20 years at the top: How PS leads accounting & payroll service market in Hungary

Today our firm is not only one of the defining players in the accounting market: for years we have also been on the podium in payroll, as ranked in the Budapest Business Journal Book of Lists, which measures market participants by revenue. In 2025 our net revenue from accounting services alone reached HUF 4.449 billion, while our total net revenue stood at HUF 8.788 billion.

We serve multinational and internationally active companies with accounting and tax compliance, payroll and HR outsourcing, and financial support services across the Central and Eastern European region. Around 95% of our client base has an international background; at least half are classic multinationals, predominantly from Western Europe and the United States, with a growing share from South Korea, Japan, and China.

A market in transition — Under dual pressure

Over the past ten to fifteen years the accounting and payroll market has changed beyond recognition. Technology, digitisation, and automation are no longer sources of competitive advantage — they are baseline requirements. At the same time, market concentration has accelerated from two directions at once: on the service-provider side, international acquisitions and consolidation are ongoing; on the client side, an increasing number of multinationals — including companies of 50 to 100 people — are moving their finance and HR processes into shared service centres or regional hubs.

This dynamic is compounded by the fact that strategic decisions are increasingly made outside Hungary. A single global ownership transaction can mean the overnight transfer of payroll mandates covering thousands of employees. Add to this the broader slowdown in the Hungarian economy in recent years — visible regardless of political perspective — which narrows the room for manoeuvre even for multinational subsidiaries operating locally.

“What has probably changed most is the technological environment. Working with advanced systems is no longer an advantage — it is simply a prerequisite.” — Andrew Majlath, co-founder, owner, and managing director

“Size alone used to be a deciding factor. Today that is no longer enough. You have to respond to each client’s individual needs, and you have to keep pace in the technology race as well.” — János Babos, co-founder, owner, and managing director

Strategic turning points and deliberate growth

Several key strategic decisions sit behind our success. One was the deliberate acceleration of our digitalisation and technology investments; another was the continuous renewal of our internal operations. One of the most important realisations of the past period has been that growth once again demands a sharper strategic focus — not instead of technology and process improvement, but alongside it.

“Doing the same thing as before is not enough. You have to keep reinventing yourself. Adaptability is central to holding a leading position.” — Andrew Majlath

Client experience and professional quality remain at the heart of how we operate, with technology acting as an amplifier rather than a replacement. A central expression of this is PS APPS, our proprietary service platform, which has become an integrated part of our day-to-day operations.

PS APPS: A digital backbone that keeps evolving

We began using PS APPS internally and with a pilot client in 2021. After a two-year pilot phase, the platform was rolled out to approximately 50 clients to support internal workflows, and more than 10 partners are now actively using its client-facing features — including approval and payment processes. The system processes close to 5,000 invoices per month; one of our large enterprise clients handles up to 2,000 invoices monthly through the platform alone.

One of the biggest advantages of this closed-loop system is that it eliminates a large number of parallel administrative tasks. Where previously a document would be logged and managed separately by both the client and the service provider, PS APPS provides transparent, controlled end-to-end handling on a single platform. OCR-based processing, integrated workflows, and real-time collaboration make the working relationship between our clients and our specialists faster and considerably more practical.

“We treat digitalisation as an opportunity, not a burden. PS APPS allows us to work with our clients in real time, while cutting out duplicated tasks and raising overall efficiency.” — Andrew Majlath

Client trust in numbers: 88% Brand Love Score

One of our most important metrics is our 88% Brand Love Score, which signals exceptional client satisfaction in a competitive market. We have been tracking this index regularly for six years, and our performance has consistently remained above 85 per cent across all three of our service lines: accounting, payroll, and specialist staffing support.

“This tells us we are doing something right — but for us it is not an end goal, it is a checkpoint. We are always aiming higher.”

— Andrew Majlath, on the 2025 survey conducted by an external partner

Several factors underpin this level of trust: consistently high professional standards, reliable delivery on deadlines, and a layer of added value that goes beyond what is contractually required. This includes capabilities that multinational clients now treat as non-negotiable: full English-language communication at every level, and an information security infrastructure that is costly to maintain but impossible to operate without. Many local competitors do not see this as an obligation. Our client base cannot function without it.

