HomeMy WebLinkAboutFY26-27 Auditing: Spire Hawaii LLPDEPARTMENT OF F1NANr.
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June 30, 2026
Ms. Diane Nakagawa, Director of Finance
c/o crystallene.pacheco@hawaiicounty.gov
County of Hawai`i
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2103
Hilo, Hawai`i 96720
SUBJECT: Cover Letter to County of Hawaii
Auditing(#FN.5)
Dear Ms.Nakagawa:
1 On behalf of Spire Hawaii LLP ("Spire" or "firm"), we are pleased to submit this letter as our
expression of interest in providing services in the category Auditing (#FN.5).
Category:
Auditing (#FN.5)
Full Legal Name and Address of Company:
Spire Hawaii LLP
700 Bishop Street, Suite 2001
Honolulu, HI 96813
I will be the firm contact for this solicitation. You may email me at lucas.sayin(&,,spirehi.com for
future notices.
Very truly yours,
ZL
Lucas Sayin, Partner
808.441.2932
lucas.sayin@spirehi.com
Spire Hawaii LLP
700 Bishop Street,Suite 2001
Honolulu,HI 96813
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Statement of Qualifications and Expression of Interest to
Provide Professional Services to the County of Hawaii
During Fiscal Year 2026-2027
Category: Auditing #FN.5
Solicitation No. 26-27
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In./4
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Prepared for:
Ms. Diane Nakagawa, Director of Finance
c/o crystallene.pacheco@hawaiicounty.gov
County of Hawai`i
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2103
Hilo, Hawai`i 96720
Prepared by:
Lucas Sayin, Partner
Spire Hawaii LLP
700 Bishop Street, Suite 2001 r
Honolulu, HI 96813
lucas.sayin@spirehi.com
June 30, 2026
Spire Hawaii LLP
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Table of Contents
A. Expression of Interest 3
B. Statement of Qualifications 4
1. The name of the firm or person,the principal place of business, and the location of all its
offices 4
2. The age of the firm and its average number of employees over the past five years 4
3. The education, training, and qualifications of the individual, or if a firm, its key
employees in accordance with HRS section 103D-304 4
4. A list of recent projects and the names of up to five clients who may be contacted,
including at least two for whom services were rendered during the preceding year 8
5. Any promotional or descriptive literature which the firm desires to submit 13
Appendix A: Resumes 14
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A. Expression of Interest
June 30, 2026
Ms. Diane Nakagawa, Director of Finance
c/o crystallene.pacheco@hawaiicounty.gov
County of Hawai`i
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2103
Hilo, Hawai`i 96720
SUBJECT: Expression of Interest to County of Hawai`i
Auditing(FN.5)
Dear Ms. Nakagawa:
On behalf of Spire Hawaii LLP ("Spire" or "firm"), I am submitting this expression of interest,
resume and current statement of qualifications,to the County of Hawai`i's("County")Department
of Finance ("Department") as stated in the County's 2026-2027 Notice to Providers of
Professional Services. We are specifically interested in providing auditing services to the
Department listed under Professional Services: #FN.5 Auditing. The pages that follow contain
information regarding our qualifications to provide these services.
Our firm is Spire Hawaii LLP, and our sole location is 700 Bishop Street, Suite 2001, Honolulu,
Hawai`i 96813. We are a locally owned and managed certified public accounting firm, based on
Oahu. The professionals at Spire have experience with the government sector through performing
audits (financial and performance audits), operational improvement studies, and performance
reviews for various State and county entities, including the State Legislature, the Departments of
Accounting and General Services and Business and Economic Development and Tourism, and
each of the four counties. We also have professionals trained as Certified Fraud Examiners.
If selected for projects, we are able and willing to comply with the awardee requirements stated in
the solicitation. If there are any questions regarding the information provided,please contact me.
Very truly yours,
SPIRE HAWAII LLP
Lucas Sayin, Partner
808.441.2932
lucas.sayin@spirehi.com
Spire Hawaii LLP
3 700 Bishop Street,Suite 2001
Honolulu,HI 96813
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B. Statement of Qualifications
1. The name of the firm or person, the principal place of business, and the location
of all its offices
Name of the firm: Spire Hawaii LLP
Principal place of business and sole location of firm:
700 Bishop Street, Suite 2001
Honolulu, HI 96813
2. The age of the firm and its average number of employees over the past five years
Age of the firm: 16 years'
Average number of employees over the past five years: 28 employees
3. The education, training, and qualifications of the individual, or if a firm, its key
employees in accordance with HRS section 103D-304
We believe the qualifications of our client service team are critical since it is the expertise and
capabilities of the individuals involved that ultimately determine the success of the engagement.
Therefore, if selected as the Department's service provider, we will carefully structure our client
service team to provide the appropriate breadth and depth of professional services necessary to
perform the engagement successfully.
The engagement will be led by Lucas Sayin, Partner. The project team is identified below. Other
professional staff will be utilized throughout the engagement to complete tasks commensurate with
each person's training and experience.The organizational structure we propose for the engagement
provides an appropriate blend of project oversight, technical direction, and quality assurance.
We do not anticipate any changes in the leadership or professional staff assigned to the engagement
over the term of the contract. Should any unanticipated changes occur, we will communicate the
changes and qualifications of any replacement personnel to the Department for approval as soon
as practicable.
Education and background experience are listed in the resumes in Appendix A.
t Spire Hawaii LLP is the renamed entity that in 2010 acquired the Hawaii practice of Grant Thornton LLP.The Honolulu office
of Grant Thornton had been serving Hawaii for over 50 years.
