Dental Accountants Archives

Financial Health Check-up

Is it time for a check-up of your business’s financial health?

Your patients need a check-up of their health from time to time to get an overview of how they are doing, what they need to work on and how to solve any issues.

Businesses are no different.

It is essential to get an expert to look at the financial health of your business periodically. Just like with your patients, sometimes there will be little financial aches and pains in your business. Sometimes there will even be bigger, hidden problems that are just waiting to get worse.

You’ll probably not realise it until it’s too late if you don’t have a professional take a look.

Contact us for a free health check

Spending Analysis

Our money-saving experts with the Samera Alliance will perform a full spending analysis for your business. We will look at how much you are spending on everything from consumables and PPE to your utilities, rates and IT services.

We will identify any areas where we think you can optimise your spending.

Our partners with the Samera Alliance offer exclusive discounts to our members for almost any product or service your business might need.

We will not only let you know where you are spending too much money, we’ll even find you a cheaper option for your expenses.

Click here to find out more about saving money

Accounts and Tax

Are you claiming everything you should be on expenses? Are your accounts structured properly to save you time and money? Are you paying more than you have to on your tax bill?

During your financial health check-up, our accounts and tax experts will identify any improvements that can be made in your cash flow, accounting procedures and tax structures.

We can help plan, structure and process your accounts and tax to make sure you are saving money and your business ready to scale.

Click here to find out more about our accounts and tax services

Debt Structures

Our in-house commercial finance brokers, Samera Finance, are experts at restructuring and renegotiating debt to ensure that your cash flow is as healthy as it can be.

We will look at your current debt repayment terms and identify the best ways to restructure them to get you the best deal and repayment schedule for your business.

Debt doesn’t have to mean crippling repayments. It certainly does not have to mean your cash flow is hamstrung.

We will find a better deal, negotiate the terms and help source the best loans to suit your individual case.

Click here to find out more about Samera Finance

Cyber Security

One of the most overlooked aspects of a business’s financial health is the security of its data.

Gone are the days where a good, solid lock on a physical safe could keep your important documents safe. Now, you need a good, solid cyber security strategy.

Our cyber security experts will analyse your business’s online security and identify any areas in which we think your business, data or patients are vulnerable from cyber attack.

We will then be able to recommend the best software to protect your data and we can also train your staff, turning them into a human firewall.

Click here to find out more about cyber security

Contact us for a free health check

Further Information on Accounts & Tax

Our team of specialist accountants and tax experts can help manage, process and structure your business’s finances. From management accounts and payroll & pensions to tax planning and cash flow management, we can take care of the full back-office function of your business.

Book a free, no-obligation consultation with one of the team to find out how we can make your accounts & tax easier, quicker and cheaper.

Book Consultation

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Debt Advisory and Corporate Restructuring

These are uncertain times, and they are likely to be with us for a while.

If you are concerned about your financial situation, rather than put your head in the sand, hoping it will all go away quickly, I would urge you to seek help.

Some difficult conversations may be needed, but it’s imperative they happen earlier than letting them linger.

We can help you in a number of areas:

Corporate restructuring

Our experts advise owners and board members and other stakeholders on stabilising crisis situations, turnaround strategies and planned restructuring. We ensure that all available options for businesses are considered. We pragmatically manage all stakeholders to achieve optimum results.

Debt Advisory

Our debt financing advisory team has vast experience in raising new or re-financing existing debt. We can assist in building a strong proposition for lenders or lenders’ clients looking to reposition the debt or relationship including financial modelling and capital structure optimisation whilst our market knowledge can help with debt instrument selection and pricing.

Crisis cash flow management

Our team has the experience to rapidly identify the causes of cash flow issues and support lenders’ clients with the processes and expertise needed to resolve the position. We assist in implementing improvements to how cash flow is managed and reported in the business and liaise with third parties on your client’s behalf.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Corporate restructuring

Our experts advise board members and other stakeholders on stabilising crisis situations, turnaround strategies and planned restructuring. We ensure that all available options for businesses are considered. We pragmatically manage all stakeholders to achieve optimum results.

Don’t let the current environment dictate your outcome, our team of professionals can help you.

Please book a consult with one of the team to assist you with your needs.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

Whether you’re a dental associate, run your own practice or own a dental group and are looking to save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax then we want to hear from you. Our digital platform takes the hassle and the paperwork out of accounts.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Accounts for Dental Groups

Do you run a dental group? Are you seeking to run a much more efficient, cost-effective accounting function?

We can help

Samera Dental Accountants have been working exclusively with dental associates, dental practices and dental groups in the UK for almost 20 years. We work with dental groups of all shapes and sizes to improve their accounting, tax and payroll requirements. We don’t just work with dental groups, we built and run our own dental group. We specialise and know what is involved in managing a dental group’s accounts because we do it ourselves too.

How do we work?

The Samera Dental Accountants team is based in the UK and India, and are well-trained and well-versed in the latest digital accounting platforms used by most Dental Groups.

Our experienced and specialised team is spread globally to ensure we get the best quality team members at the most competitive rates.

We have been pioneering digital accounting software and technology for years. Our system is fully paperless and automated, using the latest software to ensure a safe, fast and easy process.

Always replies promptly and addresses all of my concerns … extremely thorough and I feel reassured knowing that [Samera are] in change of my accounts.
Five stars

What can we do?

We can help with:

Book-keeping
Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
Management accounts and reporting
Payroll and pension requirements
Statutory and tax filings – depending on your jurisdiction

We work with dental groups of all shapes and sizes.

Why Choose Samera for your Dental Group Accounts?

Finding suitably qualified accountants with the required dental knowledge and skillset can be difficult and challenging, but our global team specialises in helping dentists, dental practices and dental groups with all their accounting requirements.

Our pricing is competitive and we are confident we can deliver to an exacting high standard, whilst helping you save money, and increase your all-important EBITDA.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

IR35 for Dentists

The tax pendulum continues to move for associate dentists. HMRC have announced that from April 2023 they will withdraw the paragraph in their guidance which mentions the BDA and DPA standard associate agreement.

What do the changes in IR35 mean for associate dentists and practice owners?

Up until recently, associate dentists were given a blanket concession by HMRC that allows them to be treated as self-employed for tax purposes.

This has allowed associates to process their income for tax purposes as trading income, as opposed to employment income.

Starting from April 2023, however, dental practices will be required to use the CEST (Check Employment Status for Tax) test to determine the tax status of all of their dental associates under contract.

If a dental practice is found to be treating an associate as self-employment, when in fact they act as an employee, they will be liable to additional tax.

What this means for dentists is that you will now need to determine your employment status (self-employed or employee of the practice) and act accordingly in your day-to-day business.

If you process your tax as a sole trader or limited company, when in fact you are an employee of the practice, you will be subject to added tax.

This will impact both the associate dentist and also the dental practice employing the dentist.

As a busy dental associate, I have been using Samera Accounting services for over 7 years now and have found them to be highly professional, prompt in correspondence and … extremely helpful to any enquiries which I have had.
Five stars

What is IR35?

IR35 is intended to combat employment tax avoiders who process their tax as though they were sole traders or limited companies, and not in fact employees.

IR35 is used to establish your employment status; whether you are self-employed, an employee of a limited company or both. It is usually the responsibility of the dental practice for which you work to determine your employment status and process both your tax and their accounts accordingly.

Previously, NHS dental practices had to pay additional tax if one of their staff was hired via a limited company but in fact operates as an employee. Since 2021, this has also applied to larger private practices.

As detailed above, from April 2023, HMRC have announced that they will be removing dental associates’ exemption from IR35 rules.

This means that dental practices will need to calculate their clinical staff’s employment status via the UK Government’s employment status test.

Click here to find out more about employment status tests on .gov.uk

Am I self-employed or an employee?

How you operate in the dental practice which employs you will factor into whether you are a sole-trader or an employee.

Self employed dental associates act as either sole-traders or a limited company and process their own accounts and tax. They usually rent the surgery, equipment and consumables from the dental practice in which they work.

