The History of PwC in Australia

Australian Coopers & Lybrand milestones

1866Andrew Lyell starts an accountancy practice with John Gowan in Melbourne.
1888Horace Bately Allard is invited to enter the partnership of Lyell & Butler.
1893Separate firms Lyell & Butler in Melbourne and Lyell & Allard in Sydney are established.
1913H.B. Allard, Way & Hardie is formed in Sydney.
1926Allard, Way & Hardie commence interstate arrangement with Adelaide firm Wilson, Danby and Ferres.
1928Allard, Way & Hardie secures representation in Perth with Smith & Goyder.
1933First agreement with Cooper Bros for Allard, Way & Hardie to act as agents in Australia, is negotiated by 77 year old Horace Allard during a trip to London.
1940Official practice opens in Canberra with the acquisition of Chaplin and Holgate.
1946Allard, Way & Hardie establishes closer relations established with Savage & Co in Brisbane.
1948Three of the five associated firms agree to associate with Coopers Bros and are known as Coopers Bros, Way & Hardie (Sydney), Cooper Bros, Savage & Co (Brisbane) and Cooper Bros, Goyder & Co (Perth).
1958Melbourne based Buckly & Hughes joins the Coopers Bros network.
1961Ferres' practice in Adelaide joins Coopers Bros & Co, completing the Australian network.
1962Partnership agrees to adopt the name Cooper Bros & Co.
1976Australia officially adopts the name Coopers & Lybrand and a nationally integrated firm is formed.

Australian Price Waterhouse milestones

1874Former Price, Holyland & Waterhouse employee Joseph Flack arrives in Australia and opens an accounting practice in Melbourne, occasionally taking on work for his old firm.
1885Davey Flack & Co is formed.
1896Davey Flack & Co is appointed as official agents of Price Waterhouse & Co.
1896Future senior partner and son of Joseph Flack, Edwin Flack, wins Australia's first gold medals at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens while working with Price Waterhouse & Co in London.
1904Flack & Flack is formed when Joseph Flack partners with his son Edwin. Younger son Henry Flack later joins the practice.
1905Flack & Flack officially opens offices in Perth after conducting audits in Western Australia since 1898.
1908Flack & Flack Sydney offices are established.
1911A Brisbane office for Flack & Flack opens.
1922The chain of mainland capital city offices is complete with the opening of the Adelaide office.
1946Price Waterhouse & Co extends Flack & Flack the invitation to join the international firm. Flack & Flack accepts.
1958Price Waterhouse & Co opens its Canberra office.
1984 Price Waterhouse & Co's management consulting practice merges with Urwick International to form Price Waterhouse Urwick.

Australian PricewaterhouseCoopers milestones

1998Worldwide merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand to create PricewaterhouseCoopers.
2002IBM acquires PwC Consulting, the global management consulting and technology services unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers.


© 2008-2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers. All rights reserved. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.
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