Ben Borgers, CPA, CVA, Managing Partner
Phone: (303) 953-1454 ext. 110
Ben is a CPA with over 15 years experience in public accounting. Ben has two degrees from Texas A & M University. One is in Information Technology (IT) and the other is in Accounting. He began his career as a database administrator for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service managing several web enabled databases covering employees and support personnel in 254 different counties in Texas. Ben developed and maintained the databases and the web portal for these and also worked for an IT consulting company on weekends doing general IT and database consulting. This gave him a solid background in IT and Database systems and allows him the ability to understand complicated information systems and IT internal controls.
Upon completion of his Accounting degree he began his Accounting career with Grant Thornton LLP and spent five months doing forensic accounting and SEC reporting and financial restatement for HealthSouth in Birmingham, Alabama. This involved locating fraudulent data and restating the financial statements using individual financial data from over 1,400 locations across the US. The Financial statements were restated and consolidated at the corporate level covering all facilities for five years, some of which were reported quarterly. Ben was able to partially automate this process using his IT background and accounting knowledge by developing excel macros and several SQL programs to obtain data from database files and word files and put it in accounting formats by month and consolidate these up to the corporate level resulting in excel financials by facility by quarter. Upon completion of this automation Ben became a team leader and began training employees joining the project. Upon Ben’s team’s completion Ben returned to the Denver office of Grant Thornton and performed audits for public companies, private companies, governmental entities, non profits and did Sox 404 Engagements, IT governance and IT Sox testing.
Ben left Grant Thornton to go to a large regional firm in Denver and while there managed public company audits, private company audits and nonprofit audits. Ben also developed, planned and managed the firm’s first successful SAS 70 engagement (now SSAE 16 engagements) and continued to manage and refine the process for these engagements going forward and created a framework for the firm to perform these audits and managed this process. Ben also did Sox 404 consulting, implementation and Audit testing for several clients as well as IT Consulting. While here. Ben worked with clients in the areas of Manufacturing and Distribution, Mining, Energy (including oil and gas, solar and natural gas), Broker-Dealers, Construction, Information and Communications, Real estate, Healthcare, Biomedical Sciences, Telecommunications and retail. Ben also traveled to multiple locations in Canada, the US and South America for several different public and private mining clients.
Ben then left this firm to start his own public accounting firm. He began by specializing in taxation but quickly expanded to private audits, valuation (he holds a Certified Valuation License from NACVA), litigation and eventually back to PCAOB audits.
In his free time Ben enjoys Jeeping in his CJ-7 that he built from scratch, horseback riding, backpacking, fishing, camping, hunting, sailing, hiking and spending time with his wife and three children.
Eric Lien, CPA, CGMA, Audit Director
Phone: (303) 953-1454 ext. 114
Eric is a CPA (Colorado) and a CGMA (Chartered Global Management Accountant) with over 8 years experience in public accounting and 2 years experience in corporate accounting in US, China and Taiwan. Eric obtained his master degree in accounting from The University of Texas at Dallas and the bachelor degree in business administration focusing on accounting from National Taipei University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Eric was born in Taiwan and Mandarin is his native language. After completion of his accounting degree and the 2 years of compulsory military service, he began his accounting career with Deloitte Taiwan as a financial statement auditor, mainly performed the audit services for Taiwanese listed companies and large petrochemical and electronics consumer product manufacturers in China. He had learned business and accounting practices in both China and Taiwan and built a solid foundation for the financial statement audit.
Eric joined a small CPA firm in Taiwan after leaving Deloitte and a few years of financial planning and consultant positions. The firm was engaged in a project for an audit of 2-year consolidated financial statement restatement for a large Taiwanese public company with over ten operating entities. Eric was able to lead the fieldwork with 15 staff in various locations including Taiwan, China, and the U.S. The audit team completed the work within 4 months and he has expressed a highly effective and efficient of project management to meet client’s expectation and satisfaction.
In order to gain more in-depth financial accounting knowledge in connection to a real corporate world, Eric joined a Taiwanese list company as an accounting manager. Soon he was assigned to its subsidiaries in China acting as a CFO to assist their debt restructuring process, new investor coordination, and daily financial and accounting supervision. He also had frequent interactions with national and local tax authorities, foreign exchange administration, industry and commerce administration, and banks. These hands-on experiences enhanced his capabilities in audit profession.
Eric determined to pursue different opportunities outside of the comfort zone in his early thirties. He and the family flew to Dallas, Texas to earn his master degree in accounting. Before completion of the program in late 2012, he passed all four section of US CPA exam in one attempt within an exam window (two months), and also received an offer from GHP Horwath, P.C. (GHP) in Denver, Colorado, which was later merged into Crowe Horwath LLP on Jan. 1, 2017. He then obtained the CPA license in Colorado on early 2013.
During the 4 years of employment in GHP, Eric has mainly assigned to Asian-Pacific based US public company financial statement audit engagements. He was shortly promoted to an audit manager in Jan 2016 and led one $400+ million revenue China based US listed client and a couple of smaller private company clients. He also assisted in financial statement audits of several Asian-Pacific based clients who listed in US and Canada. These clients have operations in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, New Zealand, and so on. He also participated in an IPO audit project for a real estate group in England, and a carve-out oil and gas asset acquisition project in Houston, Texas. He focuses on US and Canada listed company audits with US GAAP and IFRS accounting standards, and specializes in industries such as garment manufacturing, wholesale and retail, agriculture, telecom, software, petrochemical, and e-commerce. Before the merge took effective on Jan 1, 2017, Eric joined B F Borgers CPA PC (BF Borgers) to keep serving Asian-Pacific based public clients with his expertise.
