Similar to veterinarians, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are licensed and regulated by the state. They also have disciplinary review boards and continuing education requirements.
Typically, CPA Firms operate as generalists and work with everything from individuals to small businesses to non-profits to corporations. And while being a generalist makes them well rounded, it can also be limiting if you want additional expertise like veterinarian benchmarking or fraud protection procedures.
Within the typical CPA practice, the Generalist CPA Firm will service lots of small businesses that use QuickBooks because it is the predominant accounting software program for small businesses in the United States. However, they seldom have a concentration of businesses within any one industry so the industry specific insight is limited. For example, a Generalist CPA firm will typically have a couple medical clients and maybe one veterinarian practice. As a result, providing veterinarian practice coaching is not something they can reasonably provide because veterinarians comprise a very low percentage (less than 2%) of their overall mix.
Conversely, a CPA Firm that concentrates on the animal health industry can not only review QuickBooks, provide tax reduction planning, and provide best practices benchmarking for a veterinarian practice your same size, but should also provide insight into the best providers for:
- Veterinarian Law Firms
- Veterinarian Banking
- Veterinarian Real Estate
- Veterinarian Practice Brokerage
- Veterinarian Fraud Control
If you are searching for a higher level of expertise at key points in your career, it really pays attractive dividends to align yourself with a CPA Firm that is focused on the animal health industry. Below are some of the most important inflection points for hiring a Veterinarian CPA:
- Incubator Stage – While attending vet medical school, it really pays to create the right professional relationships to overcome obstacles to veterinarian practice ownership.
- Growth Stage (first five years of ownership) – Decisions ranging from office location to practice type to office staff can have profound impact on production, cash flow, client acquisition, and debt reduction.
- Adolescent Stage – Decisions focused on technology upgrades, remodeling, office design, improved work flows, and improving clientele quality.
- Maintenance Stage – Most of this phase focuses on saving for retirement.
- Exit Stage – Most of this phase is focused on maximizing the value of the practice for sale.
The Veterinarian CPA Association is a proactive group of Veterinarian CPA Firms that attend veterinarian trade shows, participate in VetPartners, dedicate time to veterinarian industry education, provide vet practice benchmarking, actively put 
you into the best possible tax position, and can recommend the best veterinarian providers throughout the key stages in your career. If you would prefer to avoid some bumps in the road and would like a higher level of expertise, then hire a CPA Firm that concentrates on the animal health industry and has gotten better with time by coaching veterinarians successfully through the vital stages of life.