Tracie Quan promoted to diocesan controller

FORT WORTH — The Diocese of Fort Worth has promoted veteran accountant Tracie Quan to the position of controller, a role that will put her in charge of all accounting functions for the diocese.

Quan replaces Jorge Montenegro who has moved to the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, where he has been named Chief Financial Officer.

Quan, a certified public accountant, said that the role of controller brings something new every day, something she enjoys in her work at the diocese.

“There’s always different things going on when you’ve got 91 parishes and 19 schools, the [Catholic] Center, and the Advancement Foundation that you’re trying to keep track of,” Quan said.  “And, people coming from all those different directions asking questions and needing direction, so there’s really not a day that’s the same.”

Quan joined the Finance and Administrative Services staff as an internal auditor in August 2018 and has performed detailed compliance audits of parishes and schools during that time. She led the diocesan process for implementing the second phase of the advanced accounting feature in the FACTS tuition management system and worked with the accounting department on several special projects.

Quan grew up in Granbury, Texas, and is a graduate of Tarleton State University in Stephenville. She worked for Radio Shack when she got out of college and then worked for jewelry company Zale Corp. and Burlington Resources, an oil and gas company.

When Quan’s son, Brendan, now 17, was in preschool at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Keller, she occasionally worked as a bookkeeper at the parish.

“I wasn’t the bookkeeper, but I was like the occasional help there for the bookkeeper, and from there it just kind of all evolved,” Quan said. “I started working there and then the bookkeeper left, and I assumed that role. Then, I became the auditor [for the diocese] from there and now this.”

Quan said her background as an auditor will help her in her new role.

“I was an auditor, and probably more into the weeds than a lot of controllers would need. But you really need to know what’s in the weeds because whatever’s there is what’s going to be on your financial statements,” she said. That’s what the CFO, Bishop Michael Olson, and others look at, “so right in the beginning, I’m probably more hands on than some controllers.”

Working at the Catholic Center has been a wonderful experience for Quan.

“I love it. I mean people here are nice and the other nice thing is you can — if you need to take a break — you can go sit in the chapel for a few minutes and rejuvenate and get back to it,” Quan said. “It’s nice, and we have daily Mass here. I used to go quite often before all the COVID stuff.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how the world operates and the Catholic Center is no different.

“It’s by working from home that we’ve been able to really keep the business going,” Quan said.  “Our accounting staff is staggered on days, and you just shift things around and make it happen.”

And, while working from home offers a sense of safety in the COVID world, it isn’t a perfect situation.

“What I miss is the daily camaraderie and communication,” Quan said. “I mean there’s something to be said about face-to-face, you know. Having a meeting face-to-face is better than a Zoom meeting.”

Quan grew up Baptist and became Catholic 20 years ago when she married her husband, Tom.