In his free time Eric enjoys golfing, camping, skiing, and road trips with his wife and three children.
Jaslyn Sellers, CPA, Audit Director
Phone: (303) 953-1454
Jaslyn Sellers is a Audit Director with BF Borger’s Audit and Assurance Services Department. She has primarily specialized in serving privately held and publicly traded companies and has assisted her clients with initial public offerings, private offerings, international and domestic acquisitions, various other accounting, and reporting issues surrounding other transactions.
Jaslyn is a Certified Public Accountant with more twelve years of experience in public accounting. She currently specializes in both SEC and non-SEC audits, reviews, and compilation ranging in size from start-ups, entrepreneur & family owned business to established corporations. Jaslyn is experienced in audits and reviews of companies in various industries including manufacturing & distribution, technology, professional service, healthcare, and oil & gas.
Education and Professional Licenses:
• Certified Public Accountant, California
• Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, California State University of Fullerton
• Master in taxation, Golden Gate University
• PHD candidate
Brian Rusywick, CPA, Audit Director
Brian Rusywick is an accounting and finance professional with in-depth experience in start-ups, emerging companies, and operating companies in all aspects of accounting, finance, and management in Canada and the U.S. He has assisted these companies with developing and implementing their strategic plan and financial models. Brian’s experience spans a wide range of industries including health care, distribution, retail, technology, real estate, professional/business service.
Brian has years of experience advising and consulting with development stage to mid-market companies completing going public transactions (Form A-1, Form S-1, and reverse takeover transactions) and secondary public offerings for companies that maintain their core operations in Canada and the United States of America. Prior to this, Brian has ten years of experience as a Managing Member for correspondent real estate lending company that operated several warehouse lines of credit with Flagstar Bank and Wells Fargo. Brian has served as a corporate accountant for a North American Logistics Company and an Optical Technology Company.
Brian is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in California and has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from Simon Fraser University, Canada.
Chris Wolden, CPA, Audit Manager
Phone: (303) 953-1454 ext. 113
Chris Wolden is a Certified Public Accountant in Colorado and a graduate of Penn State University with the degrees of Master of Accounting, Bachelor of Finance and Bachelor of Accounting.
Chris started his career with Grant Thornton LLP in Philadelphia, PA as an external audit associate. His clients ranged from Fortune 500 companies to privately-held organizations and not-for-profits, but gained most of his experience on publically traded clients in the oil and gas sector. Learning about auditing from the bottom up, he worked his way up from an intern to supervising his engagements and becoming his client’s primary point of contact. Chris passed the CPA exam in 2016 and became licensed in Pennsylvania.
Seeking lifestyle changes and wanting to be closer to his family, Chris left his job with Grant Thornton, moved to Colorado and joined BF Borgers CPA PC in August of 2017. Since starting with BFB, he has seniored and managed the full audit and review life-cycles of the firm’s publicly-traded clients, including annual 10-K’s, quarterly 10-Q’s, S-1 and 8-K filings. He regularly travels across the country and internationally to deliver client service.
Outside of the workplace, Chris is an avid cook, backpacker, skier, and traveler. Chris was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and enjoys spending time with his family still living in both of those cities. He has his 4th degree black belt in Taekwondo and served as Captain of the Penn State Taekwondo Team.
Beth Hancock, EA, Director of Tax and Consulting
Phone: (303) 953-1454 ext. 106
Beth Hancock is an Enrolled Agent with over 25 years of experience in tax preparation, tax resolution, payroll and bookkeeping. Beth has BS in Psychology and an MBA from University of Illinois.
Beth grew up in a Kankakee, Il, a midsized farming and industrial town an hour south of Chicago. During high school and college, Beth worked in the accounting department of her family’s business, KAL Auto Leasing, until its sale in 1986. At KAL she covered for accounting staff during vacations and when they were involved in preparing for the annual audit as well as assisting the CFO with preparation of excise tax returns.
After graduating college, her professional career started with EF Hutton as a stock broker in Champaign Illinois. Beth helped young families learn about investing and plan for their futures.
Preferring the financial analysis side of things to the sales side, Beth moved to Colorado and became a Fund Accountant for Oppenheimer Funds, pricing the fund daily and working with the portfolio managers to ensure compliance. It was here when Beth was first introduced to tax. She helped work on the project to change the tax year of the funds she worked with and helped advise Oppenheimer fund holders defend the tax-free status of the income from municipal bond funds in IRS audits.
Beth joined H&R Block in 1993 and passed the IRS Special Enrollment Examination becoming an Enrolled Agent in 1997. At H&R Block she worked with individuals achieving additional certifications in military, international, retirement, investment tax preparation. She also worked with businesses, providing tax preparation for income and payroll taxes. Beth provided tax resolution services for H&R Block clients all through the Denver metro area. For ten years, she taught tax preparation and resolution classes.
In 2016 Beth joined BF Borgers CPA so she could offer her business clients a full suite of services. She continues to teach taxation through COSEA, the local chapter of the National Association of Enrolled Agents.
Outside the workplace Beth enjoys reading science fiction, fantasy, and mysteries. She volunteers for local charities, crocheting blankets and serving on a finance committee. Having moved to Colorado in 1989, Beth has taken up hiking and camping in order to spend time with her family of outdoors enthusiasts.
