Providing high-quality care for patients is the top priority for any veterinary practice. However, veterinary practices must also navigate the many financial, legal, and operational complexities that come with running a business. Surrounding yourself with professionals who understand the unique challenges and needs of veterinary practices can have a profound impact on your practice’s long-term success.

Let’s talk about what kinds of vet industry-focused advisors you should consider adding to your team.

Accountants

The benefits of specialized, vet-centric accounting services span across many areas of practice management. Veterinary-focused CPAs offer services extending beyond just tax preparation to encompass all aspects of a practice’s financial health. Veterinary accountants are well-versed in industry benchmarks and can help you understand where your practice can move the dial to increase profitability and attain your goals. They can provide a range of financial services tailored to the unique needs of your practice, including veterinary bookkeeping and accounts payable services, budgeting and forecasting, part-time CFO services, cash flow management, financial reporting and analysis, audits, and veterinary software advisory services. And of course, CPAs specializing in veterinary accounting are uniquely qualified to provide you with industry-specific tax planning guidance, helping you to navigate complex tax matters such as buy-ins and buy-outs, sales and use taxes, equipment depreciation, and succession planning.

Attorneys

Veterinary lawyers specialize in issues specific to veterinary medicine, such as licensing and board regulations, animal welfare laws, state and federal compliance, legal standards of care, malpractice lawsuits, practice acquisitions, employment contracts, practice leases, and partnership agreements. An attorney who specializes in veterinary law will be deeply familiar with the legal considerations specific to the veterinary industry.

Bankers

Many banks have industry-specific teams dedicated to working with veterinary practices. These teams offer specialized services such as practice acquisition financing, construction loans, equipment financing and leasing, risk management, and veterinary student loan refinancing. Vet-specific bankers offer their expertise for startups, acquisitions, and expansions, ensuring more favorable financing options.

Real Estate Experts

Considering starting your own practice, relocating, or expanding? Veterinary practices benefit significantly from working with a real estate broker who specializes in veterinary and healthcare properties. Veterinary facilities have unique requirements that general commercial brokers may not fully understand. By working with a veterinary-specific real estate broker, your practice gains a knowledgeable advocate who understands both the real estate market and the realities of running a veterinary hospital.

Benefits of a Specialized Team

A team of specialized advisors can help you:

• increase your practice’s profitability by optimizing operations and measuring key performance indicators,
• make data-informed business decisions,
• prevent burnout by offloading complex business tasks to industry experts,
• mitigate risk by identifying and preventing potential issues before they occur,
• have confidence in your practice’s compliance, and most importantly,
• focus on your core mission of providing your patients with excellent care.

RBT—Veterinary Accountants You Can Trust

RBT CPAs’ veterinary accounting team is intimately familiar with the unique challenges and opportunities encountered by veterinary practices. While you focus on providing the highest quality of care to your patients, our team will help you make financial decisions that strengthen your profitability, compliance, and long-term success. RBT is here to support all of your practice’s accounting, tax, audit, and advisory needs and can also refer you to specialized professionals in other fields. Contact RBT CPAs today and find out how we can be Remarkably Better Together.

Internal controls are systems and procedures put into place within an organization to safeguard assets, prevent fraud, ensure accuracy and compliance, and support operational efficiency. A strong system of internal controls is essential for your practice to thrive and remain financially healthy. This article highlights important internal control strategies and the areas of your practice for which we recommend you implement these controls.

Internal Control Strategies

• Segregation of duties: Segregation of duties is a fundamental internal control that applies across many areas of an organization’s operations. This strategy involves dividing key responsibilities within a business process among multiple employees so that no single individual has too much control over any one process. By separating these functions, you can significantly reduce the risk of fraud, misuse of resources, and unintentional errors within your practice.
• Authorization processes: Authorization processes ensure that financial transactions are sent through the proper channels for approval.
• Reviews and reconciliations: Regular reviews of transactions help to detect errors and misuse of funds. Account reconciliations—or comparisons between two sets of records—are a critical internal control strategy that can be utilized within multiple operational areas.
• Clear procedures for recordkeeping and documentation: Establishing guidelines for documentation of your practice’s policies, processes, and transactions promotes consistency, cohesion, and clear expectations within your practice.
• Physical controls: Physical controls over your practice’s tangible assets are also key for secure operations. Physical controls include locked storage for inventory, safes for cash and sensitive documents, and security cameras.

