Optometrists and Opthamologists

Optometrists and Opthamologists

The gift of clear vision is something no one who has ever lived without it can take for granted. Helping people to see the world around them is its own reward – being able to make a living doing so is worth celebrating. But don’t let your eyes glaze over at the thought of having to do the books for your optometry practice. Our accounting and financial services will help you to maintain clear-sighted focus on helping your patients to meet their vision needs.

Optometry practices generally have two main streams of revenue – eye examinations and surgical procedures, and the sale of eyewear. Although you do not collect HST on either of these services, they are not considered the same under HST rules. Eye exams are exempt – and you cannot claim HST input tax credits (ITCs) on any costs involved with performing these services. However, the sale of eyewear is zero-rated, and so HST ITCs can be claimed on costs involved with the purchase and manufacture of supplies and inventory associated with their sale. However, non-prescription eyewear, such as sunglasses, are HST taxable. This is a complicated situation, and as accountants we can help you to categorize your sales into the relevant HST categories, claim the relevant HST ITCs where applicable, prepare your quarterly or annual HST filings, and make sure that any payments are sent or refunds are issued.

Have you acquired a new practice? Are you just getting started? Should you incorporate? There are tax advantages to incorporation, especially as your business grows and becomes more profitable. But knowing when to incorporate, and what benefits will become available to you from a tax perspective if you do, is critical. We can help you figure out when is the right time to make that choice.

And then there are staff and subcontractors. Should the people you hire to perform specific, highly specialized tasks for you be put on your payroll or not? If you are incorporated, should you draw a salary of your own or should you draw dividends instead? Whether your firm should have a payroll, and who should be on that payroll, are important questions which can only be answered with a firm knowledge of tax law and your specific circumstances, through the up-to-date expertise and personalized relationship we provide to all of our clients.

We also provide bookkeeping services to our clients, to help them keep track of sales, as well as purchases and other expenses. We can recommend the right suite of software applications which would provide the most benefit to you based on our experience with others in your field.

In summary, here are just some of the services that we can provide for you:

• Assurance services (audit, review, and compilation)
• Tax services (T2s, T1s, T4s, T5s, payroll remittances, HST filing and instalments)
• Valuation (fair market value of fixed assets, investments, trust balances, etc.)
• Other consulting services