The Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accounts (AISMA) has suggested that practices will be taxed on any surplus PCN funding at the year end. Lizzy Lloyd said: “Unspent funds will be taxed, but when rolled over and spent in the following year then tax relief will be applied and the tax position should even itself…

Using the accounts to benchmark financial performance Information from the practice accounts can be used for financial benchmarking, which helps practices see how profitable they are compared with their neighbouring practices, or more widely across their local area and nationally. Benchmarking can also help the GP partners assess their investments in the practice and their…

How pensions are shown in the practice accounts Pension costs for the NHS pension scheme are split three ways: Employee standard contributions – these are a based on different rates for different tiers of earnings Employer contributions – fixed currently at 14.38% with a further central top-up by the NHS in England, Wales and Northern…

The income and expenditure account – sometimes known as the profit and loss account – summarises the income received and expenses incurred over the year. Accounts should at minimum show the current year and the previous year for comparison. The figure at the end of the income and expenditure account shows the profit available for…

Partner current accounts made simple An easy way to understand the partner current accounts work is to imagine them as the partners’ mini bank accounts within the practice. As a business, the practice needs working capital to cover the cash-flow for day-to-day expenses such as staff wages. This working capital is invested by the GP…

What information is included in the accounts? The GP accounts are presented in the financial statements document prepared by your practice accountant. To help you make sense of the document, here is a run-down of what a typical set of accounts will include, based on the recommended template of the Association of Independent Specialist Medical…

You are in a meeting with your GP partners and the practice accountant to review last year’s accounts. Do you: feel an impending sense of doom glaze over, or fully understand the figures and what they mean for your practice? If the answer is A) or B), this 10-part tutorial is for you! Making sense…