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Our primary team members are:
Lucas Sayin(CPA,CGMA),partner of the firm,has expertise in financial and performance
audits, financial assessments, and process improvement. He has provided these services to
government and for private clients in various industry sectors such as real estate, resort, and
hospitality, IT and non-profit. Mr. Sayin is the lead for pre- and post-award audits of
contractors for the Hawai'i Department of Transportation, rent relief program auditing for
the Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement, and Hawai'i public benefits fee audit for the
Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission.
Tyler Kimura (CPA, Certified Fraud Examiner), partner of the firm, has extensive
experience in performance audits, financial analyses, and forensic accounting engagements
for State and county government as well as law firms involved in litigation. Mr. Kimura was
the lead auditor for the Kaua`i County audits ofthe Department of Public Works Solid Waste
Division,Department of Public Works Roads Division,Kauai Fire Department,and County
of Kaua`i Disaster-related Funding. He has also performed statutory insurance examinations
of AlohaCare, Dongbu Insurance, First Insurance Company of Hawai'i, Hawai'i Medical
Assurance Association, Hawai'i Medical Service Association, Zephyr Insurance Company,
and UHA Health Insurance.
Lani Nakazawa (JD, Certified Fraud Examiner ret.) has over 25 years of government
experience as a frontline worker, branch chief, division head, and department head. She is a
Yellow Book trained government auditor and former Certified Fraud Examiner and has over
10 years of audit and fraud detection experience, conducting audits and assessments for the
counties of Kaua`i and Maui.
Jessica Werner is a senior associate at Spire Hawaii LLP. Her focus is financial analysis
and advisory projects, including performance audits, forensic accounting, and economic
damage analyses in the real estate, hospitality, construction, and public sectors.
Hanna Ngo (CPA) is a manager at Spire. She has over five years of experience in the audit
and accounting industry. At Spire, Hanna primarily focuses on providing a range of
accounting, auditing, and consulting services including process improvement and internal
control analysis to the clients in the commercial,government,real estate,manufacturing,not-
for-profit and tourism industries.
Omar Villoso is a manager with over 10 years of experience including service with PwC
and KPMG, as well as internal audit in an insurance agency. He has strong supervisory,
managerial, and project management ability. He is knowledgeable in International Financial
Reporting Standards and Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.
We have been engaged to conduct performance audits and assessments for the County of Kauai
and the County of Maui. All of our engagements receive direct, hands-on involvement from the
engagement partner. Our firm is purposefully structured to provide clients with experienced
professionals who are well versed in their assigned area. We do not maintain the typical leverage
model where most of the work is done by lower-level employees. Our teams can pinpoint the
information required and ask for exactly what is needed. They possess the experience and training
to get the job done and perform at the Department's expectations.
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Upon notification of selection as the professional service provider, we will schedule a meeting
with the management of the Department to coordinate the details of the engagement, including
time schedules and assistance to be provided by the Department's personnel. We will also confirm
our understanding of the objectives, scope of the work to be performed, and the applicable
standards for which the engagement will be performed. Also, we will confirm our understanding
of the desired deliverables and applicable deadlines.
Our approach to every audit rest upon three major factors: the engagement team providing the
services, audit efficiency, and audit quality. Our approach is risk-based and emphasizes several
key elements: planning, coordination, communication, and the use of contemporary audit
techniques.We are always concerned that our clients receive a cost-effective audit.To achieve this
goal,we see that planning is done prior to beginning the engagement and we maximize the client's
involvement in preparing for the audit. We believe this assists us in making an efficient and
objective appraisal of the client's operations.
Our approach to auditing emphasizes careful, thorough work. We believe it is important to look
beyond the accounting entries, and to review the underlying operations which give rise to these
entries. We believe it is important for us to gain insight into the various conditions and
environments which affect our client's financial position and operations. We first come to
understand the client's business, then the systems and procedures, and finally the people and
interactions among them. Understanding these operations yields insight into financial statements
and provides us with a sound basis for performing an efficient and effective audit.
Our engagement team approach involves interfacing extensively with our client's personnel during
all phases of the audit. This team approach combines the considerable skills of our professional
staff with the experience and knowledge of our client's personnel to ensure the successful
completion of our assignments on a timely basis. To increase audit efficiency and effectiveness,
we utilize several computer audit tools for audit field work. These computer-based systems
enhance engagement planning and management, automate routine clerical and mathematical
procedures, perform a variety of analytical review techniques, and enhance the analysis of an
entity's internal control structure. These enhancements allow the audit team to evaluate a client's
environment thoroughly and identify potential internal control weaknesses and operational
inefficiencies.
We can assist the Department with our extensive knowledge of government accounting. We have
hands-on experience with the accounting systems of State agencies, as well as county system
processes. We have also worked with the State on a Uniform Chart of Accounts. Through these
experiences,we can provide audits,financial reporting services,and schedule preparation services
that anticipate changes in compliance and reporting requirements.
Spire has provided numerous accounting services to governmental agencies, involving
departments of the executive branch, component units of departments, and fiduciary and
proprietary funds. We have developed an accounting manual and specifications for a new
accounting system to address audit findings for the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization;
reviewed accounting standards, policies, procedures and requirements for the Hawai`i Tourism
Authority and the Office ofHawaiian Affairs;examined,analyzed and interpreted accounting data,
records and reports for HWY and DBEDT. We have advised and assisted DAGS and the
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