
(n = 1,055)

Purchasing & Procurement
Agora Strategy 87%
Boston Consulting Group 78%
McKinsey & Company 77%
Deloitte 71%
Accenture 69%
Engineering & Production
accilium 83%
McKinsey & Company 81%
Boston Consulting Group 78%
Deloitte 77%
Accenture 73%
Marketing
ACTRANS 85%
Boston Consulting Group 81%
McKinsey & Company 78%
Kearney 77%
Roland Berger 74%
Organization & Leadership
Struktur Management Partner 86%
Roland Berger 81%
Boston Consulting Group 78%
McKinsey & Company 74%
Bain & Company 71%
Data & Analytics
TARGUS 86%
McKinsey & Company 78%
Bain & Company 77%
Oliver Wyman 72%
Roland Berger 70%
Change Management
undconsorten 84%
McKinsey & Company 78%
Boston Consulting Group 76%
Strategy& 71%
Bain & Company 70%

Max = 100 % (excellent)

The major accounting firms

In this section we look at the 25 audit firms with the highest turnover in Germany – including audit giants such as PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte as well as companies such as BDO, Rödl & Partner, Ebner Stolz and Baker Tilly.

Selected rankings

Last update: March 2022
(n = 406)

Audit
PwC 85%
Deloitte 83%
KPMG 82%
BDO 73%
Grant Thornton 65%
Tax
EY 85%
PwC 82%
KPMG 79%
Deloitte 73%
Rödl & Partner 67%
Management Consulting
PwC 87%
Deloitte 83%
KPMG 79%
EY 67%
RSM Ebner Stolz 65%
IT Consulting
KPMG 84%
Deloitte 84%
PwC 82%
EY 74%
BDO 62%
Transactions
EY 83%
PwC 82%
Deloitte 81%
KPMG 80%
RSM Ebner Stolz 61%
Restructuring
PwC 83%
Deloitte 77%
KPMG 73%
RSM Ebner Stolz 64%
Rödl & Partner 63%

Max = 100 % (excellent)