These are some of the things that distinguish employed and self-employed dental associates:

Self-employed dental associates have clinical independence to choose their own treatments, plans and procedures.
Self-employed dental associates have a say in their chosen work hours.
Self-employed dental associates must be able to provide a locum substitute in their place should they be unable to work
Self-employed dental associates can set their own prices and provide additional private work.
Self-employed dental associates are not paid holiday pay.
Self-employed dental associates have professional indemnity insurance cover.
Self-employed dental associates pay for equipment maintenance out of their own pocket.

Determining your IR35 employment status

If you are a dental practice owner or a dental associate unsure of how the IR35 rule changes affect you, we can perform an IR35 review of your practice and contracts to determine the status of yourself or your employees.

We can review your contracts thoroughly, figure out the correct employment status and help process the accounts and tax to reduce your bill.

Our specialist dental accountants and tax experts are perfectly placed to help make sure your status is correct and you’re paying the correct tax.

Click here to read our article on Samera Learning Centre.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Accounts & Tax for Start-ups

When you start a dental practice, it’s essential to organise your accounts and tax properly.

Our specialist dental accountants are experts at helping dentists and start-up dental practices set up their accounts, manage their finances and organise their taxes.

We can automate your new dental practice’s accounts, tax and finance in a digital, secure and easy process:

Scan your invoice and income information to your Hubdoc account with your phone or tablet.
Your information is then processed in Xero monthly.
Securely connect your bank accounts to Xero.

That’s all you have to do, we’ll do the rest!

Please click here for a more detailed breakdown of our process.

I am a dentist setting up my own private dental practice and Samera have been a great help as my accountants, giving lots of advice, especially in regards to all the complicated financial matters and tax.
Five stars

By following this process, you have already automated much of the finance function for your dental practice.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Please note that all of our processes are paperless, we don’t accept any paper from clients any more.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Payroll and Pensions

As a firm of specialist accountants for dentists, dental practices and dental groups, we are experts at processing the payroll and pensions for dental practice owners and their employees.

When you go digital and automate your finances, you save time, money and effort, whilst also keeping your important documents and information safe, secure and updated in real-time.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Mountains of paperwork, sending endless forms back and forth, chasing each other down for invoices or statements, those are things of the past. Now is the time for automating your financial processes in your business. It’s not just timely, it’s essential.

You can find out more about cloud accounting here.

At Samera we use BrightPay payroll software which is an efficient, technologically advanced payroll software.

Our payroll services allow for a seamless solution for all your payroll issues, no matter where in the world our staff or your staff is located. The BrightPay software our trained professionals use allows both you and our payroll experts to access the highly secure data and allows access to employer files for all individuals who need it.

You can find out more about how Samera make accounts easier.

Samera have been my accountant for 7 years and have continued to provide me with accurate accounts and timely submissions. Their digital workflow eases the management of receipts and filing. I have found them to be supportive and knowledgeable particularly during the recent crisis. Thank you.
Five stars

Benefits of Samera Payroll

Your payroll is secure

All our payroll data is automatically backed up online every fifteen minutes, as well as every time an employer file is closed to ensure that no data is ever lost.

Samera ensures that any updates will be reviewed and checked before it is automatically updated. All users will automatically check to see any updated versions of the file. This ensures that if you, or anyone on your team, has made any changes, our team will be able to see, review and download the latest version you have edited and review it for you.

You have the control

We give our clients access to their own online employer portal. This service allows us to ensure the smoothest payroll process for you, while also allowing you to oversee everything that is happening on our end. This also allows you to easily give us all the information straight from your side through our software. You don’t need to hound your accountants or need to be hounded for paperwork by your accountant! Our software allows a seamless process for all parties from start to finish.

By using Samera’s payroll services, we have equal online access to payroll data as well as you. We operate all of our clients’ accounts while each employer has their own online employer portal, which means that you can directly take care of any request yourself.

Easily check payroll entry

With Samera you are able to send a ‘Payroll Entry Request’ where you will be asked to confirm employees’ payments for that pay period. If needed, we can quickly and easily enter details of any changes for that pay period, such as new starter details or adding bonus pay for an employee.

With various employees on your payroll, most of whom are bound to work variable hours, you have the option to upload their specific timesheets to your secure online portal. This ensures that we get the correct information directly from you. This function also serves as a great reminder to easily update payroll information that might have otherwise been forgotten.

The measures we have put in place works efficiently for both parties. It is a direct method of sending, receiving, and storing payroll data leaving those endless back and forth emails to finalise payroll redundant. It is important to note that once we have reviewed the information you have submitted, it is automatically stored on the payroll software, therefore reducing the risk of any errors being made.

Click here to watch our webinar on how to navigate your practice’s financial function.

Evolving ways of working

Covid-19 has, undoubtedly, brought about many changes to the workplace. Of course, it is a lot easier to manage a team of people when they are all working similar hours in the same location; however, that is not always the default case anymore. While remote working has its advantages, it has also proven to bring about many challenges for employers and employees both, which is where Samera’s services come in.

Businesses have to quickly learn and evolve their businesses to work with the new normal. This is why Samera has introduced BrightPay to all our clients in order to help clients manage staff while working from remote locations and different schedules. This is a great opportunity for you and your business. Our services work efficiently and in turn, help your business run as efficiently as possible without any time-consuming conversations, paperwork or mistakes happening along the way.

Click here to listen to our podcast episode on how to organise your practice’s finances.

Self-service

An employee app that can also help you manage your employees as well as giving them access to an employer portal, employees can also be invited to their own employee portal that can help your employees with adjusting to remote and flexible working.

Through this app you can:

Share important documents. The app will monitor who has opened and read these documents.
Approve any personal detail changes of employees.
Approve or deny any annual leave requests (requested easily through the app as well).
You and your employees are able to access a real time company-wide calendar.

Any changes that are made to the payroll data through the app are automatically synchronised with BrightPay Connect as well as BightPay payroll. Any adjustments are able to be made easily by you or any employees and all functions can be performed from any device at any location, making remote working efficient as possible.

You can find more articles and webinars on accounting here in our Learning Centre.

What you can do:

With Samera you are able to visit your online payroll portal data anytime, anywhere. All you need to do is log into your employer portal at any time, in any place. Log in from any smartphone, tablet device, laptop or computer. After this you are able to:

View all your employee’s current and past payslips
View employee documents
View real-time reports (employee reports e.g. Pension information, contact details, salary details)

Our system ensures that we are able to do our job for you as seamlessly as possible, while you can access any information you need easily and securely. We believe this process does not need to be a lengthy or tiresome process, for us or any of our clients. Having quick and easy access to these functions not only relieves stress but also saves a lot of time retrieving, asking and forwarding the necessary information between parties.

You can find out more about automating your finances here.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Making Tax Digital for Dentists

Making Tax Digital is the UK Government’s initiative to “make it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs.”

The goal is to make the UK’s tax infrastructure as digital as possible. It is hoped that this will make HMRC’s tax system more efficient, effective and easier to use and navigate for businesses.

Making Tax Digital entails swapping your accounts and tax from paper records to online, digital records. The idea is for as many businesses and sole traders as possible to go completely paperless with their accounts and tax.

Making Tax Digital is split into the following phases:

Making Tax Digital for VAT (April 2022)
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (April 2024)
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (April 2024)
Making Tax Digital for Corporation Tax (2026)

So, how will Making Tax Digital affect dentists?

Samera have been my accountant for 7 years and have continued to provide me with accurate accounts and timely submissions. Their digital workflow eases the management of receipts and filing. I have found them to be supportive and knowledgeable particularly during the recent crisis. Thank you.
Five stars

Making Tax Digital for Dentists

Making Tax Digital for Dental Associates

The first phase of MTD was introduced in April 2019 in Making Tax Digital for VAT, which regulated business with a taxable turnover over £85,000.

On 6th April 2024 (originally scheduled for 2023 but pushed back due to issues arising from COVID-19), Self Assessment tax payers will also need to abide by the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax regulations.

These new regulations in 2024 will only apply to Self Assessment taxpayers who file a taxable income above £10,000 a year. As a dentist, you almost certainly will.

Click here to listen to our podcasts on how dentists can reduce their tax bill.

