Heather Lucas, the firm's owner, graduated cum laude in June of 2005 from Eastern Washington University (EWU) with a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in accounting, finance, and economics. After graduation, she passed all four parts of the CPA exam and became certified shortly thereafter.

In addition to her formal education, Ms. Lucas has also successfully completed over 100 hours of tax preparation courses with H&R Block and 120 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) with LeMasterDaniels, PLLC. Although her education is vital to her success, her experience is what has made her the highly skilled accountant she is today.

Heather has taught tax and CPA review courses for both H&R Block and Becker CPA Review and tutored accounting students from EWU and Whitworth Colleges. During her two tax seasons with H&R Block, she prepared individual income tax returns, where she learned how to interview taxpayers and how to effectively advise them on their specific tax situations.

While working at LeMasterDaniels, she was given the opportunity to work in several different areas of accounting, spending about half of her time preparing individual and entity tax returns including state and federal income tax returns as well as employment tax returns. She spent the remaining half of her time working in the audit department on compilation, review, and audit engagements, during which she prepared financial statements, accounting adjustments, and all of the related work papers required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

In January of 2009, Ms. Lucas left LeMasterDaniels to start her own practice - Advantage Accounting, LLC. In addition to preparing personal and business taxes, she also works with several businesses as a part-time controller or Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to assist the owners with drafting budgets and financial statements, training staff, monthly and year-end closing procedures, and any other accounting assistance that they require.

With a passion for financial consulting, every year Ms. Lucas provides various tax services at no charge to lower income individuals struggling with a job loss or providing a living for their family. There is nothing more exhilarating to her than providing a financial service that finds someone some extra money that they would not been able to obtain otherwise. She especially enjoys it when a service or advice she has provided helps that individual move away from their current lifestyle to a better, more productive life.

Recently, Heather accepted a position on the board of the Spokane Society of Young Professionals (SSYP) as the finance chair, where she handles all the finances for this non-profit organization.