Key Areas to Implement Internal Controls with Examples

Financial management: Regular reconciliations between bank statements and your practice’s books and PIMS, double-checking invoices, separation of duties within financial processes (i.e., authorizations, recordkeeping, custody of assets, reconciliations).

Inventory and purchasing: Locked storage for inventory, physical inventory counts, formal cycle counting procedures and schedule, comparing actual inventory counts against records, vendor checks, authorization processes for purchases, dual signature policy for checks over a certain threshold, segregation of duties between employees making and approving purchases.

Client service: Transparent billing, standardized procedures.

Human resources and payroll: Authorization processes for salary changes, timecard approvals, segregation of duties between employees processing and approving payroll, reconciliation of payroll bank accounts, access controls for payroll software.

IT: Robust access controls for practice software, password policies, two-factor authentication, other cybersecurity measures.

How RBT Can Help

RBT CPAs’ veterinary accounting team is available to perform internal control reviews for your practice. We’ll assess the procedures you have in place, identify potential risks, and make recommendations for strengthening your internal control system. Contact RBT CPAs today to request a review of your practice’s internal controls—or for assistance with any of your other accounting, tax, audit, and advisory needs. Together, we can be remarkably better.

Believe it or not, we’re once again nearing the end of the tax year. With December fast approaching, we want to emphasize the need for timely year-end tax planning and cash management. These two components of financial management work together to support your business and personal goals. Let’s go over some base-level considerations related to tax planning and cash management for your veterinary practice.

Tax Planning Considerations

At its core, tax planning—whether for an individual or a business—aims to project and manage tax liability. Since many veterinarians are also practice owners, early planning is essential for both business and individual tax purposes. Here are some proactive steps you can take at the practice level to manage your tax liability and avoid surprises come April 15^th.

1. Cash Basis Planning: If your hospital reports on an accrual basis, a conversion to cash/tax basis may be necessary.
2. Plan for Equipment Purchases Before Year-End: Section 179 and bonus depreciation allow businesses to immediately deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment placed into service during the tax year. To qualify for a tax deduction for this tax year, make sure the equipment is purchased, physically received, and placed into service by December 31^st.
3. Maximize Tax-Advantaged Retirement Contributions: For practice owners, selecting the best tax-advantaged retirement plan depends on whether you have employees, your annual income, and how much you want to contribute. Common options include a 401(k), SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, and Defined Benefit Plan. Maximizing tax-advantaged retirement contributions in the right plan as an employer is one of the most effective tax management strategies.
4. Year-End Employee Bonuses: Are you considering a little something extra at year-end for your practice’s hard-working staff? Bonuses are deductible and take various forms: profit-sharing, retention bonuses, production-based bonuses, or discretionary year-end bonuses. Bonuses are used to reward performance, encourage retention, and incentivize your team. If you plan to issue your team bonuses as a “thank you” and as a tax planning decision, issuing a simple check or cash payment without proper tax withholding will not suffice. IRS regulations require that year-end bonuses be processed through payroll and be properly taxed and reported. Make sure you are compliant to avoid incurring any additional penalties and liabilities.

Cash Management

Cash management is essential for achieving your tax planning goals and ensuring you have the cash you need to operate. Tax planning helps you make informed purchasing decisions and drives cash management through year-end. Below are some considerations to keep in mind when it comes to cash management.

1. Consider When It Does and Does Not Make Sense to Pre-Pay: For practices that report on a cash basis, there may be opportunities to pay certain expenses in the current year.
2. Reserve Cash for Slower Months: Figure out the amount you need set aside for taxes and overhead expenses in advance to ensure you always have enough cash readily available to cover these expenses during slower months.
3. Consider Whether to Finance Equipment: Cash management can help you determine whether you should finance new equipment purchases or pay with cash up front.
4. Negotiate with Vendors: To improve your practice’s cash flow, look for vendors with flexible payment terms or negotiate flexible terms when possible.