For the most part, these new regulations will apply on 6th April of the 3rd trading year to businesses that begin trading after 6th April 2023.

After 6th April 2024, you will have to use digital software to hold and process digital records of your accounts and tax. Paper records of your accounts and tax will no longer be allowed by law.

The software you use to hold and process your digital records must be Making Tax Digital compliant.

You can find a list of compliant software on the .gov.uk website here.

Your Self Assessment tax return will also change. You will instead be required to submit 5 reports throughout the year. These are, 4 quarterly summaries of your accounts, as well as an end-of-year report.

The dates you will be required to submit these returns are:

5th August
5th November
5th February
5th May

The end of year return must be filed by 31st January after each relevant tax year. Your tax bill will also need to be paid by 31st January following the relevant year, but you will be able to make tax payments throughout the year if you wish.

You can find out more about accounts and tax for dental associates here.

Making Tax Digital for Dental Practices

Before April 2022, only businesses with a taxable turnover exceeding £85,000 must keep digital records and abide by Making Tax Digital regulations. After April 2022, all VAT-registered businesses must do the same.

You can sign up to the scheme early voluntarily, no matter your taxable turnover. This may be worth doing, in only to give yourself more time to get used to the new process.

Click here to watch our webinar on using Xero and Hubdoc for your dental practice accounts.

It is also required that your practice uses digital accounting software that is compliant with Making Tax Digital, such as Xero. You will need to keep your digital records for 6 years.

You can find a list of compliant software on the .gov.uk website here.

Here is a list of example records you will need to keep from the UK Government website:

your business name, address and VAT registration number
any VAT accounting schemes you use
the VAT on goods and services you supply, for example everything you sell, lease, transfer or hire out (supplies made)
the VAT on goods and services you receive, for example everything you buy, lease, rent or hire (supplies received)
any adjustments you make to a return
the ‘time of supply’ and ‘value of supply’ (value excluding VAT) for everything you buy and sell
the rate of VAT charged on goods and services you supply
reverse charge transactions – where you record the VAT on both the sale price and the purchase price of goods and services you buy
your total daily gross takings if you use a retail scheme
items you can reclaim VAT on if you use the Flat Rate Scheme
your total sales, and the VAT on those sales, if you trade in gold and use the Gold Accounting Scheme

You can find out more about accounts and tax for dental practices here.

Making Tax Digital With Samera

From 1st April 2022 we will no longer be accepting paper records for our accountancy clients. All accountancy and tax records will need to be in digital format.

We only use software that is compliant with the Making Tax Digital scheme. We are a Xero Gold Partner and have been pioneering digital accountancy for dentists for years.

When you go digital with our dental accountants, your accounts and tax are received, processed and stored safely, securely and easily.

All you need to do is scan your receipts and invoices, upload them to Hubdoc and we will do the rest!

The process is quick, simple and safe – which means you save time, effort and money.

Click here to read our articles Samera.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Fee Review

Are you setting the right prices?

Setting your fees correctly is so important in running a dental practice. Whilst you want to be compensated for your hard work and skills, it’s also essential you don’t price yourself out of the market and remain excellent value to the patients you serve.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

I wish other companies could replicate this level of customer service
Five stars

All too often we have seen dentists price their services based on local competition and then pray and hope that the fees are ok. But sometimes, the fee charged may not even cover the basic overheads of a business.

Our approach to pricing your dental services is analytical and thorough, ensuring you price your services profitably and effectively.

If you wish us to help you price your dental services, please get in touch.

Click here to read our articles on Samera Learning Centre.

Our Fee Review Process

The process involves us obtaining a list of all the treatments you currently provide, and the quantity delivered over the course of last 12 months. In addition to this we require details of the approximate time frame it takes to complete each treatment.

We then use financial data from you accounting records to work out the break even point per hour for your surgery. By using this information, we can highlight which treatments are being provided at low margins or a loss-making exercise. We will need a competitor analysis, which we can update if not most recent to then suggest at what rate the treatments will become profitable and remain competitive in comparison to the competition.

We will then calculate the revenue growth you will achieve with these new prices, for example a £10 increase in a treatment that remains competitive, which has been delivered 600 times over the course of a year will generate approx. £6,000 in revenue based on new pricing. Similarly, a treatment which is not breaking even per hour of the same nature would be costing you £6,000 annually which is a reduction in profit for the surgery.

You can then use this information to potentially consider other options such as offering surgery subscription plans to tie in the patients for reoccurring treatment plans and build a constant stream of revenue.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

Samera Finance

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How much could you save?

If you are seeking finance for your dental, pharmacy, vet or healthcare business, Samera Finance can assist you in securing the right loan on the best finance terms using our extensive years of banking and financial experience in the healthcare sector. All or team are experienced ex-healthcare bankers.

Samera Finance works with lenders across the whole UK market and we can ensure you get a finance deal that is right for you. We have found the lowest interest rate being offered is not always the best deal available, as there may be other conditions of the loan that do not suit your needs.

Simply sign up, let us know some key information and once your application is completed and approved, we’ll get to work finding you the right business loan (facilities) for your healthcare business. The process is easy, quick and secure so apply now to start, buy or grow your business.

Or, get started on the Samera Finance website.

Click here to read our article on A guide to tax loans

Debt refinancing with Samera

As you can see in the example below, a small change in the interest rate being paid – 1.6% in this instance, is saving this client over £170,000 over the term of the loan. If you have debt and are paying 3% plus above base rate, do get in touch, we can assess your specific situation and if appropriate help you save on the cost of borrowing.

Existing Loan	Refinanced Loan
£800,000	£800,000
Term 20 years	Term 20 years
Rate 4% (plus base) = 6.25%	Rate 2.4% (plus base) = 4.65%
Monthly repayments = £5844	Monthly repayments = £5196
Total repayments = £1,403,520	£1,230,240
Savings	£173,240

Speak to an expert

Book a virtual consult with
Nigel

Book a consult

Book a virtual consult with
Dan

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“It took only days to get the finance in place and furthermore Nigel Crossman has gone over his remit in helping me along the process with valuable advice that saves me much time and money! Basically if you want a result call Samera!”

“Great service, really paid attention to our needs and offered us the appropriate advice. In particular we were impressed with the time, dedication and focus given to help us finance our acquisition of a dental practice with good rates. We also managed to stay in communication during unsociable hours which really made the process convenient for us. Very helpful.”

“Very quick to get me the finance I had struggled for several years to get. I will definitely be using this service again in the future!”

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Suppliers and Partners

By working with Samera, you can ensure your clients get the finance they need, when they need.
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FAQ’s

Do you have further questions?

If so, please send us a message via our contact form.

How do I apply?

All you need to do is sign up and fill in the required forms. The process is quick, streamlined and only takes a matter of minutes. Once we have assessed and approved your application we will get to work sourcing the best business loan for you.

What is a healthcare business loan?

A healthcare business loan is finance that a healthcare business borrows to fund the start, running or growth of their business, such as for buying equipment and assets to aid their business.

A personal loan can be used for non-business purposes such as purchasing a new home or maintaining a car, but not for business purposes.

A business loan allows you to borrow money from financial lenders and use the money for purely business-related costs and projects.

What different kinds of healthcare business loans are there?

There are several different forms of business loan available to your healthcare business. Which business loan is right for you will depend on factors such as what you need the loan for and your ability to repay it.

These are some of the different options available to you:

Acquisition finance:

Acquisition finance funds the purchase of an existing business or shares in a business. Whether you want to buy your first healthcare business, buy shares in an existing business or buy a second business, you will most likely need to borrow acquisition finance.

Asset finance:

Asset finance is a business loan raised to fund the purchasing, renting or maintenance of business assets like equipment or any other assets that help your business function, such as vehicles.

Refinancing:

Sometimes you can get more favourable terms on your loans by refinancing the debt. This means that you can renegotiate factors such as the interest rate or the payment schedule by taking out a new loan with better terms to cover the old one.

Commercial mortgages:

A commercial mortgage is simply a mortgage used to purchase a commercial property, like the site for a new healthcare clinic or a new premises for your business. Commercial mortgages can be repaid over 15/20/25 years and allow you to spread your payments over the life of the business.

