When are KPMG performance reviews? (2026)
KPMG runs a September fiscal year end and a member-firm structure, so cycle mechanics differ by country. Assessment weighs quality, client outcomes and progression against grade.
Once a year
No specific review month is published for this company, because none could be sourced from the company's own material. What follows is the cycle shape, which is what is actually knowable. Your own manager is the authority on this year's dates.
How the cycle works
KPMG closes its fiscal year at the end of September, which puts its annual rhythm out of phase with several of its direct competitors and matters if you are comparing notes with friends at other firms. Like the other large networks it is a federation of national member firms, so the specifics of grading and review practice belong to the firm you actually work for.
The firm splits between audit, tax and advisory, and the character of the work differs enough that the three should be treated as separate careers that happen to share a brand. Audit is governed by regulators and professional standards. Tax is governed by statute and filing deadlines. Advisory is governed by engagement outcomes.
Progression is grade-based with expected tenure at each level, and review conversations address both current performance and readiness to move up.
Confirm your dates and format with your own performance manager.
What actually gets weighed
Audit quality and regulatory standing. External inspection of audit work is a real and consequential process, and individual contribution to files that stood up to scrutiny is meaningful evidence.
Client service outcomes, sourced from the client rather than from your account of the engagement.
Efficiency against budget, since engagements are priced in advance and delivering within the estimate is a direct commercial result attributable to the team.
Development of others is the fourth axis and rises steeply in weight with grade. At senior levels, what your juniors can do is a larger part of the assessment than what you personally did.
What to have ready
- Your files or engagements and how they fared under review or inspection.
- Budget performance for the engagements you were responsible for.
- Client feedback in the client's own words wherever you have it.
- Juniors you developed, with the specific capability they gained.
- Everything framed against a fiscal year that ends in September, which is not the same frame your peers at other firms are using.