“Clients receive not only the mandatory reports but also the kind of proactive support that genuinely helps them run their business. Behind that is an exceptionally strong team — which shows, especially in complex situations.” — János Babos

The stability of our client relationships is built on the stability of our people. Across both our senior leadership and our wider management team, many colleagues have been with us for 15, 20, or even more years. Collectively that represents centuries of accumulated, firm-specific expertise — expertise that becomes visible when handling complex, cross-border client mandates.

Organisational culture: Built to be passed on, not dependent on individuals

One of our greatest strengths is that our operations are not built around individuals but around a well-structured, transferable organisational culture. Clear frameworks, well-defined roles, and deliberate succession planning are what give us stability over the long term. Our pyramid structure is also suited to rapid growth: when a new client comes to us with a need for 10 to 20 people, leadership and delivery capacity is available immediately, while the assistant tier can scale up flexibly.

“This does not depend on any single person — it depends on an operating philosophy. We build succession and leadership thinking deliberately.” — Andrew Majlath

In defining our growth strategy, we focus on expanding the quality of our services and developing our client portfolio. We draw a clear line between our own path and the “boutique” model others follow. There are competitors our size — around 50 people — who deliberately want to stay that way and work only with a select group of clients. We have chosen a different path: steady, client-focused growth.

“We did not become market leaders by growing faster than anyone else. We got here by continuously adding excellent people who could deliver at a high standard. That is still the foundation of everything we do.” — János Babos

Market leadership: Responsibility or consequence?

For us, being market leader is neither a goal in itself nor a privilege. It is the natural result of work done well — and a position that has to be earned again every single day.

“This is not a privilege, it is a consequence. If we do our work well, the market reflects that back. If we don’t, we need to change.” — Andrew Majlath

“This position has to be deserved, step by step. You cannot demand it. You can only see in hindsight whether you got there — and every day going forward you have to work for it, with a lot of attention, a lot of encouragement, a lot of support.” — Andrew Majlath

“This is something you have to earn every day. Holding the market-leading position requires constant development and responsible decisions — while our goal is not to be number one, but to do better work for more clients. The position follows from that.” — János Babos

The challenge ahead: Technology moves fast — but how fast can people?

The biggest challenge we face over the next three to five years is unambiguously adapting to technological change — and adapting at an organisational level, not just a systems level. The question is no longer simply which tools we use, but how quickly the human side of our organisation can keep pace in a profession that is, by its very nature, cautious and not inclined toward risk-taking.

“The question is not only what technology we use, but how fast we can adapt to it as human beings.” — János Babos

“The willingness is there. The innovative thinking is there. But it is always easier to trust what you know than to trust change. Doing tomorrow what you do today, but differently — that is hard. We have to work on that at least as hard as we work on the technology itself.” — Andrew Majlath

Our goal is to keep turning technological progress into competitive advantage, while preserving the client-centric way of working that has been the foundation of our success for the past 20 years. Two decades of results tell the same story: sustained market leadership is not a single achievement. It is the product of continuous renewal. For twenty years we have been demonstrating that expertise, client focus, and adaptability — together — can deliver lasting, outstanding performance.

 

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FAQ

What makes PS the market leader in accounting and payroll in Hungary?

PS has held a top-ranked position in the Budapest Business Journal Book of Lists for over two decades, measured by revenue. With close to 600 professionals, more than 500 multinational clients, and a proprietary digital platform (PS APPS), the firm combines scale with a consistently high service standard.

Which countries does PS serve?

PS provides accounting, payroll, tax advisory, and financial support services across four CEE countries, primarily for multinational and internationally active companies.

What is the PS APPS platform?

PS APPS is a proprietary digital service platform developed in-house. It handles invoice processing (approx. 5,000 per month), approval workflows, and real-time client collaboration through a single, secure environment — eliminating parallel administrative tasks between the client and the service provider.

What is a Brand Love Score?

A Brand Love Score is a client satisfaction and loyalty index. PS has been measuring this metric for six years and has consistently scored above 85%, with the 2025 result reaching 88%, based on independent external measurement.

How does PS handle compliance and data security for multinationals?

PS maintains full English-language communication at all levels and operates an information security infrastructure aligned with the requirements of multinational clients, including those from Western Europe, the US, and Asia. These capabilities are treated as non-negotiable by the firm’s client base.

 

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