Deloitte Collection

A history of Deloitte and its predecessor firms through its documents.

Deloitte USA, one of this country’s premier accounting firms, traces its history back to the turn of the twentieth century when two firms, Haskins & Sells and Touche, Niven & Co. started business. Charles Waldo Haskins and Elijah Watt Sells met in 1893 while working for the Dockery Commission, set up to reorganize Federal accounting practices. They quickly became friends and formed a business partnership in 1895. The company continued under the name Haskins & Sells in the United States down to 1978 when it adopted the name Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, as it was known internationally because of its 1952 merger with Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths & Co.

John Ballantine Niven came to the U.S. in 1900 to establish a branch office of George Touche’s British accounting firm, Touche, Niven & Co. In 1947 Touche Niven & Co. merged with Allen R. Smart & Co. and George Bailey & Company to form Touche, Niven, Bailey & Smart which became Touche, Ross, Bailey & Smart in 1960, bringing in the Canadian firm of Ross, Touche & Co. In 1969, the firm and its many international affiliates adopted the name Touche Ross.

In 1989, Touche Ross and Deloitte, Haskins & Sells merged to form Deloitte and Touche and then simply Deloitte.

Both Haskins & Sells and Touche Ross also grew through the years by frequent mergers with local and regional accounting firms, forming a network of local offices in major cities throughout the United States. They also established offices and partnerships with accounting firms in other countries so they could serve the interests of increasingly international clients.

The firms that make up the Deloitte family and their partners have been influential in the development of accounting practice, serving as leaders in national and state accounting societies and chairing committees that have set U.S. accounting standards. The firms were also publishers in their own right, issuing monographs, pamphlets, newsletters and magazines. These publications detail the firms’ business, clients, and employees as well as discuss trends in accounting standards and practice.

This site reproduces these publications in digital format. There are over 200 monographs and over 2,000 articles from serial publications totaling approximately 35,000 pages. Also included are publications from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants that highlight the contributions members of the Deloitte family of firms have played in shaping accounting standards.