The VET CPA Association met recently in Chicago to hold our annual summit. Each year, our group meets for a couple days to hash out emerging trends, collaborative initiatives, and identify issues that we need to address to better serve veterinarians, animal hospitals and the broader pet care industry.
Clearly, the pet care industry continues to grow faster than nearly all segments of our economy. This sentiment was echoed in the discussions along with the impact that tax code changes had upon more successful businesses. The growth is undeniable.
- pet care ownership over the last 30 years has gone from 56% to 68%
- millennial and gen Z are embracing pet ownership to a higher degree than baby boomers
- pet food owners are requesting better ingredients (Blue Buffalo growing double digits, premium food growth)
- online private label brands are being created (Amazon and Chewy.com)
- direct-to-consumer trend growth for pet owners
- expensive medical procedures are more common as pets become part of the family
Given the success that many animal hospitals and veterinary clinics are having, particularly in large metro areas, our VET CPA Association doubled down on the path needed to become the best in class providers for tax reduction, and educational needs well beyond the current CPA requirements so a higher level of tax reduction coaching can be provided. To accomplish this, a series of technologies were identified to reduce the amount of time that bookkeeping tasks were consuming so time could be reallocated towards tax and profit coaching, which is what most successful businesses want.
On Thursday evening, we will let off some steam with a boat tour along the Chicago River (better known as Chicago’s Architecture River Cruise) and get a chance to learn about the stories behind more than 50 buildings and how Chicago grew from a small settlement into one of the world’s largest city.
The VET CPA Association is comprised of fourteen independently owned CPA Firms covering veterinary practices, animal hospitals and pet lovers across the country. The VET CPA Association members collaboratively work together to share best practices in an effort to elevate the quality of care to the industry.