Tax loans:

Sometimes, an unexpectedly heavy tax bill can create a huge hit in your working capital. When this happens, it can be better to spread the cost of your tax bill over the year with a tax loan. This loan covers the immediate bill and allows you to pay in smaller, monthly instalments.

Working capital and cash flow loans:

When your working capital takes a hit, your cash flow can be reduced drastically. When you have to dip into your working capital for an unexpected purchase, it may be best to borrow the money instead. This way you can spread the cost across the year, rather than taking it all out of the working capital in one go.

How does taking out a business loan work?

When you take out a business loan for your healthcare business, you borrow the money in a lump sum and pay it back in instalments (plus interest payments). This allows you to make purchases you otherwise would not be able to afford, and also spread that cost over a longer period of time.

Loans are usually either paid back over a short term (2 years or less) or long term (3 years or over).

You also have the option in many cases to borrow a secured or unsecured loan. A secured loan is one which you guarantee with collateral. What this means is that you borrow the money against the value of an asset the business owns, such as a property. If you fail to repay the loan the lender will take the asset to recoup their loss. An unsecured loan does not require collateral, however, they usually come with less favourable terms. This is because the risk to the lender is greater.

Am I eligible for a healthcare business loan?

To find out if you are eligible to take out a business loan, simply click ‘apply now’, fill in a few forms and we’ll let you know how much you could possibly borrow. Any loan is, of course, dependent on the business having the ability to meet the payments

Lenders, such as the banks, like lending to healthcare businesses. Get your applications, your financial forecasts and your business plan right and we can help you find the right business loan for your healthcare company.

What information will I need to provide to the lender?

Lenders will want to see a range of information and documentation. It is essential that you get this step correct. The lenders will reject your application if the projections are wrong, the business plan is poorly done, you have a poor financial record, and that’s just a few reasons.

The banks will want you to be able to provide evidence of:

Your previous earnings in your healthcare field.
How you handle personal finances.
Your living situation, whether you own or rent your home.
Career in healthcare so far and any management experience.
Ability to repay any loan.
Personal savings
Tax payment records.

To find out more about making sure your loan application is successful, click here.

I’ve been denied a healthcare business loan before, can I still apply?

If you have had a business loan application rejected in the recent past, you may need to improve your credit rating and financial standing before you can reapply. Or, it may be that you were not talking to the right people! You may need to approach alternative lenders or adjust your application and business plan. Contact us today to find out how to improve your chances of applying for a business loan.

How easy is it to take out a healthcare business loan?

Applying for a healthcare business loan is not always an easy business. Even when it is, there’s no guarantee that the loan you take out is the best available.

To make the process easier, increase your chances of a successful application and ensure you get the best deal around, we have created the Samera Finance app. We have been working in the healthcare finance market for decades. We know how to format your application, who to approach and how to negotiate the best deal, thanks to our extensive experience and contacts.

Applying for a business loan for your healthcare business is easy when you use Samera Finance to do the hard work for you.

How much can I borrow for my healthcare business?

The amount you can borrow will depend on a wide range of factors. These include your ability to repay the loan, what you intend to use the money for and your current financial situation.

Samera Finance can help source loans to cover small purchases for consumables and small assets, as well as larger loans to purchase property or another business.

Use our finance calculator above to see how much you can borrow.

What information will I have to provide when I apply?

The information we require will vary case by case, depending on what kind of loan you need and what you intend to use it for.

This is a basic list of the kind of information we will require:

Personal

Personal Profile Form – details income and expenditure
Personal Banks Statements – last 6 months
Last 3 years associate accounts
CV

Business

Last 3 years practice accounts
Practice Management information – if available
Practice sales particulars
Business plan
Projections may be required

What is the interest rate for a healthcare finance business loan?

The interest rate you get will vary case by case, as well as varying between the different lenders too.

The average interest rate for a healthcare business loan is typically around 2.85% – 3% for a purchase. However, Samera Finance can help negotiate the interest rate to make sure you get the best price available.

How soon will I need to start repaying the loan?

When you need to begin repaying your healthcare business loan will depend on the terms of your loan agreement. In many cases, you will need to start repaying the next month after receiving the money. However, we may also be able to negotiate a repayment holiday, where you have a grace period of around 6-12 months before you need to begin repayment.

How long will I be repaying my business loan?

The payment schedule for your loan is known as the term length. The term length will depend on what you negotiate in the application, as well as the kind of loan you are borrowing.

Some loans, such as bridging loans, are repaid within 12 months. Other short term loans will be repaid within 2 years. Long term loans over a period of longer than 3 years.

Remember that it is often the case that the longer the term length, the lower the interest rate you will pay.

What is a fixed interest rate loan?

A fixed interest rate means that the interest rate will remain the same throughout agreed period of the fixed-rate repayment schedule. Therefore, if the Bank of England base rate rises, your payments will not be affected – since your interest rates are fixed. This means you can more easily budget your cash flow, knowing these payments remain fixed.

However, this does also mean that your interest rates will remain the same if the Bank of England base rate falls.

What is a variable interest rate loan?

A variable interest rate is one that can fluctuate according the to Bank of England base rate . This means that if the Bank of England base rate falls or rises, so too will your loan interest rate.

Although this can sometimes mean your interest rates fall, it also makes your payment schedule hard to predict.

If the Bank of England base rate rises unexpectedly, you may find yourself with an unexpected hit to your cash flow.

Does Samera Finance lend money?

No, we are not a financial lender. Samera Finance is a commercial finance broker. That means that we use our network and connections within the UK healthcare lending industry to find the best loans and negotiate the best terms.

We find the right finance, make sure your application is right, negotiate the terms and ensure you get the best loan for the right price.

Dental Buying Group

Join

the Samera Alliance Group

Save

money on your consumables and products

Grow

your profits

Why join our Dental Buying Group?

The Samera Alliance Group supports independent dentists like you with access to the very best prices in the dental market, ensuring your business can achieve the best possible margins.

With our buying group power, we continue to widen our supplier network, bringing dentists the best possible prices for all amenities.

How the Samera Alliance Dental Buying Group can help you and your business?

Save money on Consumables
and Equipment

IT Infrastructure

Digital Scanners

Indemnity Insurance

Software For
Your Practice

Review Energy and
Business rates

Dental Compliance

HR and
Health and Safety

What do you get when you join the Samera Alliance Dental Buying Group?

We’ll help you save money in your practice with exclusive discounts on dental products, equipment and consumables with our dental buying group.

Buying Group Features

Gain access to significantly discounted dental consumables through negotiated deals by Samera Alliance.
Enjoy reduced rates on dental repairs and maintenance services, ensuring cost-effective solutions for your practice.
Access pre-negotiated deals on essential overheads such as utilities, IT services, CQC compliance, HR support and waste management, streamlining your operational costs effectively.

Samera Alliance Partners

The Samera Alliance Group has partnered up with some of the UK’s leading dental consumable manufacturers and service providers to help you save money in your practice.

We have a large directory of companies that you can have access to in order to help run your practice more cost-effectively.

Wrights

Wrights partner with Top Leading Brands and Suppliers to offer unrivalled solutions for your laboratory and dental practice. In addition, we manufacture alginate, teeth and denture base from our facilities both here and abroad.

Densura

Densura is a bespoke scheme that offers professional indemnity, public/products liability & legal expenses insurance coverage for GDC and criminal prosecutions. Dentists could pay a premium, which is up to 40% less than that available elsewhere.

Beacon Plus

Beaconplus can assist you with electric, gas, landlines, broadband, systems, mobiles, water and business rates. If you appoint Beaconplus, you have peace of mind that they can handle all these areas for you allowing you to focus on your core business.

Technocure

Technocures mission is to provide high-quality and cost-effective IT services that meet our customers’ needs.

They manage and support all our IT service solutions using cutting-edge technology. With the utmost quality and consistency, we make technology an asset for our clients through unique, individualised solutions.

Dental Compliance Made Easier

Dental Compliance Made Easier will support your practice on a CQC compliance capacity and will ensure all your processes and systems are developed in line with CQC regulations.

