New accountant, new vision

Becoming a client of Ross Brooke Dental has been transformative for orthodontist Helen Turner, the Principal of Bedford Specialist Orthodontic Practice (BSOP).  She and her husband Mark became clients of Linda and Nathan after their accountant retired, and Ross Brooke Dental was recommended to them by an orthodontist friend.

“From the outset, they gave us so much time and knowledge. It was obvious that they understood the profession very well, not just dentistry, but orthodontics.”

The first important change was their advice on tax liabilities. “Linda and Nathan’s expertise and recommendations helped me to manage my NHS pension and other financial matters in the most tax-efficient way.”

Helen said: “My previous accountant’s advice regarding my NHS pension contributions and annual allowances resulted in substantial tax liabilities. Linda and Nathan made sure we paid the correct amount of tax and also recommended an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA), so we are now planning for retirement.”

Linda and Nathan supported a restructuring of their company. “My husband is an Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon and our limited company trading as BSOP also included  Mark’s private practice income and finances related to investment properties.”

“Linda and Nathan worked alongside other expert professionals in this field to restructure the businesses into well-designed, less complicated ones.  This involved a lot of financial jargon, explained very clearly such that Mark and I were equipped to follow the proceedings closely.”

Another useful innovation, said Helen, is the annual meeting at which benchmarking is carried out. “When you are an independent practice, you have nothing else to benchmark yourself against. Because they have many orthodontic practice owners as clients, they can compare our statistics with other similar anonymised practices.  This gives me great insight into BSOP’s performance, staff costs and material expenses and where we may be outliers so that we can consider introducing efficiencies. This helps with our BSOP vision moving forward.”

Helen continued: “I quickly realised they are not just annual accountants but are invested in the success of BSOP too. At any time, Mark and I can contact either of them for their help or input.

“They are hands-on – there is nothing too big or small that we can’t chat about, whether it’s buying a car or practising sustainability. And when I need highly specialised advice, they know trusted individuals to put us in contact with. We feel very lucky to have them on board. It feels like they are part of our BSOP team.”

“It feels like they are part of our BSOP team.”

The three major changes implemented by Linda and Nathan: