How we think about professional and medical practices
A practice's books should be quiet. Income arrives from several directions: patients and clients paying directly, insurers and benefit plans paying in batches, and for physicians, the provincial medical plan. Our job is to match each deposit to what your practice management or billing system says was earned, keep payroll steady, and give your accountant a file with no loose ends.
Abbotsford is a regional health care centre. Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre on Marshall Road is, in Fraser Health's words, the largest health care facility in the Fraser Valley, and the clinics, dental offices and physiotherapy practices nearby see patients from well beyond the city. Professional firms in Historic Downtown and along South Fraser Way serve a similar spread of the Valley.
What makes the books different
- Deposits matched to billings. Payments from patients, insurers and benefit plans arrive on different schedules, often net of fees. We reconcile each deposit to the month-end reports from your practice management or billing system, so unpaid claims and write-offs are visible every month.
- Associates, contractors and staff kept apart. Many practices mix employees with associates or contractors paid on a fee split. We record each arrangement as the agreement sets it out and run employee payroll separately. Whether someone is an employee or a contractor is a question for your CPA or lawyer.
- Incorporated professionals. A professional corporation means two sets of records that must agree: the corporation's books and what the professional draws as salary, dividends or loans. We keep the shareholder loan account current every month. Whether to incorporate, and how to pay yourself, sits with your CPA.
- More than one location. A practice with a second site in Mission or Chilliwack, or hours at another clinic, gets each location tracked on its own, so rent, staff and supplies are charged where they belong and each site's results can be read separately.
What a monthly close looks like for you
By the 10th, every bank account, card and merchant account is reconciled for the month before. Your practice manager sends the billing system's month-end summary, and we match it to deposits, post receivables for claims still outstanding, and code supplier, lab and equipment-lease bills.
You receive a profit and loss by location and, where it helps, by provider, plus a balance sheet and a short note. The note covers what changed, any claims that look stuck, and what we need from you. Payroll remittances and the GST position are checked inside the same close.
Tools we commonly use for professional and medical practice clients
QuickBooks Online or Xero as the ledger. Your practice management or billing system stays the record of appointments, claims and invoices, and we work from its reports rather than replacing it. Dext to capture supplier bills and receipts. Plooto to pay suppliers and labs on approval. Wagepoint for staff payroll.
Partners we work with
CPAs who work with incorporated professionals prepare the returns and advise on structure and compensation. Corporate lawyers handle professional corporation set-up, associate agreements, and buying or selling a practice. Banks and lenders with professional lending teams ask for current statements when you finance equipment or a practice purchase. For front-desk and associate pay, payroll management runs on the same calendar as the books.
A good fit if
- You run a clinic, dental office, physiotherapy practice or professional firm in Abbotsford or nearby
- You are incorporated, or about to be, and want the corporate and personal sides kept clearly apart
- You want month-end to be a report rather than a project, and year-end to be uneventful