Dental practices

Although we are based in the London area, MG Group acts for a large number of dentists from other parts of the UK, and even for some overseas dentists with operations in the UK.

Recent developments in technology mean that we can hold video conferences with clients, as well as the traditional routes of e mails, telephone calls and meetings. This means that location is no longer a barrier to working with dental professionals throughout the UK.

Dentists, and in particular practice owners, will hopefully build up significant wealth during the successful running of their practice(s). We are committed to helping clients maximise this wealth including ensuring that they make their money work hard for them. We are therefore introducers to a number of permitted third parties (PTP) who we can refer you to depending upon your requirements.

We provide year end accounts and tax returns for a number of practices. We are happy to work with your existing bookkeeper, so that we complete the year end accounts and tax returns whilst they can manage the daily transactions and bank reconciliations.

We will complete any year end journals and complete the partnership accounts. We would also complete the partnership tax return. This is a good opportunity to identify areas in which improvements can be made in the efficiency of the practice, and we can even assist with drawing up budgets and forecasts for the next financial year.

We provide year end accounts and tax returns for a number of practices. We are happy to work with your existing bookkeeper, so that we complete the year end accounts and tax returns whilst they can manage the daily transactions and bank reconciliations.

We will complete any year end journals and complete the partnership accounts. We would also complete the partnership tax return. This is a good opportunity to identify areas in which improvements can be made in the efficiency of the practice, and we can even assist with drawing up budgets and forecasts for the next financial year.

We can provide bookkeeping software training to dental practices. The majority of our dental clients will use Sage software to keep the internal practice accounts. We can also assist with reviewing the bookkeeping, and preparing management accounts based on the underlying accounting records.

A number of practices are beginning to look into online accounting solutions and we are delighted to provide advice in this area.

Please contact your usual MG Group contact for further information and guidance.

Tax returns will be completed and submitted to HMRC based on the underlying accounts information. Care needs to be taken when completing the tax return as to the legal personality of the Practice. Many practices are in fact set up as "expense sharing arrangements" and therefore the dentists are not associated with each other and a Partnership tax return should not be completed.

In more recent times we have seen some of the traditional partnereships (which were operating as true partnerships) become LLP's but care needs to be taken to ensure that this is allowed and will not compromise on any NHS superannuation requirements.

As well as the Practice tax return, each dentist will need to submit their own personal tax return to HMRC.

We ensure that tax returns for the practice are completed in the most tax efficient manner possible, whilst ensuring that the risk of an HMRC enquiry is minimised. We will make the necessary claims and elections on your behalf.

We appreciate that practices incur significant capital outlays in order to purchase the latest equipment for their practice. We appreciate that it is difficult to determine the best way to finance these expensive purchases - whether it is by raising finance or through use of accumulated profits from the practice. We can even assist with drawing up forecasts and budgets so that practices ensure that enough cash is retained in the practice to purchase equipment and for refurbishments in the practice in the future.

We can assist with the preparation of business plans and/or cash flow analyses in order to assist with raising finance - whether this be from private equity finance, or from banks or other lenders. We can advise on the suitability of finance and the best way to secure the finance on the most favourable terms for your practice.

Acquisition of an existing practice (or purchase of a patient list from a retiring dentist within the existing practice) may provide an opportunity to increase the size of the practice, and therefore increase business revenue and profits of the practice. The acquirer will need to determine the best way in which to finance the acquisition and we have plenty of experience and knowledge in this area.

Dentists work hard for their money and therefore rightfully want to maximise the amount they earn from their income.

We work with specialist advisers and wealth management firms who assist with maximising the wealth of dentists.

In addition, we have expertise in setting up trusts and providing advisory services in relation to trusts and estate management.

Trusts have been used for centuries as a highly tax efficient legal way to retain wealth.

Trusts also have the benefit of separating out ownership from management, and this is especially useful when passing on wealth to younger generations. We have advised scores of dentists on the efficient use of trusts including the setting up of the trust and on-going management and compliance.

It is much more efficient for dentists and practice managers to concentrate on working on the Practice and to allow us to concentrate on completion of payroll services for the practice. Our payroll fees are typically around £50 to £60 per month for the typical practice and we provide payroll services to more than 20 dental practices throughout the UK. We would be delighted to provide you with an estimate of payroll costs and to discuss our payroll services with you.

Our payroll service includes the following features:

• Preparation of sealed payslips for distribution to staff
• Easy identification of deductions made
• Inclusion of child care vouchers and cycle to work schemes
• Electronic payslips via e mail to Practice Manager or Principal dentist
• Electronic payslips which your associates and staff can log into our secure online system to retrieve.
• Monthly calculations of PAYE/NI that need to be paid over to HMRC

If you have any other requirements or questions regarding our payroll services, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We have represented several dentists including their practices and associate dentists in successfully defending challenges from HMRC. The range of enquiries that we have dealt with ranges from aspect enquiries on certain parts of a tax return to full scale HMRC enquiries which go into great detail into the tax affairs of a dentist or practice.

We also provide our tax investigation services to other accounting practices who do not have experience of dealing with HMRC investigations.

It will often be the case that HMRC inspectors are not specialists in the dental sector and so we are often able to explain and educate the tax inspector as to why a particular type of tax treatment is appropriate.

We provide a comprehensive tax investigation service - where for an annual premium you and your business will be covered for the cost of professional fees in defending an HMRC claim. This service ensures that you will not incur additional fees in defending an HMRC claim against your business.

Please contact us for details of the tax investigation service that we provide.

After a few years of developing as an associate a number of dentists will wish to set up their own practice or to buy into the practice in which they are performing. The associate may become an equity partner in the practice or may become a partner as part of an expense sharing arrangement.

There are many areas for a new Practice owner to consider and we can completely assist you through the process and ensure that you are comfortable at each stage of the process.

Some of the areas for consideration will include the following:

• Advising on the type of practice that should be considered for purchase.
• Evaluating a Practice and assisting with due diligence on a possible purchase so that an informed decision can be made.
• Explaining the key areas to consider during the due diligence process.
• Advising on the terms of the sale/purchase contract and key clauses to include in any agreement.
• Introduction to banks who can assist with finance for the practice acquisition.
• Advising on how to negotiate for the best price – whether purchasing a patient list, practice or chain of practices.
• Advising on Human Resource considerations including redundancy considerations.
• Assistance with drafting up employment contracts and contracts for services.
• Tax advisory services in order to run a profitable highly efficient practice.
• Advising on the implementation of the bookkeeping and finance system and general IT requirements.

Valuations of a business, including a dental practice, are very much an art rather than a science. We know the key areas to consider when performing a practice valuation and can substantiate and defend a valuation with underlying financial evidence and financial models.

A practice valuation may also be put into question by HMRC in the event of a corporate practice in which share options are available to key associates/staff members of the practice. We have experience in negotiating these valuations with HMRC.

If you require information and details on our Dental Practice Valuations, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Many of our dental clients are concerned with how the new Dental Contract Pilots will impact on them. The good news is that when the new dental contracts are implemented that there should be a period of contract value protection to be in place to ease the transition. MG Group has been providing guidance for both associates and practice owners alike regarding how these changes will impact on you. There is much work to be done with IT systems to ensure that existing systems can cope with the changes in payment mechanisms.

We can assist both associates and principles with dealing with these changes. Please contact us for further assistance and guidance.