More and more medical groups, including small practices and home healthcare, are outsourcing accountants for expanded services. Why? Regardless of how small it is, a medical practice is a business and needs to turn a profit to operate and grow.
However, not all accountants or forms of accounting are created equal. Finding the right fit for your practice is a crucial step in the process.
At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we've worked with a variety of different healthcare practices in the 50+ years we've been in business. We know the healthcare industry's unique accounting and payroll challenges. Here, we cover:
- What monthly accounting services include
- What healthcare accounting services include
- How an accounting and payroll service works with healthcare industry challenges
Monthly Accounting Services
An annual accountant is fine to work with in the early stages of most businesses. However, once your business is ready for monthly accounting services, this option is a more in-depth investment for your practice.
As a monthly accounting firm, we may seem biased, but we've seen the results that our extended service provides - and annual accounting simply can't offer the same results because they're not in your books very often.
Plus, when you work with a monthly accounting service that also offers payroll, you reap the benefits. Working with accounting and payroll services helps you evaluate the health of your business, use financial tools to make informed business decisions, and properly care for your workers.
A monthly accounting and payroll firm can handle the basics:
- Monthly bookkeeping
- Monthly account reconciliation
- Monthly statements to guide business decisions
- Monthly guidance from an accountant
- Unlimited contact to answer any one-off questions
- Annual taxes, including year-round tax strategy
- Payroll that's integrated with your accounting
Depending on the firm you work with, they may offer additional services as well. They will often charge extra for additional services, such as in-depth consulting projects or extra payroll features.
Ultimately, outsourcing monthly accounting services provides extra security. Most businesses benefit from more oversight of their monthly operations, and the thought of a single in-house person handling your practice's entire financial responsibility can be unnerving, especially when it comes to tax liability.
Healthcare Accounting Services
Most monthly accounting firms offer the services mentioned above, but it can go more in-depth and industry-specific as well. If you want an elevated monthly accounting experience, find an experienced healthcare accounting service, which will have a background in:
- Tracking and reaching important healthcare industry benchmarks
- Revenue enhancement and profitability
- Valuation
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Practice restructuring
- Examining operating budgets
- Advising on compensation trends
Healthcare Industry Challenges
Now let's take a dive into how accounting relates to the healthcare industry, specifically, and how accounting and payroll services can help. A major benefit of a monthly service is the advice they're able to offer, and these are the topics they should be familiar with.
The Biggest Challenge: Billing
Cash flow is just as important as profitability in this industry, so one of the largest challenges you face is billing and collections. An accountant can't help with this, but it's important to partner with one who understands this is an obstacle you can face. That way, they can offer advice about:
- Leaning toward working with types of insurance that pay the best
- Managing cash flow properly
- Working variable cash flow into your budget and using lines of credit
- Getting payments faster
- Billing the right way
Other Challenges
Some other healthcare industry challenges that a monthly accounting and payroll service can advise you on include:
- Tracking equipment costs
- Expenses related to maintaining office spaces
- Vehicle costs and employee mileage reimbursements
- Training requirements and professional degrees for employees
- Properly classifying workers as employees or independent contractors
Work With an Experienced Healthcare Accountant
When it comes to outsourced financial services, industry experience is [almost] everything. Now you know about monthly accounting services, as well as how they apply to your industry.
Whether you are thinking about changing accountants or are looking to outsource monthly accounting services for the first time, it’s important to have an open conversation regarding experience and expectations. Choosing the right healthcare accounting service is extremely important for your business, so it’s good to be selective.
Your challenges can be addressed by someone who's worked with businesses like yours before. If you're interested in learning more about how CSI Accounting & Payroll can be a good fit for your healthcare practice, click the button below for a no-obligation consultation:
Not ready to talk? That's okay! First, learn more about the different types of advice a monthly accountant can offer you by clicking the button below:
