Thursday, 20 February 2020 15:47

Spa Accounting 101

Written by   Kevin Eyerman

While it can seem complex, when it comes to finance and accounting, the medical spa industry is really no different than any other. The most important thing is that you apply sound accounting practices each and every day across the company. Here are a few tips that can help you stay on top of your finances and grow a successful business.

Let’s face it – our number one focus as medical spa operators should be on our clients and providing the best services. Finance and accounting can seem like a distraction at the least and overwhelming at worst. However, you can help avoid getting swamped by all the finance and accounting tasks and focus on your business if you do the following.

 

PARTNER WITH THE RIGHT ADVISORS

 

When you only have one or a few locations, it might seem like you can handle the finance and accounting yourself, but the work can add up quickly. That is why it is important to get a bookkeeper. A bookkeeper will handle all the routine accounting and allow you to free up time for other projects. You don’t have to hire a large firm; you just need to find a bookkeeper you trust, who is educated, and who you can be completely transparent about the finances of your business with. In addition to a bookkeeper, it is critical to find a good certified public accountant to help you with tax strategy and planning. While the bookkeeper keeps the ledgers intact, a good certified public accountant will use that information to identify opportunities to reduce your tax burden come tax time.

 

STAY ORGANIZED AND RECONCILE OFTEN

 

Now that you have hired a bookkeeper, you need to create the right workflow to allow that bookkeeper to be successful. There are two important ways to keep your accounting under control: stay organized and reconcile often. Set up a system for processing invoices, so things don’t pile up. It is also important to get into the habit of managing basic operational finance items and details on a regular basis – weekly at the least. If you wait until the end of each month to review your bills or reconcile, you lose valuable time you may have needed to react to errors or irregularities and may lose out on certain payment discounts or rebates available to you. That is why you should reconcile and send important accounting items to your bookkeeper on a set schedule that they determine.

 

MANAGE YOUR VENDORS REGULARLY

 

Nothing cripples a business more than missing vendor and utility payments and paying the price. Your vendors are the backbone of your company; no business can run without supplies, let alone without electricity. That is why, as part of your routine accounting process, you should review all invoices when they arrive. By nature, many want to put the bills aside and deal with them later, but this can lead to missed payments, and as noted, missed opportunities for potential discounts and rebates. If your vendors are happy, you will be able to operate your business at the optimum level.

 

KEEP CUSTOMER PAYMENTS UP-TO-DATE

 

Like staying on top of your bills and vendor payments, working with clients to ensure timely receipts will keep your business running smoothly. Since you have a bookkeeper, you can use them to provide your guest relations team with a list of individuals to send friendly reminders to about overdue payments. In order to maintain a strong relationship with clients, your last option for collecting payments should be to refer them to a debt collector. It’s usually best to use someone whom clients may already be familiar with and reach out with a gentle nudge to keep from creating an adversarial relationship. This will help to keep them returning for services and paying on time.

 

Running a medical spa can be more than a full-time job, but by following these accounting and finance tips, you can hopefully reduce your workload and concentrate on growing your business.

 

 

Kevin Eyerman is the chief accounting officer for Ideal Image Medspa and is a certified public accountant and seasoned finance executive. He has worked for over 25 plus years in both public accounting and with publicly traded companies and privately held entities in varying industries, including many nationally operated multi-unit retail outlets.

 

 

 

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