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Our Team

Team members

Partners and Principals

Wilcox W. K. Choy

Partner

Wils is the Partner of the KMH Assurance & Advisory Services Division. Prior to joining KMH, Wils was the Partner in charge of the audit department of the Honolulu office of Grant Thornton LLP. With more than 35 years of public accounting experience, Wils has serviced clients in numerous industries including construction, real estate development, nonprofits, and government agencies. Wils also provides extensive business consulting services to his clients.

Experience

More than 35 years of experience in accounting and auditing.
Significant experience in the construction, real estate development and hospitality industries. In addition, also served clients in the financial services industry, health care, retail, nonprofits and governmental agencies.
Specializes in working closely with entrepreneurs and assisting companies with expansion plans and addressing growing pains.
Lead engagement Partner on several audits performed under Uniform Guidance or Single Audits.

Peter K. Hanashiro

Partner

Peter is a Partner in KMH Assurance and Advisory Services and is one of the founding members of the firm. In 2005, Peter was named the Pacific Business News “Young Business Leader of the Year” for his outstanding business leadership and commitment to the community.

Experience

Over 35 years of experience in providing accounting, advisory and consulting services to not-for-profit, healthcare, financial services, educational systems, real estate, wholesale distribution, retail, government, utility and hospitality clients.
Oversees all aspects of financial audits including planning, resource management, financial reporting, and formal communications with client management and boards of directors.
Partner responsible for the project to develop and customize the methodology and framework for performing internal audit engagements within the Internal Audit Departments of the DOE and ERS. Also lead partner on the Risk Assessment and Two-Year Audit Plan development.
Oversight responsibility for the planning, execution and report preparation of over 50 Internal Audit projects over the past five years. Specific projects included Operational, Financial and Compliance Reviews.
Lead individual responsible for assisting a large healthcare group set-up their Corporate Compliance program. The project included developing numerous policies and procedures and training for the organization.
Currently serving as the Engagement Partner for several significant outsourcing/co-sourcing internal audit contracts. These contracts have represented over 50,000 hours of internal audit projects over the past five years.
Relevant experience in providing services with respect to all aspects of the Internal Audit function, including leading the efforts in developing the Risk Assessment & Audit Plan, and building departmental “infrastructure”, including charters, policies and procedures and reporting protocols.
Engagement Partner responsible for several SOX engagements including a significant SOX compliance project for a large public company in Hawai‘i. Helped the company with certain aspects of project management, with primary responsibility for the controls testing for the agribusiness and real estate divisions.

Ross R. Murakami

Partner

Ross is a Partner in KMH Solutions^SM and is one of the founding partners of KMH LLP. He has extensive experience in the real estate, construction, government, insurance, distribution and retail industries. In 2009, Ross was inducted into the Shidler College of Business Administration Hall of Honor, in recognition of his contributions to the community

Experience

Over 30 years of experience providing audit, accounting and consulting services to organizations based in Hawai‘i, Pacific Basin and the West Coast.
Assisted the Business Development and Support Division of DBEDT in designing, developing and executing unique subrecipient monitoring programs of multiple economic support and workforce development programs funded by Coronavirus Relief Funds.
Engagement partner on UH Kuali Implementation Project assisting the Financial Management Office of the UH System with the implementation of an enterprise-wide financial management system.
Oversaw the completion of a four-year long project involving over 80,000 man-hours to successfully update the Leave Accounting Records for all full-time employees of the DOE.
Extensive experience in business process improvement (“BPI”) projects in a variety of industries including retail, real estate and government.
Extensive experience working in Western Pacific communities to assist in capacity building projects funded by the U.S. Department of Interior.
Assisted the Department of Agriculture with the design and development of the Livestock Feed Reimbursement Program, including the development of necessary forms and presentation at informational public hearings on all of the islands.
Provided assistance to numerous State of Hawai‘i departments in preparing their accounting records for year-end audits. Often times these engagements required modifying existing inefficient or ineffective processes to generate more accurate results with less time and effort.
Experienced in developing creative solutions to address business problems that have no “road map”.

Alan Matsui

Partner

Alan is a Partner in our KMH Assurance & Advisory Services Division and has more than 25 years of public accounting experience serving clients in various industries including not-for-profit, insurance, healthcare, hospitality, and employee benefit plans. Alan previously served as Vice President – Finance and Accounting with one of the largest insurance agencies in Hawai‘i and was a Senior Manager with KPMG LLP.

Experience

Managed all aspects of financial audits including planning, resource management, financial reporting, and formal communication with client management and boards of directors.
Significant private industry experience as Vice President of a large insurance agency which included directing all aspects of the Accounting and Information Technology functions.
Participated with Senior Management to develop and implement strategic objectives of the Company.
Designed and implemented various business process improvement initiatives.

Jill Miura

Partner

Jill is a Partner in our KMH Assurance & Advisory Services Division and has more than 25 years of experience serving clients primarily in the insurance industry. Jill previously served as a captive manager in the private sector and was a Senior Manager with KPMG LLP.

Experience

Extensive experience providing audit services to clients in the insurance and captive insurance industries.
Oversees all aspects of financial audits including planning, resource management, financial reporting, and formal communications with client management and boards of directors.
Currently serves as audit engagement Partner on some of Hawai‘i’s largest insurance companies.
Private industry experience in providing management services to Hawai‘i captive insurance companies including but not limited to, maintenance of accounting records, preparation of financial statements, regulatory compliance, and coordination of all service providers involved with the individual captives.
Assisted a variety of companies in the formation of new captive insurance companies.

