Accountant for Doctors, Dentists and Allied Health Professionals in Malvern East

Whether you’re a GP working locum shifts across a few practices, a specialist running your own consulting rooms, a dentist with associates on the books, or a physiotherapist or psychologist building a client base one appointment at a time, a straightforward tax return tends to stop fitting the picture fairly early in a medical or allied health career. Ruth Watson & Associates works with doctors, dentists and allied health professionals across Malvern East and south-east Melbourne who need an accountant that understands the specific financial pressures of clinical practice, not just how to lodge a return.

We’re a family-owned firm that’s been based in Malvern East since 2003, and medical and allied health professionals are one of the industries we’ve built particular depth in — across everything from locum tax planning to practice structuring to retirement strategy for high-income earners.

The Financial Pressures Facing Medical and Allied Health Professionals

The financial picture changes a lot depending on where you sit — whether you’re paid as a locum, employed by a practice, or running your own rooms — and each brings different tax treatment and different planning opportunities. High PAYG income is common across the medical and allied health professions, which makes the relationship between your income, your superannuation contributions and your investment goals worth actively managing rather than leaving to whatever happens by default. GST treatment adds another layer of complexity: some services are GST-free, others aren’t, and getting that distinction wrong from the outset tends to mean costly corrections later rather than a quick fix. And once a practice takes on associates, reception staff or its own premises, the financial management involved looks a lot more like running a small business than filing a personal tax return. Whether a locum or associate is genuinely a contractor or should be treated as an employee for tax and super purposes is its own question, and one the ATO looks at closely — getting the classification wrong can mean unexpected super guarantee and withholding obligations landing on the practice later.

Accounting and Tax Support, By Profession

Medical and allied health work covers a wide range of professions, and the financial detail differs enough between them that it’s worth addressing a few directly.

GPs and Specialists

General practitioners often move between locum work, salaried employment and practice ownership over the course of a career, and each status carries different obligations and different opportunities — a locum GP working across several practices has a very different tax position to a GP who owns the practice and employs other doctors and staff. Specialists running their own consulting rooms face similar questions, often layered with decisions about whether to operate through a company or trust structure as the practice grows and takes on staff or associates. We help GPs and specialists get the structure right for where they actually are in their career, not a generic template, and work through locum and associate arrangements against the ATO’s employee versus independent contractor framework where the classification isn’t obvious.

Dentists

Dental practices sit in an unusual spot for GST: most clinical treatment is GST-free, but retail items, some cosmetic procedures and certain product sales aren’t, which means the books need to separate these correctly rather than treat every dollar the same way. Dental practices are also typically equipment-heavy — chairs, imaging equipment and instruments represent significant capital outlay, and how those purchases are claimed makes a real difference to your tax position. We work with both principal dentists managing a practice and associates working within someone else’s rooms, on tax planning that reflects which side of that arrangement you’re on.

Allied Health Practitioners

Physiotherapists, psychologists, chiropractors, podiatrists, optometrists and other AHPRA-registered allied health practitioners often start out working as a contractor or associate within someone else’s clinic before building toward their own rooms or caseload, and that shift changes your tax position significantly. GST treatment for allied health services is conditional — generally GST-free when the service is a recognised listed health service delivered by a registered practitioner within their scope of practice, but the details depend on the specific service and who’s actually being billed. We help allied health professionals get this right from the outset, and support the transition as a practice grows from a single practitioner into one with associates and its own premises.

Getting GST Right in a Medical or Allied Health Practice

GST is one of the areas we get asked about most by medical and allied health clients, because the general “health services are GST-free” rule has real exceptions. Cosmetic procedures, certain retail products, and services billed to a third party rather than directly to the patient can all fall outside the GST-free treatment that applies to most clinical care — and because the rules depend on the specific service and the billing arrangement, it’s genuinely easy to get wrong without checking. Rather than list every scenario here, we’d rather review your specific billing arrangement against the ATO’s current guidance on GST and health services and confirm exactly where you stand.

As Your Practice Grows: Structure, Staff and Retirement Planning

The right business structure for a solo practitioner is often not the right one once you’re bringing on associates, employing reception or nursing staff, or taking on your own premises. We provide structuring advice as medical and allied health practices grow past the point their original setup was built for, so the structure you’re operating under matches the practice you’re actually running.

Running a practice with staff and overheads also calls for a different level of financial oversight than a solo caseload does. Our Virtual CFO oversight gives growing practices that visibility — budgets, cash flow and performance tracked properly — without the cost of a full-time hire.

And because high PAYG income is common across these professions, many of our medical and allied health clients want more control over how their retirement savings are invested rather than leaving it to a default fund. Our SMSF strategy support helps you weigh up whether that level of control and responsibility is the right fit for your circumstances.

Why Medical and Allied Health Professionals in Malvern East Choose Ruth Watson & Associates

We’ve been a family-owned accounting firm in Malvern East since 2003, and medical and allied health clients have been part of that client base for a long time — from locums and associates through to practice owners managing staff and premises. That means we understand both sides of a clinical career: the individual tax planning that matters when you’re on a high income, and the small-business realities of actually running a practice.

Rather than a once-a-year tax return, we aim to be the accountant you check in with when you’re deciding between locum work and a permanent position, weighing up whether to bring on an associate, or working out how much control you want over your own super. Because we handle both business and personal tax planning under one roof, nothing falls through the gap between your practice and your personal financial position — and because appointments don’t leave much room for office visits during business hours, our online client portal means most of this can be handled without you needing to come in.

Frequently Asked Questions

I work as a locum across a few different practices — does that change my tax position?

Yes, and it’s one of the most common questions we get from GPs and allied health professionals. Locum work often involves different withholding and reporting arrangements to salaried employment, and how you’re paid by each practice affects your obligations. We can review your specific arrangements and make sure they’re being handled correctly.

Is my service GST-free, or do I need to charge GST?

It depends on the specific service, whether it’s a recognised listed health service, and who’s actually being billed. Most direct clinical treatment is GST-free, but there are genuine exceptions, so it’s worth checking your specific situation rather than assuming either way.

I’m thinking about moving from being an associate to owning my own practice — where do I start?

This is a significant structural decision, and getting it right from the outset makes a real difference to your tax position and your risk exposure as the practice grows. Get in touch and we’ll walk through what ownership would actually look like for you financially before you commit.

Do you only handle the practice’s finances, or my personal tax as well?

Both, and for medical and allied health clients in particular, the two are closely linked — how you’re paid out of the practice affects your personal tax position, and your personal super and investment goals should inform how the practice is structured. We handle them together rather than as two separate jobs.

Get in Touch

If you’re a doctor, dentist or allied health professional in Malvern East or the surrounding suburbs and you’re after an accountant who understands the realities of clinical practice, get in touch today on (03) 9530 4944 or [email protected]. You can also see the full range of industries we serve to check where your profession fits.