Sandringham Medical Centre
How S&B Private transformed Sandringham Medical Centre’s accounting operations
The challenge
Sandringham Medical Centre, a local medical practice located in Melbourne’s South East, is dedicated to delivering friendly and professional healthcare to their patients. When their in-house practice manager and bookkeeper transitioned out, the practice owners were faced with the challenge of finding a reliable and trusted partner to manage their financial operations.
The key challenges identified were:
Data Reliability
The practice required a comprehensive review of their accounting software, as there was no direct integration with their practice management system.Additionally, a thorough review of their Excel templates was required to ensure the reliability of financial data which was essential for making informed business decisions.
Cost Savings in the Finance Department
With the departure of their internal bookkeeper, the practice required a cost-effective solution to manage their financial operations – without sacrificing quality or efficiency.
Accounting System Upgrade
Using a desktop version of QuickBooks, the finance department encountered inefficiencies and delays in timely reporting. The absence of real-time data access as well as the inability to manage finances remotely, further complicated finance operations for the practice owners.
Compliance
The practice owners always placed a high priority on timely compliance lodgements and tax reporting to the ATO and other government bodies. They stressed the importance of maintaining this standard with whoever assumed responsibility for these tasks.
Faced with these challenges, the practice explored outsourcing options to maintain and improve their financial operations, rather than hiring another in-house resource. As their previous practice manager was not from a finance background, they were looking for a solution that had the knowledge and technical accounting expertise in this area along with the relevant industry experience in the medical practice field to support them. This search led them to partner with S&B Private.
Solution
S&B Private provided Sandringham Medical Centre with a dedicated offshore accountant to perform an in-house finance function for the clinic, offering a reliable, long-term and cost-effective solution that alleviated concerns about staff turnover. The initial step involved S&B Private conducting a comprehensive review of Sandringham Medical Centre’s templates, accounting software and available integrations with their practice management system.
Based on this review, we suggested improvements to existing templates, transitioned their accounting software to Xero to enable cloud based integrations, and optimised finance processes to improve accuracy and streamlined financial reporting.
The dedicated offshore accountant provided by S&B Private kept Sandringham Medical Centre’s accounting system up to date and accurate in real time, managing daily tasks such as reconciling practice management billings to daily takings, accounts payable, payroll (including doctors fees), licence fee calculations, payroll tax lodgements and reporting requirements.
They collaborated directly with Sandringham Medical Centre’s practice manager on monthly reports and month-end closures while preparing necessary information for the external accountants. This collaboration ensured compliance and timely financial and management reporting, allowing the owners to focus on patient care knowing the finances of their practice were being reliably handled. Additionally, Sandringham Medical Centre’s staff had a direct contact within the finance department for payroll-related inquiries.
“We needed a reliable partner to handle the finance and bookkeeping for our medical practice. We found that in S&B Private and we have built a strong relationship over the years.”
Andrew Harris – Owner, Sandringham Medical Centre
Ongoing impact
As a result of partnering with S&B Private, Sandringham Medical Centre now enjoys access to accurate and reliable financial data, empowering them to make informed business decisions while concentrating on managing the medical practice.
One of the key advantages has been the direct communication and remote support from a dedicated accountant available throughout the day to assist with finance related matters. This personalised support, combined with on-demand access to up-to-date financial information, has proven invaluable for the Sandringham Medical Centre management team.