General Practitioners are facing a number of challenges in today’s economic climate – increasing patient demand, pressure on services, and incoming National Insurance hikes. All of these combined with the demand of the job mean it’s more important than ever to ensure the commercial success of your practice – for the good of your business, its employees, and your patients.
Director of Foxley Kingham Medical and Chartered Accountant, Zeeshan Hussain, specialises in working with GPs to ensure commercial success. So much so that he is responsible for delivering the financial workshops for Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Local Medical Committee’s Fundamentals Programme.
Commercial support for General Practitioners
Zeeshan has carved out his specialism in working with GPs to build commercially successful practices and works with his clients throughout the year to ensure their ongoing financial success. Here are some considerations, Zeeshan suggests practices take to safeguard the future of their businesses…
Budgeting
A comprehensive budget is vital to having a commercially successful business. Practices should have an annual budget which identifies key changes such as, changes in patient numbers, global sum uplift, movement in enhanced services, anticipated staffing levels etc. A budget can also help to identify where finance may be needed to enable growth, and help to plan for increasing costs, like inflation and national insurance rises. Once your budget is created – don’t forget about it and review it on a monthly basis adjusting if necessary.
Cash flow
Monthly cash flow projections should be worked through and reviewed regularly to ensure you have the funds available to keep your business going. If cashflow is becoming an issue is there a need to review the working capital.
Tax estimations
Ensuring that you’re setting enough aside to cover your annual tax bill is vital. Once a budget has been set it is possible to estimate potential tax payments based on this. This can help with budgeting and where profits are expected to reduce there may be the potential to reduce your tax payments on account.
If you’d like to find out more about how Zeeshan can help your practice – get in touch with the Foxley Kingham Medical team here.