Doctors, dentists and allied health professionals often have complex financial arrangements. Income often arrives from several locations at once: hospital salary, private billings, locum arrangements or perhaps teaching work. Add personal services income rules, service entity arrangements and payroll tax exposure for practice owners, and a general accountant can miss things a medical one would not. Crest Accountants has acted as accountants for doctors, dentists and allied health professionals on the Gold Coast for over 45 years, from our office in Burleigh Heads. We handle the tax and medical accounting so you can stay focused on patients.
Why medical professionals need a specialised accountant
The tax issues that catch doctors out are predictable, and they’re nearly all profession-specific. Personal services income rules limit how practice income can be split. Payroll tax obligations must be considered carefully with regard to the types of workers engaged and the relevant laws in the state in which they are located. Registrars move between hospitals and accumulate deductible costs (exam fees, college fees, indemnity insurance) that often go unclaimed. Specialists running rooms juggle staff, equipment depreciation and service trusts.
Getting any one of these wrong is expensive. A practice restructure done late costs more than one done early, and an unclaimed deduction is simply money left with the ATO.
A tax accountant for doctors deals with these situations weekly, not once every few years. That pattern recognition is what you’re really engaging.
Our medical accounting services
Tax returns and tax planning for practitioners
Tax returns for salaried doctors, contractors and practice owners, with profession-specific deductions reviewed each year: registration and college fees, indemnity insurance, conferences and CPD, equipment, and home study costs where eligible. Before 30 June we run tax planning so decisions are made while they can still change the outcome.
Practice structuring and service entities
We advise on company, trust and service entity structures for new and established practices, weighing tax efficiency against asset protection and flexibility. If you’re buying into a practice or setting up rooms, we can model the numbers before you sign.
Bookkeeping, payroll and practice reporting
Xero-based bookkeeping, payroll including superannuation obligations, BAS lodgements and quarterly reporting that shows how the practice is actually performing, not just what it owes.
Wealth, super and the long game
Many of our medical professional clients build investment portfolios or self-managed super funds as their income grows. We handle the accounting and tax side, and where personal financial advice is needed, we can refer you to a licensed financial adviser.
Who we work with
Our medical accountants act for GPs and practice owners, hospital-employed doctors and registrars, surgeons and other specialists, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists and allied health practitioners across the Gold Coast. The career stage matters as much as the profession: the registrar with exam fees, the established practitioner weighing private work, and the practice owner planning a business sale each need different things from their accountant, and we’ve sat across the desk from all three.
Why Gold Coast doctors
choose Crest
Crest is a Gold Coast firm working with professionals since 1973, with a team that includes dedicated medical accountants rather than generalists who occasionally see a doctor’s return. We service practitioners across Burleigh Heads, Miami, Mermaid Beach, Palm Beach, Varsity Lakes, Broadbeach and surrounding suburbs from our Burleigh Heads office at 5-7 Prosper Crescent, and we keep all work in-house on the Gold Coast rather than sending it offshore.
Book a free consultation with Crest Accountants on 07 5538 0999 or through our enquiry form, and tell us where your practice or career is heading
What does a medical accountant cost?
It depends on scope. An employed doctor’s tax return is a different engagement from business accounting with payroll and BAS. You’ll have the fee in writing before work begins.
General advice disclaimer
The information on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not financial product advice. Before acting, seek advice from a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser about your circumstances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually, yes. Registrars routinely carry thousands of dollars in deductible costs each year: college and exam fees, courses, indemnity insurance, and travel between work sites in some circumstances. A medical accountant knows which of these hold up and what records the ATO expects.
There is no single right answer, and anyone who gives you one before understanding your situation is guessing. Personal services income rules restrict income splitting for many doctors, which changes what a structure can and can’t achieve. We look at your income mix, family situation, and consider asset protection, then recommend a structure with the pros and cons explained.
Both. We act for individual practitioners at every career stage, and for practices: bookkeeping, payroll, BAS, service entity accounting, and structuring or restructuring advice. Where we act for a practice and its principals, the work is coordinated so the practice structure and personal tax planning pull in the same direction.
Yes. For buyers, we review the practice’s financials, model what your share is genuinely worth and structure the purchase. For sellers, we prepare the financials a buyer’s accountant will want to see and plan for capital gains tax, including the small business CGT concessions where they apply. Either way, involve us before terms are agreed, not after.
Very little on your end. With your authority we collect your records and prior returns from your existing accountant, review your last lodgements and structure, and flag anything worth fixing. Most practitioners switch between lodgement seasons, but a mid-year move is fine too, especially if tax planning before 30 June is on your mind.
Talk to a medical accountant who already knows the terrain.
Book a free consultation with Crest Accountants on 07 5538 0999 or send an enquiry through the form.
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