Bookkeeping for veterinary clinics

What the books involve

• Counter takings: card and cash payments for consults, procedures and medicines reconciled against the clinic's end-of-day totals, including surgery deposits later set against the final invoice.
• Direct insurer payments: where a pet insurer pays the clinic for a client's treatment, the payment matched to the invoice it covers and the client's share recorded alongside it.
• Farm and breeder accounts: clients invoiced on account tracked through to payment, with a list each month of balances still outstanding.
• Wholesaler and lab bills: veterinary drug wholesaler invoices and external pathology lab bills entered and checked against each supplier's monthly statement.
• Medicines, pet food and accessories sold over the counter recorded apart from consultation and surgery fees, which shows how much of the clinic's income comes from product sales.