How we help medical and dental practice owners
With our many years of experience serving the medical and dental professions, we have been able to help practice owners, consultants and dental professionals with the business side of their practice in a wide variety of ways.
Our aim is to save you time and money, and to maximise the rewards of your hard work. Here are some case-studies illustrating the breadth of what we do to help dental and medical professionals maximise the returns from their business.
Smilecare Dental
How a business is structured can have a dramatic effect on the amount of earnings its owners are able to hang onto. So, when David and Rachel Mantle, who run a successful private dental practice in west London, discovered that changing their business set-up would more than halve their tax bill, they were obviously delighted.
As owners of a substantial independent practice, the Smilecare Dental Clinic in Chiswick, David and Rachel were introduced to Figurit by their bank, NatWest. After an initial meeting on a no-fee, no-obligation basis, they decided to pursue a recommended restructuring of their business entity and incorporate their practice as a limited company.
However, there is far more to this process than simply registering a company, warns Figurit’s business director Michael Lansdell. “This is a really specialist area,” he emphasises. “Not just anybody could do it. If somebody just set up a limited company tomorrow they couldn’t achieve these kind of tax savings.”
He emphasises that it’s important to take into account the specific circumstances pertaining to each case, including legal and financial aspects, who the shareholders are, and whether the owners have any children, for instance.
“We aim to create a unique blueprint specific to the client’s individual circumstance,” he explains. “When we did the calculation on their potential tax saving, David and Rachel were very happy and very surprised.”
Of course, the Mantles’ association with Figurit hasn’t stopped with the incorporation of the practice. Their relationship with the firm is coming up to its fifth anniversary later this year and the Figurit continues to advise the Mantles on taxation issues as well as providing them with everything they need to file their annual accounts and return.
Beyond that, the firm also advises the Mantles on property and borrowing issues, working closely with their bankers. Indeed, there has been close cooperation between the bank, solicitors and accountants to ensure that the Mantles’ financial requirements are well looked after, while Figurit has played a key coordinating role in these relationships. “The client is delighted that we could help them with other professionals,” says Michael.
So are the Mantles happy with their choice of accountancy firm? Rachel sums up their experience very much from the perspective of a satisfied client. “Figurit are highly professional, and explain everything in great detail. We feel our business has gone to a whole new level since we moved over to them and can’t thank them enough for their expertise and guidance.“
Highgate Dental Practice
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For people running their own business, time is a precious commodity, which is why smaller businesses sometimes find bookkeeping a bit of a burden. Yet, this essential activity doesn’t have to be overly time-consuming if you enlist a little help from the latest technology.
The Highgate Dental Practice in north London is a successful private dental clinic with 18 staff. The practice also carries out some cosmetic and aesthetic treatments, including Botox.
Owner Hugo Hagen has been a Figurit client for some four years now. He’s found that, since adopting the firm’s preferred online accountancy solution, keeping the books up to date has suddenly become a whole lot easier. Called Xero, this cloud-based software is totally secure and enables clients’ online banking systems to talk directly to the accounts system, saving users a considerable amount of time and effort.
“Xero really does save our clients time but also helps them to remain compliant by making it easy to keep accurate books and records,” explains Figurit business director Michael Lansdell.
What’s more, the system is highly flexible, with the option for either the client to operate the system or to have Figurit maintain it for them. This combined access saves Hugo time sending information to the accountants and makes the process of finalising the annual accounts and tax returns much more efficient. Meanwhile, both the business and the accountants are able to resolve issues speedily online or over the phone.
“Xero has dramatically reduced the time the Highgate Dental Practice has to spend on bookkeeping, and the amount of information that they have to provide to us at the end of the year. Consequently, we can finalise their accounts more quickly and more accurately, giving them plenty of time to plan for their tax bill,” says Michael.
Most importantly, the system is highly secure. “There are no security implications with this software. It’s just a data feed from the bank,” Michael emphasises.
Of course, the system is not simply about saving time on bookkeeping; it also helps with forward planning and managing the business. “Xero can help us produce a six-monthly free tax estimate, which is of great value to a client.”
Naturally, the service offered by Figurit doesn’t end with providing a fast and efficient annual accounts service. The firm has also been able to assist by structuring Hugo’s business – through incorporation – in the most tax-efficient way, and by advising on various personal financial matters.
So what does Hugo think of the service? With Figurit on the case he enjoys the peace of mind of knowing there won’t be any nasty surprises when the time comes to file the annual accounts: “Since we have engaged Figurit to take over our accounts, we have seen major benefits. Our accounts are prepared to a very high standard and we no longer have unexpected surprises at the end of the financial year.”
He is also full of praise for the customer service offered by the firm, adding: “The communication is excellent and more than anything we feel safe and looked after.”
Dr Norman Gluckman
If you’ve got a problem with a painful root canal, it’s time to call in the endodontist, the specialist who can probably fix your tooth in about a third of the time it might take a less specialised dentist.
Dr Norman Gluckman is one of those miracle workers, an itinerant endodontist, who visits many dental practices to carry out this specialist work for patients.
As a one man band Dr Gluckman works for himself and operates out of a practice on days when one of the resident dentists isn’t working there. This arrangement benefits both parties: the dental clinic is able to offer a specialist service without having to pay for a fulltime overhead, and the endodontist saves on having to pay for permanent facilities. Under this system, Dr Gluckman earns a percentage of the fees charged, while the practice pockets the rest in return for providing the patient and the facilities.
Fast and efficient personal service lies at the heart of what the endodontist is able to bring to the practice’s patients, and this exactly mirrors what Figurit is able to provide for Dr Gluckman, who has been a client of the firm for some six years.
Asked what makes the firm’s service stand out, Dr Gluckman is quick to reply. “I like the fact that, since I started using Figurit, my tax bills have halved.”
While tax-mitigation services lie at the heart of what Figurit does, the firm is able to offer much more than that. Business director Michael Lansdell acknowledges that specialising in tax is an important part of the work. “We have arranged Dr Gluckman’s tax affairs in a very tax-efficient way.” However, the firm has also been able to look after Dr Gluckman’s business affairs.
Explains Michael: “We’ve been able to help Dr Gluckman with paperwork and offer financial concierge services. Our speciality is going beyond the call of duty.”
Michael underlines that Figurit is big enough to offer specialist expertise in a number of areas in addition to tax. That’s why the firm has been able to guide Dr Gluckman through the process of incorporation and continues to handle his annual accounts and compliance work in addition to helping him save money.
Indeed, Michael predicts that there is likely to be a resurgence in interest in incorporation during 2014, as a new directive from NHS England has opened the way for all NHS dental practices to become incorporated, whether the dentists are operating as sole-traders or as part of a partnership.