More Info

Software 4 Dentists

These days, patients expect to be able to do virtually anything online, so why should booking an appointment with their dentist be any different?

Present a booking system, customised with your practice’s own logo and welcome messages.

Empower your patients to book and manage their dental appointments online.

Croner

Our award-winning HR and health & safety services free you from workforce admin and help keep you on the right side of the law. So with Croner, you get more time to focus on what you’re best at—growing your business.

Scan Club

The award-winning Digital Dental Academy team are delighted to welcome you to Scan Club, the most cost-effective way for all Dentists to go digital.

Lumenis (PRNewsfoto/Lumenis)

Lumenis

With over 50 years of excellence in the industry, Lumenis is a pioneer in the field of aesthetic medicine and was the first to introduce many technologies in the field, such as Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and CO2 laser skin resurfacing.

DB Dental Equipment

Dental Equipment Ltd. is an independent family-run company that specialises in the sales, maintenance and installation of all dental equipment for practices throughout the UK.

Rudlings Solicitors

At Rudlings, we supply specialist advice to Dentists & other Healthcare professionals.

Albus Environmental

Albus Environmental a sustainable clinical waste service.

Patient Plan Direct

We help hundreds of practices across the UK run their own practice-branded patient plans – and for significantly less cost in comparison to other plan providers such as Denplan by SimplyHealth Professionals, Practice Plan and DPAS.

More Info

Turnkey Dental

Over 52 years of combined experience supplying UK dental clinics with complete design and installation packages. Tailored solutions to help you deliver the best possible dental care with the peace of mind that your equipment is up to the most demanding tasks.

Finance 4 Patients

Practices that offer flexible payment options show an average increase in appointments of 25%, leading to an increase in revenue and higher spending per visit.

Patients feel much more comfortable going ahead with treatments when they don’t have to pay a large lump sum upfront.

Dental Insurance Services

Dental Insurance Services have been meeting the insurance needs of Dentists for over 30 years.

We pride ourselves in the level and quality of service we provide to our clients.

Interested in partnering with Samera Alliance?

If you want to work with Samera, and become part of a growing community of the UK’s dentists and their suppliers, contact us today. Our buying group is growing week by week with dental practices from all across the UK.

To find out more about working with us, contact us today via the button below.

FAQs

Do you have further questions?

If so, please send us a message via our contact form.

What is the Samera Alliance?

The Samera Alliance is our growing network of dentists, practices and leading industry suppliers, designed to help you save money, grow your profits and build a better dental business.

The Samera Alliance is all about saving your practice money with our Dental Buying Group. By joining the Samera Alliance, you gain access to exclusive deals and offers from our partners. The Samera Alliance Buying Group can save you money on the consumables, equipment and products you need in dentistry. Samera Alliance is FREE to join. There’s no catch or hidden costs. Just free access to exclusive discounts

Why have we set up this buying group?

Here at Samera, we wanted to allow smaller independent dental practices to operate on a level playing field with some of the dental body corporates out there when it comes to buying their consumables or equipment.

At Samera, we believe we’re all stronger together. As a Group, we can match the buying power of the corporate dental groups and get you cheaper deals on goods and discounted rates for services.

What is in it for you?

Gaining better buying power
Larger discounts
Reducing your monthly material bills
Introduction to third-party services

By combining the purchasing power of our growing network of private dentists, we can source consumables, equipment and supplies at significantly discounted prices. Larger buying groups can obtain far greater discounts than individual practices. Coming together to negotiate collectively greatly elevates the leverage you have to get the best deal possible.

Join our growing network of practices to benefit from lower prices, save money and grow your practice’s value.

Partner up and work with our community to see significant reductions in cost through combined purchasing power.
Connect with industry-leading manufacturers and suppliers to ensure you purchase the cutting-edge equipment, technology and supplies.
Better deals, negotiated through the Samera Dental Buying Group.
Access to advice and guidance on asset finance and dental technology.

Be a part of a growing buying group, get the best deals on the market, and grow your practice’s profits.

What kind of things can I purchase?

By joining our buying group, you will gain access to lower cost consumables, equipment and aesthetics solutions – everything you need to equip and kit-out the modern dental practice.

Supplies: Over 27,000 consumable products available to order.

Digital products: Digital software and products from leading manufacturers, as well as access to training, technical support and engineering teams.

Specialist equipment: Including orthodontic, surgical, endodontic, Loupes and oral hygiene products & equipment.

Aesthetics: Specialist facial aesthetics and non-surgical skin rejuvenation products, including dermal fillers, botulinum toxins, skin peels and cosmeceuticals.

Services and repair: Our buying group has access to one of the largest engineering teams across the UK and Ireland, who can service, test and repair your practice equipment.

How do I join?

Simply click ‘Sign up now’ above to either register now or book a free consultation with our buying group manager.

Once you are a registered member of the buying group, you’ll be able to see all of the exclusive deals and make your purchases.

Do I need to be a Samera client to join?

No, you do not have to be a Samera client, the Samera Alliance is open to any dentist or dental practice that wants to save money and grow their profits.

However, if you are an existing client then let us know, as our accountancy and practice start-up clients can enjoy an introductory offer.

How much does it cost?

The Samera Alliance (our Dental Buying Group) is completely free for everyone to join. That means you get cheaper dental consumables and supplies for nothing!

Do you make the purchases for me?

No, you will still purchase equipment, assets and consumables yourself via the links in the alliance website. However, your profile will be registered to the Samera Dental Buying Group, which will allow you to benefit from our discounted prices.

How much can I save?

Discount prices will vary between products and over time.

However, we have seen an average of 6-10% per month in savings.

How will this grow the value of my practice?

For every £1 you save, your practice’s value increases by over £6! Your practice’s value is calculated by multiplying your current annual profit by 6. Therefore, if you save £10,000 somewhere, your practice’s value goes up by £60,000!

For example:

If you save on consumables:	£1	£1,000	£10,000
Your practice value increases by*:	£6	£6,000	£60,000

*Based on an EBITDA multiple of 6x EBITDA

Nothing to be sniffed at, and it’s a no-brainer, no-risk service to you.

To find out how much simply saving money on your consumables can grow the value of your practice, enter your current annual profit and consumables bill. Then just let us know how much you want to cut your consumables bill by and you’ll see how much your practice could be worth when you save. You’ll be surprised how much your value can grow!

Try our practice wealth calculator:

Your Current Annual Profit:

Your Current Practice Value:

Your Current Annual Consumables Bill:

Cut Dental Consumables By:

Annual Saving Made In Dental Consumables:

New Dental Consumables Cost:

Your New Practice Value:

* Assuming EBITDA of 6x

How do I get better deals through the Buying Group?

Buying Groups use their numbers as leverage to get better prices since it means they purchase items in large bulks far more often than an independent practice, or even a small dental group.

A Buying Group represents a far greater source of regular business and, so, they often get better prices then others.

The more members of the Buying Group, the better the prices we will be able to negotiate for this exact reason.

Accounts Payable Service

Samera Dental Accountants use Xero and Wise to create an efficient accounts payable department.

We have outlined the key steps required below.

Implementation Stage

Integrate Xero and Wise (client will need to create a WISE account)
Ensure all suppliers on Xero have all correct information e.g., contact details, bank details, customer reference/account no. (for correct payment allocation)
All due dates are correct for each supplier – KEY TO ENSURE CORRECT PAYMENT TERMS AND PROCESSING
Merge any duplicate suppliers and general tidy up of Accounts Payable
Notify all suppliers to email all invoices to relevant Hubdoc email address – THIS IS KEY TO ENSURE ALL INVOICES ARE PROVIDED AND ALLOWS TIMELY DELIVERY
Agree on a set weekly payment day with client – This will ensure Hubdoc and Xero are up to date by COB of prior day to invoice approval or payment (whichever is the earliest) e.g. A Friday payment date will mean all documentation is published from Hubdoc to Xero by COB on Wednesday to allow approval on Thursday.
To work effectively and accurately there needs to be only one payment day each week

I have been with Samera accountants for many years now. I find them professional and efficient. Whenever I have any point to be clarified, they are reachable and communicate very well. Looking forward to continue with them. Recommended!