Let RBT Help You with Tax Planning and Cash Management

Above are just some of the factors that play a role in tax planning and cash management for veterinary practices. Year-end will be here before we know it, so it’s important to get started on your tax planning now, especially in light of recent tax law changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. At RBT CPAs, we help practices project and manage tax liability through strategic tax planning and provide advice on cash management so you can reach your goals. Give RBTs’ veterinary accounting team a call today to make an appointment and find out how we can be Remarkably Better Together.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), “thirty-nine percent of graduating veterinarians reported having debt between $200,000 and $400,000 in 2024, with just under 16.6% having no debt at all. However, the same percentage (16.6%) of last year’s veterinary graduates had educational debt of $300,000 or higher.”

Between tuition, academic materials, and living expenses, the cost of attending veterinary school in the U.S. amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars per individual. Facing significant costs, the majority of veterinary students rely on some form of federal financial aid to help cover their schooling expenses. However, the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) makes several significant changes to the student loan landscape in our country. This article discusses one of the major student loan changes imposed by the OBBBA—new limits on federal financial aid—and how this policy change might impact veterinary students and the industry as a whole.

Below are the new federal student loan limits set by the OBBBA, as reported by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA):

• Beginning with loans disbursed after July 1, 2026, professional students, including veterinary students, may borrow up to $50,000 per year in Direct Unsubsidized Loans, with a lifetime cap of $200,000. Graduate students are limited to $20,500 a year, with a maximum aggregate limit of $100,000.
• Parent PLUS Loans, which are unsubsidized federal loans available to parents supporting their dependent undergraduate children, are now limited to $20,000 annually per student, up to a lifetime total of $65,000 per student.

The OBBBA also establishes a lifetime federal student loan borrowing cap of $257,500, excluding Parent PLUS loans.

As of July 1, 2026, the OBBBA also eliminates the Graduate PLUS Loan Program, which allows graduate and professional students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), nearly half of all medical students rely on Grad PLUS loans to supplement the cost of medical school.

The changes to federal student loans under the OBBBA could reshape educational financing for many veterinary students. Many are concerned that the new caps on federal borrowing and the elimination of the Grad PLUS program will limit financing options for professional students facing significant educational costs. With limited access to federal loans, some students may need to turn to private loans to help cover the cost of their education. Private loans can come with higher interest rates, stricter terms for borrowing and repayment, and more stringent eligibility requirements. These financial hurdles could lead some prospective veterinary students to delay or reconsider their educational plans altogether. As a result, the ripple effects of these policy changes may ultimately impact the broader veterinary workforce and industry as a whole.

Time will tell how the changes to federal borrowing under the OBBBA will impact veterinary students’ financial outlook and educational decisions. But for now, prospective students should consider the new federal loan policies when making their educational and financial plans. RBT CPAs will continue to monitor the effect of federal policy changes on the veterinary industry. As always, RBT’s veterinary accounting team is here to support all of your practice’s accounting, tax, audit, and advisory needs. Contact us today to find out how we can be Remarkably Better Together.

The mobile veterinary service industry has seen a surge in popularity in recent years, largely due to the convenience it offers clients and the flexibility it provides for veterinary professionals. This flexibility includes the ability for businesses to extend their services to clients outside of their home state. However, when operating in other states, mobile veterinary businesses need to keep certain tax considerations in mind. Let’s talk about some of the legal factors and requirements that may come into play when you do business across state lines—and how they can impact your tax obligations.

What is nexus?

Firstly, you’ll need to determine if your business is establishing nexus in another state. Nexus, in regard to taxation, refers to a level of connection between a business and a particular state that allows that state to impose tax obligations on the business. When you perform mobile veterinary services in a different state, nexus may be triggered, meaning you are subject to the tax laws of that state. The rules of nexus vary from state to state, so it’s important to know the specific rules for the states you are operating in.

What triggers nexus?

Keeping in mind that the rules of nexus vary by state, several circumstances can trigger nexus, including situations in which:

1. A business has a physical presence in the state, such as an office, store, or warehouse.
2. A business has employees in the state.
3. A business reaches a certain level of economic activity in the state, such as a specific sales revenue or number of transactions (thresholds for revenue and transactions vary by state).

Potential tax obligations when you create nexus

Depending on the state in which you are doing business, when nexus is created, you could be required to:

1. Register for sales tax and meet sales tax filing requirements for that state—this requires registering with the state’s tax authority, collecting sales tax on taxable sales to customers within the state, and remitting sales tax to the state.
2. Register for payroll taxes and meet payroll tax filing requirements for that state.
3. Meet business income or franchise tax filing requirements for that state.

