Diane’s on cloud nine

Diane Lucas has been recognised internationally. 140302 Picture: ROB CAREW

By CASEY NEILL

A CRANBOURNE bookkeeper has made the cut in a list of the world’s best software trainers.
Diane Lucas has run bookkeeping and consultancy firm Direct Management since 2006.
“More recently my specialty is in QuickBooks Online. It’s the biggest cloud-based accounting program in the world,” she said.
She’s been a trainer for Intuit for almost three years.
“So I train book keepers and accountants in the software as what we call a ProAdvisor. A ProAdvisor is an expert in that field.”
There are about 120,000 ProAdvisors around the world.
Last month Ms Lucas was named in Intuitive Accountant’s 2015 Top 100 ProAdvisors.
“I’m the first Australian to make that list,” she said.
“It’s not a popularity contest as such, it’s about ‘what has Diane Lucas done for the brand QuickBooks Online, how does her practice work’, a whole host of things….
“How do I use software to help businesses, what other programs do I use….”
Ms Lucas said business had changed from predominantly desktop based to cloud based and paperless.