Bookkeeping for optometrists

What the books involve

• Examination income: eye test and consultation fees, whether paid by the patient or claimed on their behalf, recorded apart from dispensing sales so each side of the practice can be read on its own.
• Spectacle orders: deposits taken when frames and lenses are ordered recorded against the order, with the balance matched when the patient collects and a monthly list of finished jobs still unpaid.
• Optical extras claims: health fund claims made through the counter terminal matched to each fund's settlement in the bank, with any rejected or short-paid claim passed back to the front desk.
• Lens laboratory and frame supplier accounts: invoices for each patient's lenses and for frame stock checked against monthly supplier statements, including credits for remakes and returned frames.
• Contact lenses: repeat supply orders and subscription payments matched to the lenses supplied, with advance payments and stock still on hand kept separate from completed sales and their cost.