Bankruptcy / Reorganization Stats Mid-Tier

Elliott Wright & Anderson LLC estimates the dollar value of companies needing restructuring inside the Top-25

accounting firm ecosystem by combining three things:

1. Number of distressed companies (from the prior estimate)

2. Typical size of middle-market companies served by Top-25 firms

3. Typical debt levels

1. Distressed company count

From the previous model:

● Distressed companies: ~50,000 – 90,000

● These are firms with covenant breaches, liquidity issues, or lender negotiations.

2. Typical company size in Top-25 firm client bases

Top-25 firms primarily serve the middle market, typically companies with:

Metric Typical Range

Annual revenue $20M – $500M

Median revenue ~$75M – $150M

Debt / revenue ratio 25–50%

A reasonable midpoint:

● Average revenue: ~$100M

● Average debt: ~$35M

3. Apply this to distressed companies

Total revenue of distressed companies

Distressed

Companies

Avg Revenue

Total Revenue

50,000 $100M $5 trillion

90,000 $100M $9 trillion

Total debt requiring restructuring

Distressed Companies Avg Debt Total Debt

50,000 $35M $1.75 trillion

90,000 $35M $3.15 trillion

Final estimate

Annual restructuring exposure flowing through Top-25 accounting firms

Category

Estimated Value

Companies in distress (revenue)

$5T – $9T

Debt needing restructuring $1.7T – $3.1T

Bankruptcy portion of that

Earlier we estimated 3,000 – 8,000 bankruptcies annually.

Average debt per bankruptcy tends to be higher (~$60M–$150M).

So bankruptcy-level restructurings represent roughly:

$200B – $900B of debt per year

flowing through the ecosystem.

What accounting firms actually earn from this

Restructuring advisory fees usually run:

Service

Typical Fees

Turnaround advisory

$200k – $2M

Restructuring engagements

$500k – $5M

Large Chapter 11 advisory $5M – $20M

Even capturing 0.2–0.5% of restructured debt yields billions in advisory revenue across

the industry.

Key takeaway

Inside the Top-25 accounting firm ecosystem each year:

● ~50k–90k distressed companies

● $1.7T–$3.1T of debt under stress

● $200B–$900B entering formal bankruptcy processes