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Delivery Stage

Hubdoc

Client to upload ALL invoices/credit notes/statements to Hubdoc upon receipt. This is where it is essential for all suppliers to send to Hubdoc direct
Samera to review all (including failed reads), categorise and publish to Xero for Approval or Awaiting Payment on a regular basis
Samera to ensure Hubdoc is tidy with all supplier folders regularly monitored and documents filed correctly
Supplier statements to be filed separately and left in Hubdoc (unpublished) and checked with Xero AP on a weekly basis

Xero

Regular review of Accounts Payable
Weekly reconcile of Accounts Payable with supplier statement to identify any missing invoices
Regular bank reconciliation
All of the above will ensure AP is correct and available for approval and payment
Client to approve all unpaid invoices
Client to pay all due invoices as a batch payment on Xero c/o Wise account
Samera to send remittance advice email

Important information

The implementation stage and ensuring all suppliers are emailing to Hubdoc are the key.

This service will only work if the clinic is using Hubdoc correctly.

Further details on WISE and Xero are on the Xero website.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Navigating Your Finance Function

Step 1

Invoice

Receive an invoice from a supplier.

Step 1

Step 2

Send

Scan/photo or email the invoice to Hubdoc.

Step 2

Step 3

Document

Information posted into Xero by Team Samera at awaiting payment stage.

Step 3

Step 4

Receive

Payment made via bank account or WISE.

Step 4

Step 5

Match

Once invoice is paid Xero matches invoice with payment.

Step 5

Step 6

Reconcile

Bank account is reconciled fully at the end of each month or more regularly.

Step 6

Step 7

Report

Produce management reports.

Step 7

Step 8

Review

Review of management reports to highlight variances for action.

Step 8

Step 9

Feed

Feeds into the annual accounts process with a very quick turnaround for year end.

Step 9

Step 10

Budgets

Set up budgets for the next financial year.

Step 10

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Dental Practice Mergers and Acquisitions

Helping Dentists buy and sell practices for over 20 Years.

Dental Practice Mergers and Acquisitions

Dental practice merger and acquisition decisions can be intimidating and perplexing. It might seem like a good deal, but without a proper assessment of the proposition, you might be inviting trouble. Therefore, it’s essential you obtain specialist help in this area.

To help you make the right decision, our experienced team of advisors can help you assess each opportunity, whether you are buying or selling a practice. Our approach includes:

A detailed review of the proposition
Analysis of the practice/business current service and structure
Designing of an implementation plan
Identifying any potential difficulties or abnormalities in the deal
Constructing a robust plan to assist you in buying or selling the business

We will ensure that the above is executed and delivered. We have extensive experience and expertise in providing full support in terms of financial advice and transition plans.

To know more about dental practice mergers and acquisitions service, please get in touch with us or book a free consultation.

You can find out more about raising acquisition finance here.

We have a great relationship with advisors at Samera. We are in middle of a purchase. Samera advisors are doing an amazing and thorough job, from assessing practices, obtaining loan to providing accounting services. Nigel has been very patient, understanding and considerate. Overall, very happy with the service and would highly recommend.
Five stars

Precise Valuations

If you are looking to sell or acquire any dental business, it is important to seek out expert knowledge and advice on valuations.

At Samera, our approach is realistic, yet practical.

We carry out assessments to determine the actual market value of the business you are looking to sell or buy. Based on the analysis we present you with various scenarios, helping you to make an informed decision.

Our approach encompasses a whole range of technical valuation techniques including EBITDA multiples, net cash flow, turnover % and also net assets calculations. As an experienced firm in the field of dental practice accountancy and finance, we are perfectly placed to help clients with valuations of practices.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Financial Due Diligence

“The Samera team is a seasoned player in providing a due diligence service to buyers of dental practices. Our experts have combined the experience of over 20 years in buying, selling and setting up dental practices. We understand the business of dentistry implicitly so we can help you in assessing all the financial aspects of a dental practice.”
Arun Mehra
CEO

Services

Our approach is rigorous yet realistic, as not all dental practices financial management systems are the same. We request key information in the form of checklists, and then run through all aspects of the target practice financials in detail.

We provide support in reviewing all financial and tax records, system reviews and overall business assessments.

As dental practice owners ourselves, we have extensive knowledge of dental practices and the issues they face. We know the areas to look for problems and, of course, we know the right questions to ask.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Our Checklist

If you are an individual or represent an organisation that is considering a deal then you need to ensure that you thoroughly check all the assumptions that you are making in that deal.

Financial due diligence can provide peace of mind to buyers, by analyzing and validating all the financial, commercial, operational and strategic assumptions being made.

It can utilize past trading performances to form a coherent view of the future and confirm that there are no potential pitfalls involved in any transaction.

The key components of financial due diligence in any acquisition of a dental practice are investigating, verifying and understanding:

The financial affairs of the target practice, including valuations
The market the practice operates in
The commercial sustainability of the business
The operational structure, including internal processes and systems
Any synergistic opportunities or savings arising out of acquisition
A sensible deal structure

Due diligence can also provide the framework for constructing a realistic strategic plan for the newly acquired business by highlighting and commenting on any inherent weaknesses or strengths, as well as identifying potential opportunities for new growth or exploitation of new markets.

Samera is a fantastic team, and always had a good experience every time I reached them.
Five stars

Due Diligence with Samera

Set out below are the areas to be covered in the financial due diligence investigation report in relation to the proposed acquisition of the shares of the Target. The information below is to be prepared for the last two financial years and for the period to the latest available management accounts.

Description of the Business

Discussion and understanding of the business activities;
Commentary on the registration with CQC;
Summary of the premises from which the business operates.

History and Background

An understanding of the history of the business and the vendors;
Identification of key aspects of the development of the business;
A review of the historical accounts and explanation of the key changes in financial performance.

Income and Revenue

An analysis of income by:
Location/Site
Type (to include, Fee per item (with a breakdown of specialist), Plan, NHS, Sundry)
Principal/Associate/Hygienist
Details of any fee/rate increases applied during the last financial year and the period to date.
Details of the method of allocating fee income within the profit and loss account and the appropriateness of the method adopted;
An overview of the NHS contract(s);
Analysis of UDA/UOA performance and rate (for the last five years), together with a review of the recognition of under performance and monies clawed back;
Verification of income to DPB Statements, including review of patients’ charges, remissions and superannuation deductions;
Analysis of the number of “live” patients over recent years (where available);
Summary of treatment charges.

Expenditure – Direct Costs

Material costs and benchmarking;
Review of suppliers and key terms and rebates;
Laboratory costs and terms;
Provision of sufficient data for you to be able to determine synergistic benefits.

Expenditure – Staff Costs

Details of current number of staff/associates, type of “employment”, job title/description, qualifications, hourly rate/salary, associate rates, overtime rates, holiday entitlement and arrangements, sick pay, long service awards, length of service and any other benefits;

Consideration of the timing and impact of pay reviews;
Consideration of locum usage;
Details of all ancillary and administrative staff functions, and details of anticipated recurring cost for this;
Details of the roles that the current owners (and family) fulfil in the Company, and the potential cost of filling these roles where required;
Comparison of actual payroll costs to expected costs calculated by reference to the above analysis.

Expenditure – Other

A review of the detail within the profit and loss account of the business for the last two financial years, together with latest management accounts, commenting upon changes and trends within these accounts;

Comparison of actual fixed and variable costs to expected levels and consideration of costs included in the historical nominal ledgers;
Identification of: professional fees; audit and accountancy; repairs and renewals; equipment hire; finance costs; and other possible non-recurring costs incurred by the current business;
Identification of costs relating to the vendors that might not be on-going and analysis of costs required on an on-going basis, to include amongst other things rent and other property costs.

