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Hugh Duffy

Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or Act), which includes cash payments to taxpayers, expanded unemployment insurance, increased funding for healthcare providers, small business loans, and tax relief to businesses. The Act is the third bill from Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business tax provisions include an employee retention credit, deferral of payroll tax payments, temporary reinstatement of the net operating loss (NOL) carryback, increased limits for business interest deductions, and a technical correction to the qualified improvement property provision contained in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

For most of us, the legislation is complicated and decisions have serious consequences.  Now is the time to work with a CPA that understands the needs and nuances of animal hospitals and veterinary medicine practices.  Each of our Veterinary Medicine CPA members has been following this legislation and offers customized veterinary care guidance. While they are busy near the end of tax season, each of our members will consider accepting more veterinarians.

If you want professional guidance from a Veterinary CPA Firm, complete our short form and you will be put in touch with a CPA to help.  Banks are not accepting applications for this relief program yet so contact us now.

Veterinary Ventilators – Shipped to Hospitals – Combat COVID-19

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The nation’s hospitals, facing dire shortages of lifesaving ventilators as the coronavirus outbreak continues, are finding help from an unlikely source: animal doctors and veterinarians.

The country’s largest veterinary schools, animal hospitals and even zoos are offering up ventilators to hospitals that are scrambling to care for a growing number of critically ill coronavirus patients. Similar efforts elsewhere could produce hundreds of machines and save countless lives.

Ventilators used on animals are identical to machines at hospitals, according to several animal doctors and hospital officials. Dogs and cats with pneumonia and other respiratory issues, not unlike their human counter parts, benefit immensely from the breathing machines, which quickly can be repurposed.

 

Source: This article was provided by ABC News.  See pictures of how ventilators are used on dogs, orangutans, tortoise, and jaguars.

 

Coronavirus Loan Assistance – Veterinary Practices – Pet Hospitals

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The VET CPA Association, and it’s Veterinary CPA member firms, have launched a Small Business Loan Assistance service to support the following types of veterinary practices:

  • Veterinary Clinics
  • Pet Hospitals – Animal Hospitals
  • Mixed Animal Veterinary Practices
  • Specialty Veterinary Practices

This emergency loan assistance program is designed to provide veterinary practices with sound financial guidance in this emergency situation navigating federal, state and city specific programs, grants as well as veterinary industry specific options.

To learn more, visit the “request a veterinary cpa” page and complete the form.  We will then put your in touch with a CPA in your area.

$2T Relief Program – COVID-19 – Coronavirus

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A major deal was struck by the White house and Senate leaders on March 25 for a $2 trillion package that will provide relief to the economy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. It is the biggest relief package in American history.

Senator Mitch McConnell called it as “a wartime level of investment into our nation” as the United States continues to see a rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

The package will provide much needed financial support to businesses forced to shut down and relief to American families and hospitals turned upside-down from the fast spreading disease and ensuing economic crisis.

Here are some of the key factors that were being negotiated in the stimulus package:

  • $250 billion set aside for direct payments to individuals and families
  • $350 billion in small business loans
  • $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits
  • $500 billion in loans for distressed companies
  • Individuals who earn $75,000 in adjusted gross income or less would get direct payments of $1,200 each
  • Married couples earning up to $150,000 receiving $2,400 — and an additional $500 per each child
  • Payment would scale down by income, phasing out entirely at $99,000 for singles and $198,000 for couples without children

Some other areas discussed by negotiators were providing four months of unemployment benefits, offered to self-employed workers as well. In addition, the bill would ensure the Small Business Administration could serve as a guarantor for loans of up to $10 billion for small businesses to make sure they can maintain their payrolls and pay off their debts.

The bill would provide $130 billion in funding to hospitals especially hard hit and $150 billion for state and local governments struggling due to response to battle coronavirus.

COVID-19 Banking Terms Changing for Veterinarians – Pet Hospitals

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The terms for banking are rapidly changing and will continue to evolve.  Below are the new terms that have been established by lendor.  For more up to date information, contact us and we will put a VET CPA in touch with you pronto.

