Dental Accountants
Dental Accountants
Alan Suggett is a Chartered Accountant and partner in UNW LLP chartered accountants where he is head of the Dental Business Unit which looks after more than 200 dentist clients. Alan writes regularly for the dental press, and presents at BDA seminars. He is a member of the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants & Lawyers (NASDAL) and a member of the technical committee, and chair of the NHS Superannuation committee.
He is also a member of the Association of Specialist Providers to Dentistry (ASPD). Alan is the editor of the quarterly NASDAL goodwill survey which analyses all member client practice sales, purchases, and valuations.
The value of a specialist dental accountant
It has never been more important to have an accountant with experience, and specialist dental knowledge, on your side to navigate the complexities of dental business. Many other accountants, whether Chartered or not, simply don’t have the specialist knowledge to deal with issues in which arise in the dental sector.
Alan Suggett is a Chartered Accountant and partner in UNW LLP chartered accountants where he is head of the Dental Business Unit which looks after more than 200 dentist clients. Alan writes regularly for the dental press, and presents at BDA seminars. He is a member of the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants & Lawyers (NASDAL) and a member of the technical committee, and chair of the NHS Superannuation committee.
He is also a member of the Association of Specialist Providers to Dentistry (ASPD). Alan is the editor of the quarterly NASDAL goodwill survey which analyses all member client practice sales, purchases, and valuations.
Pitfalls of not having a specialist dental accountant
- A dentist buying a mixed practice was advised to incorporate the private practice, and keep the NHS contract in his own name. Potentially good advice, but because the structure wasn’t set up properly a VAT problem arose, and also the dentists were excluded from the NHS Pension Scheme
- A non-specialist accountant advised an NHS associate to incorporate without warning them of the effect on their NHS pension
- A practice had clawback to pay but the accountant didn’t adjust the taxable profit to reflect the lower earnings - so the dentist had to pay an inflated tax bill as well as the clawback in the same year
- A dentist wanted to form a partnership with her other half and the non-specialist accountant failed to warn her that to be legal, both partners must be GDC registrants