Deanna C. Awa

Principal

Deanna is a Managing Principal in our KMH Tax Compliance and Advisory Services Division where she oversees the daily operations of the Firm’s tax practice. She began her career in 1992 in the Tax Department of Honolulu office of Arthur Andersen LLP. Deanna also spent several years in the private sector as the Chief Financial Officer of a local manufacturing and distribution company. She has more than 25 years of public accounting experience.

Experience

Extensive experience providing tax services to some of Hawai‘i’s wealthiest individuals and their private corporate organizations.
Significant experience working with a variety of legal structures including flow-through entities (S corporations, partnerships and LLC’s) as well as C corporations and trusts.
Worked with owners operating in a variety of different industries including real estate development, construction, property management, hospitality, manufacturing, retail and distribution.
Extensive experience working on complex tax restructuring and reorganization projects including C corporation conversions, tax-method changes and “earnings and profits” studies.
Assisted numerous clients through the development and execution of estate plans including the filing of estate returns and subsequent trust returns.
Comfortable working in a teamed environment with other professionals to bring complete and creative solutions to the overall benefit of the client.
Experienced working with complex deferred tax analysis for large corporate tax-paying entities.
Extensive experience in providing a variety of tax services to multi state companies.
Developed tax alternatives for a complex group of C corporations and partnerships involved in liquidation.
Worked closely with a variety of clients representing nonprofits, individuals, and closely held businesses.
Represented clients in IRS audits and Hawai‘i Department of Taxation income tax audits.

Robin Freitas

Principal

Robin is a Principal in our KMH Assurance & Advisory Services Division and has more than 25 years of public accounting experience serving clients in various industries including not-for-profit, retail, real estate, and government.

Experience

Extensive experience providing audit services to clients in the not-for-profit, government and education industries.
Responsible for managing all aspects of financial audits including planning, resource management, financial reporting, process analysis, internal control evaluation, and formal communications with client management, trustees, and boards of directors.
Extensive experience in dealing with Foundations and Trusts and related not-for-profit issues.
Significant experience with audits performed under Uniform Guidance or Single Audits.

James Nakayama

Principal

James is a Principal in our KMH Assurance & Advisory Services Division and has more than 25 years of public accounting experience serving clients in various industries including real estate, insurance, and government.

Experience

Manages all aspects of financial audits including planning, resource management, financial reporting and formal communications with client management and boards of directors.
Currently serves as engagement Principal for large Hawai‘i company that has investments in real estate, wholesale distributor, shipping logistics, and insurance related entities.
Serves as engagement Principal for county and state department audits such as the City and County of Honolulu and the Department of Health. Assisted clients with transitions through significant, new accounting standards, such as GASB 34, pension, OPEB, and leases.
Significant experience with audits performed under Uniform Guidance or single audits. Extensive experience working with real estate clients. Has served as engagement Manager over real estate developments that range from large luxury, residential master development to various types of commercial properties.
Has significant experience working with insurance clients, primarily for the property and casualty insurers. Past experience includes financial statement audits, assisting with State of Hawai‘i examinations, and consulting on Model Audit rule readiness.

Team members

Directors

Kim Teruya

Director, KMH Assurance & Advisory Services

Kim is a Director with our KMH Assurance & Advisory Services division and has more than 15 years of experience serving clients primarily in the insurance and not-for-profit industries.

Experience

Experience providing audit services to clients in the insurance, not-for-profit, healthcare and retail industries
Manages all aspects of financial audits including planning, resource management, financial reporting and formal communications with client management and boards of directors

Danielle Harano

Director, KMH Tax Compliance & Advisory Services

Danielle is a Director in our KMH Tax Compliance & Advisory Services division. Danielle began her public accounting career in 2007 in the Honolulu office of KMH LLP. She has over 15 years of tax experience in public accounting.

Experience

Experience in the areas of corporate and consolidated income taxes, as well as flow through entities including S Corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies.
Provided tax services for clients with investments in multiple states
Handled clients in various industries including real estate, hospitality, and construction.

Chris Cassidy

Director, KMH Tax Compliance & Advisory Services

Chris is a Director in our Tax Compliance & Advisory Services division. Prior to joining KMH in 2018, Chris worked with an RSM US Alliance member firm serving a wide variety of clients in strategic tax planning, compliance reporting and consulting. In his career, he was worked with clients in many industries including manufacturing, healthcare, closely held businesses, as well as working with high net worth families, estates and trusts, multi state income tax filings and pass through entities.

Experience

Over 15 years of experience providing tax planning and consulting services to high net worth individuals and closely held businesses.
Represents business and individual clients before the IRS and state tax authorities regarding a variety of income tax examinations.
Consulting with clients to provide tax efficient structuring for ownership transfers, M&A transactions, and wealth transfers including estate tax minimization.

Duane Akamine

Director, KMH Tax Compliance & Advisory Services

Duane is a Director in our KMH Tax Compliance & Advisory Services division. Duane has over 15 years of experience in public accounting and consulting with a variety of clients on tax and business issues. Duane started his career as an intern at KMH LLP in 2007 and then acquired a variety of experience with a big four firm and another local firm here in Hawaii, before returning to KMH.

Experience

Experience in the areas of corporate and consolidated income taxes, as well as flow through entities including S Corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies.
Provided tax services for clients with investments in multiple states
Handled clients in various industries including manufacturing, real estate, hospitality, and construction.
Co-Author Taxes of Hawaii

Team members