Traditionally, the accounting methods of individual veterinary practices are as diverse as the owners themselves. Times are changing … and for the better. Through a partnership, led by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), Veterinary Management Groups (VMG), VetPartners, and the Veterinary Hospital Manager’s Association (VHMA), individual veterinarians now have access to a free, powerful finance tool. Working with VMG, AAHA’s previously ‘member’s only’ Chart of Accounts, was revised and expanded. The AAHA/VMG Chart of Accounts is now available and free to all veterinarians.
“We are thrilled to provide the AAHA/VMG Chart of Accounts for free as a benefit to the veterinary profession,” said AAHA Chief Executive Officer, Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, DABVP (C/F) Emeritus. “By using an apple-to-apples comparison of productivity, costs, and profitability, veterinarians can better assess the financial health of individual hospitals and the industry as a whole.”
The human dental and medical professions have long recognized that a lack of standardization in their practitioners’ charts of accounts, diagnostic codes and procedures served as an impediment to success, individual and professional.
“Standardization of the veterinary chart of accounts is crucial in gathering data essential to strengthening practice profitability, individual financial wellbeing and enhancing the veterinary workforce as a whole,” said Link Welborn, DVM, DABVP, CCRT, the former chair of the AVMA’s Veterinary Economic Strategy Committee (VESC), past president of AAHA and president of VMG .
The AVMA tasked its VESC with bringing the profession together to facilitate collaboration necessary to improve business knowledge, acumen and financial success. As a result, the AVMA- VESC initiated the profession-wide Economic Advisory Research Council (EARC). Through the development of partnerships and collaboration, the EARC is working toward organizing and efficiently using the veterinary profession’s scarce resources. As their first task, the EARC initiated a standardized chart of accounts, which would be free to all veterinarians.
“As a trusted partner, the AVMA is committed to working in partnership with colleagues to develop programs that will help every veterinarian meet their professional and personal goals, whether they are just graduating from veterinary school or looking toward retirement,” said AVMA President Dr. Tom Meyer.
As a high-value financial-management resource, AAHA/VMG Chart of Accounts is the cornerstone of the broader economic initiative. It is the first of many new resources to come from this collaboration.
The AVMA, VetPartners, and the VHMA have endorsed AAHA/VMG Chart of Accounts as the industry standard for classifying revenue, expense, and balance sheet accounts in the small-animal veterinary practice. They will allow practitioners to better organize their practice’s finances in line with generally accepted accounting principles. Additionally, AAHA recommends all accounting firms working with veterinary practices adopt the standardized codes.
For more information, contact Sharon Granskog, AVMA, at (847) 285-6619 or sgranskog@avma.org. Or contact Kate Wessels, AAHA, at (720) 616-1783 or kate.wessels@aaha.org.