Need guidance?

It’s important for mobile veterinary businesses to research and know the nexus rules for the states in which they provide services, and to maintain compliance with the necessary tax registration and filing requirements. Keeping track of differing nexus rules can be confusing, especially considering that states often update or change their criteria for determining nexus. The veterinary accounting professionals at RBT CPAs are here to help you understand nexus laws, determine whether you are creating nexus in another state, and ensure that you are fulfilling any necessary tax requirements. Let us take care of your accounting and compliance while you focus on taking care of your patients both in and out of your home state. Give us a call today to learn more—and find out how we can be Remarkably Better Together.

As businesses providing services, as well as selling and purchasing tangible goods, veterinary practices must be aware of the rules surrounding sales and use taxes—but did you know that the laws for sales and use taxes vary from state to state? RBT CPAs serves veterinary practices across multiple states including New York, New Jersey, California, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Colorado, to name a few. Not only do sales and use tax regulations vary between states, but the rules also apply differently to different kinds of transactions taking place at veterinary practices. In this article, we want to highlight the importance of knowing the sales and use tax laws as they apply to veterinarians in your state specifically.

What are sales and use taxes?

Sales tax is a tax imposed on the sale of taxable goods and services. Sales taxes are charged to the end consumer, and the responsibility for collecting the sales tax belongs to the seller. Use tax is a tax imposed on the use, storage or consumption of taxable goods or services for which sales tax was not charged at the point of sale. The rate of the use tax is generally equal to the rate of the local/state sales tax. Veterinary practices are responsible for collecting and reporting sales and use taxes correctly, via state-specific sales and use tax returns.

When are sales and use taxes applied?

Depending on the state where you practice, different tax rules apply to various financial transactions. Certain services and goods are considered nontaxable, while others are taxable.

Let’s take a look at some of the regulations in New York State as an example.

Non-Taxable Sales in NYS

• Receipts from services related to the health care of an animal, which includes diagnosing, treating, operating, or prescribing for any animal disease, pain, injury, deformity or dental or physical condition, or the subcutaneous insertion of a microchip intended to be used to identify an animal.
• Hospitalization of an animal for which no separate boarding charge is made.
• Grooming and clipping if performed as a necessary part of the practice of veterinary medicine to diagnose, treat, operate, or prescribe for any animal disease, pain, injury, deformity, or physical condition.
• Receipts from the sale of tangible personal property designed for use in some manner relating to domestic animals or poultry are exempt from sales tax when sold by a veterinarian.
• Sales of otherwise taxable tangible personal property to certain tax-exempt purchasers such as farmers, government entities, and other organizations (provided the proper exemption certificate has been supplied).

Taxable Sales in NYS

• Sales of non-veterinary services such as boarding, grooming, and clipping are subject to sales tax unless provided as a necessary part of a veterinary service.
• The receipts from the sale of pet cremation and burial services are nonveterinary services and accordingly are subject to sales tax as a service to tangible personal property, whether performed by a veterinarian or another person.
• Purchases by a veterinarian of tangible personal property designed for use in some manner relating to domestic animals or poultry are subject to sales tax. They may not be purchased exempt from sales tax as a purchase for resale.
  • e., medical equipment & supplies, office equipment & supplies, boarding equipment & supplies, and various other costs (cleaning supplies, disinfectants, equipment repair, collars and leashes, litter, carriers, clippers, flea spray/ointment, for example)
• Purchases by a veterinarian of tangible personal property not designed for use in some manner relating to domestic animals or poultry are subject to sales tax. However, if an item is to be resold, as such, it may be purchased by the veterinarian exempt from sales tax. The veterinarian should give the supplier a properly completed Form ST-120, Resale Certificate.
  • e. mugs, calendars, and t-shirts that feature various breeds of cats and dogs
• Sales of animals (except guide, hearing, and service dogs when the dog is sold for use by a person to compensate for impairment to the person’s sight, hearing or movement).

Why is it important to know sales and use tax laws?

Knowing and adhering to your state’s sales and use tax laws protects your practice in the case of a sales tax audit. If your practice is audited, you will be liable for any errors.

