If you’re in the medical industry and feel confused or frustrated by the accounting and tax aspects of your practice, let’s review 3 indicators that it may be time to make a change in this area of your practice.
I have worked with many medical professionals over the last two decades and I can tell you there is a common theme among them and that is their dislike for the accounting and tax side of their business. It’s not what they went to school for and it’s certainly not their passion in life, but they all know it has to be done.
They need accurate and timely financial information to run their practices and to make important decisions in this ever-changing industry and they need it to stay compliant with tax laws. They also don’t want to miss out on tax savings opportunities so they expect their advisors to be both strategic and proactive.
If this resonates with you and you’re sitting there nodding your head in agreement, it doesn’t have to be a pain point in your life. Lining up with the right advisors with efficient and automated accounting and tax systems as well as on-going proactiveness and communication is the key to smoothing out this often clunky and frustrating side of your practice. Here are 3 indicators that it may be time to move to a new advisor and a painless, accurate and timely accounting system.
The first indication that it’s time to make a change is if you’re not receiving up-to-date financial statements in a timely manner AND frequently – no less than on a monthly basis. You simply cannot effectively run a business in a strategic manner if you don’t know the practice financial performance. Key decisions such as opening another location, bringing in another physician, compensation contract amounts and medical equipment purchases should all be supported with sound financial data. This is a fundamental component of your relationship with your financial advisors.
The second indication that it’s time to make a change is if your data is not being analyzed and discussed with you by your CPA on a monthly basis. You need to have a basic understanding of how to read financial statements and have a chance to ask questions and get clarity on anything that isn’t absolutely clear. This is why you have advisors – they are there to coach you, brainstorm with you and make sure you continue to develop your knowledge in this area of your practice.
The last indicator that it may be time to change advisors is if your tax return is either prepared last minute, incorrectly or maybe not even reviewed with you before being filed. If you have taxes that are being filed on your behalf and you aren’t clear about the results, key decisions made in their preparation such as the expensing method of medical equipment, or maybe they have to be consistently amended due to errors, it’s definitely time to make a change.
My team and I have experience working with medical practices both small and large and provide all of these fundamentally important services on and offsite. If you would like to learn more about how we provide our accounting, tax planning and advisory services to medical organizations to eliminate the pain, visit our website at Actservices-inc.com.