Balance Sheet

A review of the balance sheet of the Target at the dates of the last statutory accounts and the latest management accounts;

Comment on any unusual or non-trading items; any significant off balance sheet items and intangibles;
Fixed assets:
- Analysis by type and location;
- Basis of valuation;
- Depreciation rates;
- Detailed fixed asset register including values.
A review of the debtor balances (trade and other) included within the historical accounts, commenting upon ageing provisions against receivable, policies in relation to invoicing and

agreement of client funding, etc.;

A review of the stock balances included within the historical accounts commenting upon the ageing of stock and the appropriateness of the figures included within the accounts;
Summary of creditors (trade and other) and its constituent parts, together with an analysis and commentary thereon;
A review of assets held under finance leases and other financing arrangements;
A summary of other assets and liabilities, including a review of unusual items and significant fluctuations;
Analysis of provisions and an assessment of liabilities, litigation and claims;
Comment on any balances owed by or to the vendors or associated entities that will require consideration as part of the deal structure.

Cash Flow

A detailed analysis of working capital movements and trends, and reasons for cash movements in historical accounts.

Taxation

Review PAYE/NI liabilities, enquiry/inspection visits and most recent correspondence;
Consideration of whether the business is or has been registered for VAT, together with Enquiries/inspection visits and recent correspondence;
Analyse the corporation tax computations since the date of incorporation (or the last six years, whichever is the shorter) and comment on the corporation tax status of the company, including a review of any investigations by HMRC (if applicable);
Consideration of elections and tax planning exercises carried out by the target;
A review of “tax sensitive” categories of expenditure within the company, to highlight any potential liabilities;
Review of incorporation documentation (if applicable) to include GDC approval of Company Name.

Insurance Cover

Summary of the policies held by the business;
A summary of the levels of cover held in order that the acquirer and their broker may assess their likely on-going cost and actions required post completion.

Systems Review

Identification of key reports prepared by management and operational staff;
Discuss accounting and practice management system with management. Key areas include:
- New patient procedures
- Income recording and recognition process
- Expenditure recording and recognition process
- Wages and salaries (including self employed individuals)
- Cashbook
- Petty Cash
- Nominal Ledger
- Computing system and software packages

To learn more, check out our article on financial due diligence here. You can also listen to our podcast episode on the legal issues to consider when buying a dental practice here.

If you want to find out more about due diligence when buying a dental practice, book a free call with us today. We will explain the process, what you need to do next and how we can help.

BOOK A CALL

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Xero for Dentists

Samera is a Xero Gold Partner firm with an extensive set of clients using Xero, the leading cloud accounting platform.

Bookkeeping Support Services for Dentists

Our team of expert bookkeepers are accurate, swift and experienced in bookkeeping and preparing management information for our clients on a timely basis. We deal with all sizes of dental practices and use the latest technology available to ensure accuracy and speed while keeping costs low.

Xero Cloud Accounting for Dentists

Samera is a Xero Partner firm with an extensive set of clients using Xero.

As a leading Xero Partner for Dentists, Samera can offer:

Management accounts
Processing payments and receipts
Supplier payments

Payroll
Credit control and debt collection
Helping you better understand your practice

Samera have been my accountant for 7 years and have continued to provide me with accurate accounts and timely submissions. Their digital workflow eases the management of receipts and filing. I have found them to be supportive and knowledgeable particularly during the recent crisis. Thank you.
Five stars

Cloud Accounting Benefits for Dentists

Collaborate in the cloud

Bringing more heads to your books is easy with Xero. Just give us access and we’ll log in, look at your numbers and give you advice.

Reconcile from anywhere

Xero receives your bank statements automatically via a secure connection, making it a breeze to reconcile and gain a complete and up-to-date snapshot of your business.

Mobile access

Access accounts, check balances, upload receipts and invoice customers from your smartphone or tablet with Xero’s iPhone or Android app.

Automating your Bookkeeping

For further information about Xero, or to discuss how Samera Chartered Accountants can assist, please get in touch or contact us via our online form.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

More on Xero for Dentists

To learn more about using Xero as a dentist, check out our webinar on How to Use Xero for Dental Associate Accountants .

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

NHS Dental Tenders

Winning an NHS Dental tender is not easy

Winning an NHS Dental Tender can be a very daunting and complex process. It takes patience, experience and investment to ensure you have the best chance of winning an NHS Dental tender.

Samera’s NHS tendering service for dentists has grown from the demands of our clients, wanting to win NHS dental tenders. Since then, we have won numerous:

Pre-qualifying questionnaires (PQQ’s)
Invitation to tender (ITT’s)

Over the years we have been commissioned by Dental and Orthodontic Practices to provide professional support to their practices during the tendering process. We have worked with practices in preparing tender submissions for General Dental, Orthodontic and Specialist Services (e.g. Minor Oral Surgery) for existing and new services.

When commissioning NHS services for a large geographical area, an NHS England Commissioner will initially invite expressions of interest. Pre-qualifying questionnaires will seek to demonstrate how contractors are to provide quality services that offer value for money.

In addition, you will be expected to demonstrate within your tender submission, how you intend to deliver your Dental/Orthodontic/Specialist Dental service in line with best practice and also with reference to NHS England’s approved national policy documents.

When you enlist our expert services, you gain our team’s extensive experience, a fast turn-round of material and a focused, personalised approach that has made a difference for many dental and medical practices across the UK.

Over recent years, we have seen the demand for NHS Dental contracts grow. This has meant increased competition for UDA’s and the need for a business team to submit a winning tender.

Amazing and valuable resource for both our tender application and providing excellent advice on how to grow and expand our business which goes well beyond what was expected. The amount of work that goes into submitting a tender is not easily realised until going through the process and having [Samera] guide us throughout with the confidence required gave us the peace of mind that we submitted the very best tender possible.
Five stars

Samera’s Key Tips to Winning NHS Dental Tenders

Our team possess extensive experience in the whole NHS tendering process for dentists. In outline, we can help in the following areas:

Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)

At this initial stage, the PQQ requires a series of questions from an organisation’s general information to financial information to management facilities for potential bidders to answer.

We can help you in this by providing the required information in the prescribed format.

Invitation to Tender (ITT).

If you are invited to tender, then you are required to submit your ITT document in full by a defined date. This is typically a time-consuming exercise which requires inputs from many sources. Our experience has shown that many dentists will not have the experience or knowledge of how to submit a formal tender.

As specialists in the Dental Sector, we have considerable knowledge about submitting ITT documents.

Dental Contract Award

At this stage, the selected applicant has to go through a long panel interview process against the counterpart (generally/normally 5). Also, such interviews can be more than 1 until the supplier is the convinced. We can help in preparation for such interviews to avoid the disappointments at this final stage.

Setting Up In Practice

After the contract award stage, the successful contract winner may need to set up the practice to commence the business/services.

We can help here by providing our valuable setting up a practice, full practice management and management accounting services at an additional cost.

Commencement / On-going services.

At this live business stage, we can monitor and assist in the business and financial performance of the practice on a regular (monthly) basis should you choose to use our Samera Finance Director services. In addition, we can help in the NHS contract renewal process.

We will help you through each stage of the NHS dental tenders process

From financial and business planning to understand the local population demographics, through pre-qualifying questionnaires and preparation of your tender submission bid. In addition, after your Practice has been shortlisted for an interview we will help you prepare for the final interview with the NHS England Area Team/Health Board.

Our experts have won general dental contracts, orthodontic contracts, oral surgery contracts to name just a few and have extensive experience to help dental and medical professionals win NHS tenders.

Our principal activity is assisting clients with submitting competitive and convincing pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ’s) and invitation to tenders (ITT’s) for public and private sector contracts.

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Tax Planning For Dentists

Dental Tax Advice

Our team at Samera has extensive experience in offering a whole array of tax planning for dentists and their businesses.

From basic tax planning to complicated tax investigations, it is imperative you have a team not only well versed in tax laws but also understand the Dental sector.
We have extensive experience in understanding your needs and then planning and implementing a solution to meet your needs.

You can find out more about tax saving strategies for dentists here.

Areas we can usually identify tax savings include:

Structuring payroll for Directors
Profit extraction planning
Use of assets, i.e., company car and capital allowances
Claimable expenses
Company restructuring
Dividend planning
Future growth prospects
Succession planning
Anything specific related to the shareholding and matters of interest

Dental Practice Tax Planning

Most Dentists have asked the question: Self Employed or Limited Liability?

