Medical Practice Bookkeeping in Los Angeles

Short answer: Medical practice bookkeeping in Los Angeles records revenue from your practice software's deposit reports and matches insurance and patient payments to the bank each month. Equipment loans, payroll and supplies are coded correctly, and owner pay is kept apart from practice costs. The work uses deposit summaries only, with no need for patient records.

Practices we work with

Small private practices across Los Angeles: dental offices in the Valley, physical therapy and chiropractic clinics, therapists and psychologists in group practices, med spas on the Westside, and specialists who run their own office near a hospital campus. The owner is a clinician first and a business owner second, and the books usually show it.

Common problems in practice books

Insurance deposits arrive in lump sums and nobody matches them to the remittance detail.
Patient card payments, financing payouts and HSA cards land in different places on different days.
Refunds and overpayments to patients are booked as expenses.
Equipment bought on a loan or lease is expensed in full or left off the books.
The owner's draws, payroll and personal expenses are mixed together.

What we set up

We record revenue from your practice management system's deposit reports, so insurance payments, patient payments and adjustments are visible on their own. Bank deposits are matched to those reports each month. Equipment loans and leases are recorded with the asset and the liability, and payroll from your payroll provider is booked by wages, taxes and benefits.

We do not need access to clinical records. We work from deposit summaries and financial reports, and we ask that you keep patient health information out of anything you send us.

Supplies, labs and recurring costs

Dental supplies, lab cases, medical waste, software subscriptions, malpractice insurance and continuing education all recur, and most of them are paid by card. We code each to its own account, so you can see when a vendor's prices have crept up and when a subscription nobody uses is still being charged.

Owner pay and practice profit

In a small practice, the owner's pay is often whatever is left at the end of the month. That makes it hard to know whether the practice itself is profitable or whether the owner is simply working for less. We keep owner draws, owner payroll and personal expenses separate from practice costs, so the profit and loss shows what the practice earns before the owner is paid. Your CPA can then advise on the right salary and distributions for your entity type.

The same books support practice loans, equipment financing and, if you ever bring on a partner or sell, the financial review that comes with it.

Licenses and local taxes

Practices inside the City of Los Angeles register for a Business Tax Registration Certificate with the Office of Finance and renew it every year on gross receipts. If your office sits in Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica, Burbank or another separate city, that city runs its own business license instead. We record license, permit and professional fees by year so renewals are easy to find.

The monthly close

Pull deposit reports We take deposit and payment summaries from your practice software.
Match the bank Each deposit is matched to insurance or patient payments for the same period.
Record costs Supplies, lab fees, rent, payroll and loan payments are coded and reconciled.
Report You get a profit and loss, a collections summary and a list of anything that did not match.

Where we work

We keep books for businesses across the City of Los Angeles, the Westside, the Eastside, the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the Gateway Cities and the South Bay.

Questions

Do you do medical billing or claims?

No. Billing and claims stay with your billing team or service. We record the money that results.

Will you see patient records?

We do not need them. We work from deposit and payment summaries. Please keep patient health information out of what you send.

Can you clean up last year before my CPA files?

Yes. We start with bank statements and deposit reports and rebuild the year.

Sources

LA Office of Finance: Business tax FAQ

Bookkeeping for Los Angeles medical practices