CPA for Medical Professionals
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- 1441 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10018
- 1-212-247-2525
- ariel@gamburgcpa.com
- Mon - Fri : 8:00AM - 6:00PM
Money management consultation for medical professionals
Why Medical Professionals Struggle with Financial Management?
While they may be experts in their own fields of medicine, most medical professionals have little knowledge of business management. In fact, many practitioners simply leave the day-to-day running for their practices to a business consultant and have little idea of their finances.
Another reason why business and financial management takes a back seat for many medical professionals is the lack of time. Most medical professionals are extremely busy, with back to back patient visits. Surgeons and specialists are even more swamped with work, making it difficult to make time for business management.
Now, with the implementation of new laws in the healthcare sector, managing a practice has become even more difficult. This leads to even greater difficulties in ensuring the proper financial management of the business.
Managing Your Finances as a Medical Professional
One way to manage your finances would be to do your own business accounting and your main profession as a medical practitioner on top of that. However, with limited time and resources, this approach would dilute your purpose of having started your own practice.
The more practical approach would be to hire a CPA who specializes in the healthcare sector so that you can then focus on your calling – providing the best care for your patients.
A professional accountant who specializes in medical practices can not only help you manage your finances more effectively but also do so more efficiently. He or she will also be able to help you save money and time.
An auditor will be responsible for routinely reconciling the cash deposited to the business and/or personal account of a taxpayer.
The process will also cover all excess deposits over the revenue reported per the returns. Consequently, these deposits will be deemed as an adjustment to income, although the story changes if a taxpayer is able to prove that the income is sourced from a non-taxable provider.
Lastly, an auditor is expected to investigate any fraudulent reporting patterns, most of which are found in audits performed within the same industry in the past.
The Right CPA for Medical Professionals
When looking at hiring the services of a CPA, you need to ensure that you find one who has the ability to provide you with multiple types of services. Here are some of skills and knowledge that a CPA should have if he or she is to be effective in helping you financially manage your practice:
- Should have in-depth knowledge on how a medical practice is managed
- Should understand the revenues and expenses related to a medical practice
- Should be able to help you with your personal as well as practice taxes
- Should also be able to help you on miscellaneous financial issues related to your practice
- Should have in-depth knowledge of the regulations and taxes related to the healthcare industry
Your CPA should be able to help you create a chart of accounts and put a system in place that will prevent any form of fraud of money mismanagement.
We are also known as a firm with great success through the appeals process, with a good number of our cases (those that are not resolved) being settled favorably at the appeals level. Call us today and learn how our firm can help you!
What to Work on With Your CPA
Just because you hire a CPA, it does not excuse you keeping on top of your practice’s finances. After all, it is your business. There needs to be a regular and open channel of communication between the two of you so that your practice can flourish.
Here are a few things you could do to get the best out of your relationship with your CPA:
Ensure that you have an office manager who is a CPM (Certified Practice Manager). A person who is certified in practice management will be able to take care of the day to day operations of your practice.
What your CPM can do is prepare all the financial documents, concerns and issues for you so that your meeting with your CPA is more efficient and fruitful.
Your office manager would be required to work closely with your CPA so that most of the problems would be taken care of even before you meet with your CPA. You can then discuss only the most pertinent issues and save on time.
If you have not been able to find a good CPM office manager, you can ask your CPA to help you find one. In fact, many CPA firms offer such staff for medical practitioners.
Just because you will concentrate on treating patients, it does not mean you should have no understanding of the business aspect of your practice. You will need to take some time out initially to understand the policies, financials as well as record keeping in your office.
Your CPA should also have knowledge of all these aspects of your practice. He or she should also be completely aware of the latest tax laws as well as updates on accounting technology and should be able to advise you on the best and most efficient course of action for your financial and tax needs.
Block your calendar for a regular meeting with your CPA. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy meeting, and it can be done over the phone as well. In fact, if you have set up your office administration right, then even short meetings will be enough. These short reviews will save you a world of pain at the end of the year, when you need to submit your financial statements and do your tax planning!
Remember, no matter how many people you employ to help you manage your practice, you will still need to know how things are being run for you. Knowledge is power. You leaving everything in the hands of another person is what can get you into some serious financial trouble and can even lead to ruin.
So, arm yourself with knowledge so that you are aware of how those you have hired are managing your practice. A little bit of focus on the management side will save you from years of trouble and even financial collapse!