Due to the recent development of COVID-19, the terms for loans is rapidly changing:

Bank Terms
Affinity Bank 1 day turn around on Lines of Credit (if existing customer) and 3 months deferred payments.
Bank of America Interest only 90 days, must request
Bank of America 60 day deferral of payments + line of credit
Chase 60 day deferral of payments or interest only for 60 days + line of credit
Citicorp Currently working on a deferral program on a case by case basis
First Citizens No payments for 60 days (must request), business unsecured loans for up to 24 months with a low fixed interest rate
Lendeavor 60 days deferred payments
M&T 90 day payment deferral,interest accrues during the 3 months
PNC Interest only 90 days & possible 90 day total deferment
PNC 60 day deferment
Prosperity Bank 60 day deferral of payments + line of credit
South State Interest only 120 days
Wells Fargo 3 month deferment
Zion Bank Review each request, It could be a line of credit, interest only period, or a deferment of P&I for a period of time
SBA Express Loan Payment , limited to 10% of Fee Income , priced at prime 3.25% plus 1% to 3%

 

Starting Your Own Veterinary Practice

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If you have kicked around the idea of starting your own veterinary medicine practice and think you are ready, then this article is for you.

To avoid many of the pitfalls and risk associated with starting a new business, here are some things that you should be asking yourself and considering.

  • Self-Assessment
  • Choosing an Entry Strategy
  • Develop Business Plan
  • Start-Up Costs
  • Equipment, Supplies and Inventory
  • Staffing
  • Veterinary Marketing and Lead Generation

 

Self-Assessment

Before you hand in your resignation, here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Do I have enough experience to do it myself?
  • Do I have the drive and motivation to succeed on my own?
  • Do I have support from my spouse and family?
  • Do I have the capital to get started and operate for at least one year?
  • Do I know how to market veterinary medicine services?

Owning a business can be very rewarding.  The process requires planning, hard work, perseverance, and investment.  If you can weather the start-up and early development phase, the transition can be wonderful.

Entry Strategy

Most veterinary practices start using the following entry strategies:

  • Starting from scratch – Starting from ground zero allows you to begin without any legacy issues like old pricing, old software, and past-client service issues.
  • Buying a practice – This entry approach sounds easier than the other options but has challenges as well.  In many markets, the demand for existing practices is red hot as corporate vet practices are using a roll up strategy to capture market share.  As a result, the value of existing vet practices is high.

Develop a Business Plan

Like any business initiative, you need to develop a written business plan.  A comprehensive business plan should include:

  • Goals for your practice
  • Target audience that you are serving
  • Location is key
  • Services that you will offer and which to refer out
  • How you will better service your target audience
  • Your experience and skills
  • Business structure (LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc.)
  • Capital requirements and sources
  • How to market your new veterinary medicine services
  • Pricing strategy
  • Office, equipment, practice software and staffing requirements
  • Projected costs and revenues – start-up, monthly costs, and budgets

Financial Considerations

Before making this leap, it is important to honestly assess if you are prepared to make this transition financially and emotionally.  New businesses require sweat equity so this move has to be at the right time in your life.  Nearly all practices are cash flow negative during the start-up and development phase so you need to have cash on-hand to cover household expenses and retain insurance coverage.

Veterinary Practice Marketing and Lead Generation

This is the area that most practitioners need the most assistance because up until this point, they have not been trained on marketing, pricing and practice management.  In college and working as an apprentice for a veterinary practice, the emphasis is on performing the work, not marketing and lead generation.

In today’s world, hanging out your own shingle is not enough to build a business and the number of referrals will be inadequate to achieve your revenue goals.

Start-up Costs

The cost of starting a veterinary practice depends on your revenue goals, entry strategy, and geographic area.  Also, an office in a large city near an office park complex will cost more than an office in a bedroom community that is lightly populated.

There are commercial real estate firms that understand the veterinary practice needs and costs very well.  And it costs you nothing to get their insights and expertise.

There are also veterinary medicine lenders that understand this industry extremely well and can provide additional guidance.  Or said another way, you do not want to work with a local retail bank.  Your goal will be to secure lending with veterinary practice lenders who understand the industry backwards and forwards.

One of the key players on your team will need to be a veterinary medicine cpa firm, not a generalist cpa firm.  A veterinary practice CPA will save time and lower your risk on practice acquisition due diligence, business structure and entity selection, and accounting/tax.  Typically, they can recommend veterinary practice real estate firms, law firms, lenders, and other specialists that you will need in your new practice journey.  Working with specialists that understand the veterinary space will lower your risk and save time.

 

Veterinary CPA Association – The VET CPA Association is a network of independently owned CPA Firms who have started their own practice at one time.  All are single owner firms, not large partnerships.  Some started from scratch, some purchased an existing practice, and others have used a combination approach.  Regardless, all members of this association can better direct you to specialists who understand the veterinary industry very well and improve your odds of success.  Their goal is to help you over the next 20-30 years, not just get started.  If you would like to have a veterinary medicine cpa contact you, click here.  The initial discussion is free.