Accounting and Tax Services for General Practitioners Across Canada

More Patients More Paperwork Smarter Accounting

Being a General Practitioner is hard enough without having to prepare for practice inspections, which are always an unexpected challenge. Patient care, provincial billing, staff salaries, rent, supplies and the ever-expanding administrative tasks come from a long list of competing priorities, leaving little time to know where your money really goes.

That's because the financial aspect of general practice is different. In 2024, 5.7 million Canadian adults reported no regular health care provider, and Canada is projected to require 49% more family physicians than it currently has.

This translates into opportunity and pressure for the GP.

Online Accountant makes it easy for general practitioners everywhere in Canada to transform their financial information into improved tax decision-making, cash flow management and business growth.

Beyond the Exam Room

General Practice Is No Longer Just About Seeing Patients

These days, a GP practice may include provincial health-plan payments, private services, different practices, medical assistants, nurses, administrative staff, and increasingly digital workflows.

Many practices use technology like Accuro, OSCAR Pro, TELUS Health PS Suite, Med Access, and more EMR or practice-management tools to handle appointment scheduling, patient records and billing.

That workflow hides a business that is struggling financially.

The College of Family Physicians of Canada notes that family physicians have a high overhead, such as expenses for staff, rent, equipment, utilities, professional fees and medical supplies. Average overhead was about 27% of gross income in 2017, before inflation.

In Western Canada, and the country as a whole, higher operating costs, staffing issues, and evolving compensation packages may make it harder to tell whether the positive trend reflects higher revenue or higher profit.

5.7M
Canadian adults with no regular health care provider (2024)
~27%
Average family physician overhead as a share of gross income (2017)
The Full Picture

We Look Beyond the Bank Balance

Your accounts should tell you more than what you got in and what you got out.

Online Accountant helps General Practitioners understand their practice profitability, overhead, compensation and tax exposure and cash flow before it becomes a costly financial problem.

This may involve finding out if you can afford adding another receptionist, or knowing the profitability of another practitioner, or making decisions about equipment purchases or how much money you're able to remove from the practice.

Financial KPIs

The Numbers General Practitioners Should Watch

We can assist you in tracking your KPIs that are important to your practice, such as:

Revenue per physician
Revenue per appointment or service
Physician compensation and drawings
Staff costs as a percentage of revenue
Clinic overhead percentage
Operating and net profit margins
Accounts receivable and collection time
Monthly cash flow
Medical supply and equipment costs
The amount of taxes due and accumulated profit for the year.

The objective isn't better-looking reports. It's better decisions.

Tax Planning

From Tax Compliance to Tax Strategy

Tax planning should not begin when your Accountant calls for your year-end paperwork.

Online Accountant can assist you all year round with:

Corporate and personal tax planning
Identifying eligible business deductions
Owner compensation and withdrawal planning
Year-end tax planning
Forecasting corporate and personal tax liabilities
Management of payroll and source deductions
Financial statements and year-end accounting
Forecasting cash flows and creating a budget
GST/HST guidance (where applicable)
Tax-efficient planning for equipment and business investments

The majority of the services offered by licensed physicians for medical purposes are exempt from GST/HST. But there are other supplies or activities which may have a different tax treatment to the practices, so it is important to maintain appropriate classification of the taxable and exempt activities.

Appropriate tax planning can also help avoid the unpleasantness of unforeseen instalment or year-end taxes.

Who This Is For

Accounting Built for Growing GP Practices

Online Accountant is an ideal solution for:

Owner-operated GP practices
Incorporated physicians
New medical practices and start-up medical practices
Family medicine clinics
Additional visits from doctors or midwives
Multi-physician practices
Units that have 5-50 employees
Established practices seeking stronger tax planning and financial visibility

Your accounting needs should scale with your practice, whether you are just starting your practice or expanding an existing clinic.

We integrate with Xero and QuickBooks, providing practices with flexible accounting options to complement their current EMR, billing and practice-management software.

Xero Integration
QuickBooks Integration

Make Your Practice Work Harder for You

You joined to be a GP to help patients. Your accounting should enable you to make the business behind that care more profitable.

Your numbers don't have to be a year-end compliance item with Online Accountant; they can be tools for tax savings, cash-flow planning, smarter spending and sustainable growth.

Looking to maximize the return on your practice's investment? Call Online Accountant and get accounting done.

Contact Online Accountant
FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Online Accountant handle accounting for an incorporated GP?
Yes. Support for incorporated physicians includes bookkeeping, financial reporting, corporate tax planning, owner compensation and year-end preparations.
Are GP medical services subject to GST/HST?
The majority of services rendered by licensed medical practitioners for medical purposes are exempt from GST/HST. Practices should check their activities for other services or supplies that may be treated differently.
Can accounting help a GP reduce taxes?
Yes. It can be helpful to make sure you know what you can deduct if you are planning ahead, know how to handle owner compensation, plan purchases and investments, predict tax liabilities, and prepare for year-end obligations.
What financial KPIs should a GP monitor?
Some of the most helpful metrics for understanding the financial health of a practice include revenue per physician, overhead percentage, staff costs, profit margins, accounts receivable, cash flow and tax liabilities.
Is Online Accountant suitable for a small GP practice?
Yes. Our services are a great match for owner-physician practices and expanding practices that wish to have their books professionally managed and to plan their taxes proactively, without needing to hire a large finance staff.
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