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There is no general contractor in their right mind who would tell you to build the house first, then lay the foundation. You’d have to be some kind of special to believe that logic. Yet, when it comes to the internal operations of many medical spa’s, that’s exactly what they do.
I’m amazed how folks will pay a CPA to help them with tax planning and filings, all the while their business books are a mess. I see other med spa’s that have a CFO on retainer but don’t realize the advice they’re receiving is useless because their numbers are severely off.
Much like the picture above, at face value, it can seem like everything is great within a particular business - the website is flashy, the social media is humming, the clients are happy, and everything seems to be going well, but take a peek behind the facade, and their a$$ is on full display.
Because CPA’s are so busy during tax season, they oftentimes bypass a high amount of deductions for their clients by making large journal entries to balance the books just so they can get the tax return filed. They do this because, if they haven’t been hired to do your bookkeeping, they expect that the financials you’ve submitted are already in order, so that’s what they go off of. In more common cases, the bookkeeper that the med spa has been using simply did the books wrong/they don’t know what they’re doing/they’re a low-cost provider so they’re spread too thin and things ‘fall through the cracks’ when a vendor gets spread too thin.
In business, it’s very easy to forget about the boring stuff while the flashier, more exciting things take the forefront of our affections. This is a recipe for a rude awakening. If you want to own a healthy practice, step one is to make certain home plate is covered - that means retaining an experienced, industry-specific bookkeeper. It’s the equivalent of laying the foundation first, then building the house. If the foundation is improperly laid, or in many cases, bypassed altogether, it doesn’t matter how slick your website is, cash flow problems will arise.
First, hire a great bookkeeper.
Next, hire a CPA.
After that, when budget allows, splurge on a CFO.
You’ll thank me later… or sooner.
- Speakeasy Bookkeeping