What steps can you take to ensure compliance?

• Familiarize yourself with the sales and use tax laws for veterinarians in your state.
• Ensure you are registered as a sales tax vendor before collecting sales tax.
• Make sure your practice’s software is set up to charge sales taxes according to your state’s regulations.
• Review your vendor bills as they are received. If you purchase a taxable good or service and are not charged sales tax, make sure to report it in your sales and use tax return, as subject to use tax.
• File accurate and timely sales and use tax returns.
• Keep detailed records of all sales and purchases for the required period(s) specified by your state. Upon request by your state’s Tax Department, records must be made available.

As you can see, the rules surrounding sales and use taxes are very particular—and vary depending on where you practice. Set your practice up for success by knowing and complying with your state’s sales tax laws. For guidance on sales and use tax regulations in your state, please don’t hesitate to reach out to RBT CPAs. Our experts are here to support all of your practice’s accounting, tax, audit, and advisory needs. Give us a call to learn more.

In recent years, many veterinary practices have shifted to using cloud-based Practice Information Management System (PIMS) programs. The overall response by veterinary staff to the new software has been positive. Staff members appear to be adjusting to programs quickly once trained—and noticing improved operations within the practice. That said, some challenges have emerged with the financial reporting generated by these new systems. It’s important to be aware of the benefits of cloud-based PIMS programs, the impact of new systems on financial reporting, and the actions you can take to combat financial reporting issues.

Benefits of Cloud-based PIMS Software

Cloud-based veterinary PIMS software offers several benefits including:

• Improved accessibility and staff collaboration on both the hospital and administrative side
• Staff training and support
• Streamlined workflow
• Cost-savings, as less hardware is required
• Automatic updates
• Integration capabilities with other software and programs
• Improved overall efficiency & patient care

Financial Reporting Issues

While cloud-based PIMS systems seem to be a success from the operational standpoint, a number of practices in recent years have struggled with the financial reporting generated from the new systems. Cloud-based systems enable staff to change invoices and data in real-time, which can affect previously reported numbers. This can leave bookkeepers, office managers, practice managers, and accountants constantly chasing ever-changing numbers. Many of the new cloud-based PIMS lack proper cutoffs when it comes to financial reporting.

Running different reports for the same figure (i.e. gross sales) for the same exact time period may generate completely different numbers on one report vs. another (i.e. gross sales on a summary report do not match gross sales on an invoice by revenue type report)—so which one is right?

It is important to understand what is being included and/or excluded from each report:

• Is one report net of discounts and the other not?
• Does one report include sales tax and the other not?
• Is one report based upon “closed” invoices only and the other based on both “open” and “closed”?
• Is one report set to show cash basis numbers and another accrual basis?
• Were the reports run at different times? Numbers can subsequently change in the new cloud-based PIMS systems and not correlate to other reports if not run at the exact same time.

How To Combat Financial Reporting Issues

There are several ways to manage and prevent these kinds of discrepancies in your financial reporting:

• Schedule a meeting with your veterinary PIMS software representative
  • Ask questions about discrepancies: you’ll want to understand exactly what specifications the reports are based upon and why the numbers on reports are different. Accurate reports will provide you with a true picture of your practice’s performance.
• SCHEDULE YOUR REPORTS
  • Many systems allow you to schedule reports to run at a specific time, date, day, month-end, etc.
  • Scheduling all necessary reports for the same time will help you avoid the issue of numbers subsequently changing—and the need to chase numbers when trying to do your financial reporting.
• Make sure you use reports run on the same parameters, i.e. accrual basis, closed invoices only, gross or net of discounts, etc.
• Train your staff
  • Ensuring that your invoices are closed and included in the financial reporting of the month earned will help you analyze and manage your practice’s performance.
  • Make sure your staff closes any open invoices by month-end to avoid timing differences from month to month.

Gone seem to be the days when veterinary PIMS systems cut off at the proper times and reports would never change. Now, it is important to figure out ways to extract the data you need before it’s too late to get it. For additional guidance on your practice’s financial reporting—and for all of your other accounting, tax, audit, and advisory needs—please don’t hesitate to reach out to our experts at RBT CPAs. Give us a call and find out how we can be Remarkably Better Together.