Accounting - Do It Yourself? or Hire?

[DawgOD]

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Hello,

I am really curious about how optometrist handle their accounting within their practice. Do you have your own personal accountant? Do you hire them on a full time basis? or do you hire them for advice and you take care of the numbers yourself? Do you pay them by the hour, and if so what is an expected paying rate?

If starting your own practice COLD, would you start handling your books on your own to save money? or still let a professional handle it?

Thanks for the input. I'm really considering starting my own practice, but at the same time want to save money if possible. Is accounting an area where you can cut costs? Just trying to get a few pearls from the practicing OD's on this forum in regards to accounting. Thanks again.

 

[KHE]

Hello,

I am really curious about how optometrist handle their accounting within their practice. Do you have your own personal accountant? Do you hire them on a full time basis? or do you hire them for advice and you take care of the numbers yourself? Do you pay them by the hour, and if so what is an expected paying rate?

If starting your own practice COLD, would you start handling your books on your own to save money? or still let a professional handle it?

Thanks for the input. I'm really considering starting my own practice, but at the same time want to save money if possible. Is accounting an area where you can cut costs? Just trying to get a few pearls from the practicing OD's on this forum in regards to accounting. Thanks again.

Just as you wouldn't try to be a do-it-yourself lawyer, this is an area where you really need professional advice. You can certainly do your daily and monthly book keeping yourself but you really should have the advice of a trusted CPA for taxes, tax planning, and other financial services.

Some accountants charge per hour. Some charge a once a year fee and then allow unlimited or reasonably unlimted consultation time during the year.

I've learned from experience that accountants also range from ones who are super strict by the book type of guys to others who are pretty much willing to commit fraud if you pay them enough. (ie: the large number of corporate scandals we've seen over the past 10 years.)

What you want is someone in the middle. You need an accountant who's comfortable operating with and arguing the grey areas because there's a lot of that in the tax code.

 

[DawgOD]

thanks for the info..

it's sad that you were the only one to respond, yet there are all kind of responses on non-sense threads.. :smh:

 

[Tippytoe]

thanks for the info..

it's sad that you were the only one to respond, yet there are all kind of responses on non-sense threads.. :smh:

Hey, give us time. Some of us have a life off of the internet. 😀 I've been spending time with my kids, who are growing up too fast.:cry:

I wouldn't even begin to try to do my own taxes. I've had an accountant from my first day of my cold start. He does my personal taxes, business taxes and real estate taxes for the year. He also does my quarterly reports.

It's not cheap. I pay a little over $4,000 per year for his services. But there is no way I could produce the telephone book size tax reports he does. Uncle Sam makes it VERY hard and complicated.

I am able to file my own quarterly gov't reports via the internet. That saves me a few bucks.

 

[DawgOD]

thx for the response.. do you feel like what you are paying is the going rate? or a little more to make sure he/she is doing everything correctly? thanx again.

 

[Tippytoe]

thx for the response.. do you feel like what you are paying is the going rate? or a little more to make sure he/she is doing everything correctly? thanx again.

I'm not exactly sure. I believe it's about average. Fees do seem to vary quite a bit. It also matters how you are set up. A solo private practice is going to be cheaper than an S-corp private practice (which will save you taxes). Probably it's more important to find someone you like and can work with (ie, is willing to take your calls when you have a question). The guy I use is also a patient of mine and he started his office the same time I did (although he has since moved and built a large office complex that he rents out and added 2 associates😳).

I have a OD friend that tried to do his own accounting and gave up quickly because it was too complicated and he was afraid of going to jail.

 

[optsuker]

I do all my own books and payroll (QuickBooks) and meet with my accountant once a year at tax time.

Usually will have 1-2 email/phone questions throughout the year.

I personally am a big fan of doing your own books, especially when you're starting out.
I still do my own. There's no better way to keep your finger on the pulse of your practice.

 

[DawgOD]

I do all my own books and payroll (QuickBooks) and meet with my accountant once a year at tax time.

Usually will have 1-2 email/phone questions throughout the year.

I personally am a big fan of doing your own books, especially when you're starting out.
I still do my own. There's no better way to keep your finger on the pulse of your practice.

did an accountant teach you? or did you learn yourself?

 

[optsuker]

did an accountant teach you? or did you learn yourself?

Some of both.

When starting out, select an accountant that has a certified QuickBooks specialist on staff. They can help set up your accounts and give you a checklist of things to do each pay period, month, quarter, year. You'll need help initially, but will learn the ropes quickly.

QuickBooks is the standard for small business accounting & can do your payroll (don't need to subscribe to their payroll service though), profit&loss reports, checking acct, etc.

It's great for doing the the Acct payable & receivable but does a poor job for practice management, so you need a separate program for runnng the practice, billing insurance, & EMR.