As a firm with extensive experience in incorporating Dental Practices, we have built up much experience in this area. Sole traders, partnerships and expense sharing arrangements can all be incorporated, but it is so important this is done right first time, else considerable problems can manifest later on.

If you feel need an expert in this area (which we strongly suggest) please get in touch with us!

Dental Incorporation Overview

As of the 31st July 2006 new legal reforms have allowed dental practices to incorporate and begin trading as limited companies. The majority of the company directors must be registered with the GDC as dentists or dental care professionals.

Accountancy goes the extra mile to solve your problems. Overall Samera is a fantastic team, and always had a good experience every time I reached them.
Five stars

Possible Tax Savings

There are both advantages and disadvantages to the incorporation of your dental practice and you should consider all options carefully.

There may be considerable tax savings but not necessarily in all cases, and these are offset by the costs of added bureaucracy, professional fees and start-up costs.

For high rate taxpayers, incorporation could have considerable savings for dentists.

Associates

The GDC will allow associates to practice through a limited company, however, associates cannot benefit from goodwill when the company is set up and it is possible that HM Revenue & Customs could invoke some penal tax rules to take away any potential tax savings from Dental Associate Limited Companies.

We would recommend that associates carefully consider all the risks before trading as a limited company. In addition, before you consider incorporating your Associate business, you will need to consider your pension arrangements, as the NHS now won’t pay NHS pensions to those Associates that may have incorporated into a Limited Company.

What to do next

Incorporation is not for everyone. It would be prudent to evaluate all the pro’s and cons of incorporation before you decide to incorporate.

Therefore, we would strongly recommend we carry out a thorough feasibility study based on your individual circumstances. We stress this is an essential part of the process in order to determine whether trading as a limited company is the right choice for you.

Professional Fee Protection

Samera offers a professional fee protection service to our clients.

In the event of a tax investigation, we offer an insurance policy for our clients to take out to cover our fees. Please get in touch with us for details.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

R&D Tax Relief

What Are Research And Development Tax Credits?

Research and Development (R&D) tax credits are a form of tax relief offered by the UK Government aimed at fostering investment into new science and technology in varying industries. R&D tax credits are available to businesses who have invested in advancing research and development in their field.

To qualify, the project must seek to advance the science and technology of your company’s industry, i.e. dentistry.

Your project must:

look for an advance in science and technology
have had to overcome uncertainty
tried to overcome this uncertainty
could not be easily worked out by a professional in the field

If your practice has invested in a research and development project, you may be eligible for corporate tax reduction or a cash benefit.

19/20 was my first year with Samera and I wish I had come to them sooner! Thank you!!
Five stars

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

R&D Projects For Dentists

Below are a list of examples of projects that could count towards Research and Development tax relief.

Projects aimed at improving clinical results and success rates
New bonding materials and processes
Research into different bone grafting techniques
Technological advances in 3D printing
Trials in decontamination

What R&D Tax Relief Is Available

Dental Practices tend to fall under the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) category. As such, dental practices that have invested in R&D projects are eligible for the Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) R&D Relief.

SME R&D Tax Relief entitles companies to:

Deduct an extra 130% of their qualifying costs from their yearly profit – (with the usual 100% deduction this makes a 230% total deduction).
If the company is making a loss you can claim a tax credit worth up to 14.5% of the surrenderable loss.

Do I Qualify For R&D Tax Relief?

With the 31st July tax payment deadline approaching, now is the perfect time to find out whether you and your practice are eligible for Research and Development tax credits.

If your practice has invested in any R&D projects, or indeed if you plan on doing so in the near future, you may be entitled to tax relief.

Contact Samera now if you are unsure if your business qualifies, or if you need assistance in claiming your compensation.

Benefits of R&D Tax Relief – An Example

The example balance sheet below shows just how much in the way of savings you can make by claiming for R&D tax relief.

In this example, you can see that the owed corporation tax without an R&D tax credit would total £47,500.00. However, the same bill with an R&D tax credit claim woulds only total £22,800.00.

That is a tax saving of £24,700.00, or 52%

Sales	£1,000,000.00
Cost of Sales	(£500,000.00)
Gross Profit	£500,000.00
R&D Qualifying Expenditure	(£100,000)
Other Expenses	(£150,000.00)
Total Operating Costs	(£250,000.00)
Net Profit Before Tax	£250,000.00
Tax Due (see below)	(£22,800.00)
Total Tax	(£22,800.00)
Profit After Tax	227,200.00

Tax Computation
Net Profit Before Tax	£250,000.00
Less R&D Relief at 130%	(£130,000.00)
Adjusted Profit Before Tax	£120,000.00
Corporation Tax Due at 19%	22,800.00

Corporation Tax Without R&D Tax Credit	£47,500.00
Corporation Tax With an R&D Tax Credit Claim	£22,800.00

Tax Saving with R&D Tax Credit Claim	£24,700.00
% Saving	52%

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Tax Investigation Insurance Cover

Protect yourself with our Tax Enquiry and Investigation Service

It’s simply good risk management!

Just £149 for 12 months.

Every year, HMRC carries out enquiries into the tax affairs of an increasing number of individuals and businesses in the UK. Many people find an HMRC enquiry disruptive, intrusive, stressful and ultimately expensive.

By joining our Tax Enquiry and Investigation Service, you will benefit from the peace of mind that comes from knowing you are protected.

Click here to read our articles Samera.

Saving you money and stress

Our service will pay our professional fees that result from most types of HMRC enquiries or full investigation (full details are listed on the Service Summary).

We have taken out an insurance policy in our own name that is backed by Professional Fee Protection Limited (PfP®), one of the UK’s leading providers. Our policy enables us to provide you with expert advice and peace of mind knowing we will work on your case to resolve the situation up to our service limits.

Just £149 for 12 months.

I wish other companies could replicate this level of customer service.
Five stars

Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide

Protecting you and your business

By signing up to our Service, we are able to make a claim against our insurance policy held with Professional Fee Protection, in respect of our fees incurred (up to £100,000 per claim unless otherwise indicated) when we defend you if you are subject to any of the following events:

A Full Enquiry
An Aspect Enquiry
A Business Inspection Notice
VAT/PAYE/CIS Compliance Visit*
VAT Dispute
PAYE/NIC/CIS Dispute
Employment Status Dispute
IHT Cover**
Gift Aid Inspection*
Partners/Directors Cover
Application for a Judicial Review**
Code of Practice 8 Investigation**
IR35 Status Check*
IR35 Dispute
Interventions (Informal Enquiries)*

Just £149 for 12 months.

*The limit of indemnity for this is £2,000
** The limit of indemnity for this is £5,000

Tax Investigation Insurance Cover for Dentists

For more information on how to protect yourself from HMRC with our Tax please download our Information Pack and FAQs.

If you have any questions about this service, or if you have any general tax queries, please contact us today.

Tax Investigation Insurance Information Pack

Tax Investigation insurance FAQs

Just £149 for 12 months.

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

As dental practice owners ourselves, we know what makes a clinic tick. We have been working with dentists for over 20 years to help manage their accounts and tax.

To find out more about how you can save time, money and effort on your accounts and tax when you automate your finances with Samera, book a free consultation with one of our accounting team today.

Book a consult

Dental Accounts & tax

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

For more articles, webinars and blogs on dental accounts check out the dental accountancy section of our Learning Centre and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

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Further Information on Accounts & Tax

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Corporate restructuring

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

We can help

How do we work?

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Why Choose Samera for your Dental Group Accounts?

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

What do the changes in IR35 mean for associate dentists and practice owners?

What is IR35?

Am I self-employed or an employee?

Determining your IR35 employment status

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

Benefits of Samera Payroll

Your payroll is secure

You have the control

Easily check payroll entry

Evolving ways of working

Self-service

What you can do:

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

Making Tax Digital for Dentists

Making Tax Digital for Dental Associates

Making Tax Digital for Dental Practices

Making Tax Digital With Samera

Dental Accounts & Tax Specialists

Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

Are you setting the right prices?

Our Fee Review Process

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Dental Accounts & Tax: Further Information

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