Serving My Clients for Over 35 Years
My Firm
I combine the experience of My firm with the personal attention that only My firm can provide. My clients come back to Me year after year. My employees work hard; whether your needs are simple or complex, My employees can help.
Areas of Specialization
My employees audit Employee Benefit Plans using data mining techniques on benefit payments. In addition, on Welfare funds I use a registered nurse for claims audits.
My employees perform payroll audits for a number of different trades. My written audit program has been modified numerous times over the years but was originally created from the requirements set forth in the AICPA Employee Benefit Plans Audit Guide.
My History
Needles & Associates, LLC limits its practice to the audits of Unions and Multiemployer Employee Benefit Plans. The specialization of the firm was established in 1966 - 1967 when Peter Dell was asked to help create the first construction Trust Funds in Colorado. Kurt D. Needles was hired by Peter Dell in 1979. Kurt purchased the company in January 2003 and changed the name to Needles & Associates, LLC.
Since Multiemployer Employee Benefit Plans are the main focus of My business, some employees of My firm have performed some aspect of a Multiemployer Employee Benefit Plan audit and some employees have performed payroll audits. Most CPAs have completed a Multiemployer Employee Benefit Plan audit and attend conferences. A lot of CPE is taken in the field of employee benefit plans, regulatory updates, and audit documentation.
My Credentials
I pay membership dues to the AICPA, Colorado Society of CPAs and the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center.
Our Team
Kurt D. Needles, CPA
Owner and President
Speaker
2002 AICPA National Conference on Employee Benefit Plans – Topic: “Payroll Auditing”
2008 International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) National Convention – Topic: “Continuing need for payroll audits”
2009 IFEBP Collection Conference – Topic: “Effective Payroll Auditing programs”
2010 and 2012 ABA Conference – Topic: “Teaching accounting to lawyers”
2008 to Present; DOL–EBSA new hire training – Topic: “How Multiemployer Plans differ from Single Employer Plans”
Licensed
May 29, 1986 - Colorado
Memberships
Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
AICPA Employee Benefit Plans Audit Quality Center
Kurt Spends his spare time assisting his wife's business; she is a Dressage Trainer. He and his wife also love to travel.
Randy Eck, CPA
Randy was hired in December 1996 and has a Master’s Degree in Finance. He works with all our large pension fund clients. One of his specialties is the audits of unique investments. He is the lead auditor on two large pension funds that have private placements and limited partnership arrangements. He has attended numerous AICPA Employee Benefit Plan conferences.
Randy is married with two children and enjoys travel and the Colorado mountains.
Tosin Oyewo, CPA
Tosin has been with Needles & Associates since August 2001. She graduated from Metropolitan State College of Denver with Honors with a BSc in Accounting, May 2001.
She qualified as a CPA in 2006. She is currently an annual audit manager specializing in the various employee benefit plans. She is responsible for ensuring that any new auditing and/or accounting standards and requirements are properly and timely implemented by the firm.
She and her husband enjoy spending time with friends, church, family and relatives, traveling, hiking, and playing soccer.
Nolan Royle, CPA, MBA
Nolan joined firm in July 2008. He has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. Nolan audits unions, multiemployer benefit plans and a multiple-employer benefit plan. In addition to audits of defined benefit pension files, he prepares tax and compliance forms such as IRS Form 990, Department of Labor Forms 5500 and LM.
Nolan spends his spare time with his wife Kim, sons Brody and Bentley, and dog Millie.
Alma Vazquez
Alma graduated from Regis University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. She joined the firm in November 2009 as a staff auditor with prior experience in tax and audit. She is one out of the two employees at the firm trained to data mine benefit payments and welfare claims. She has taken classes in Acquiring and Importing Data, Analyzing and Interrogating Data, and Fraud Auditing with IDEA: Disbursements. Additionally, she has attended the 2011 and 2012 NHCAA Institute for Health Care Fraud Protection conference.
Alma loves spending time with her son and husband, and doing anything that makes her son happy.
Debi Gardine
Debi was hired in August 2002 as the operations manager. She maintains all administrative records and performs all billing and bookkeeping for the firm. She has 16 years’ experience working for a national TPA.
Debbie Wilkins, RN
Debbie is a registered nurse and works part-time for the firm performing health claim audits. She worked as a managed claims nurse for a national TPA before changing careers to motherhood. Kurt convinced her to review health claims audits giving the firm expertise that few CPA firms possess. She attended the 2011 and 2012 NHCAA Institute for Health Care Fraud Protection conference.
Kyle Baldani
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