Managing your finances as a healthcare professional comes with unique challenges. With Accountable, you can simplify the process and stay on top of your accounting with ease. This practical guide is designed to help you get the most out of the app by answering the most common questions we receive from healthcare professionals.
These are the topics that will be covered :
✅ FAQ
By following this guide, you’ll save time, avoid common mistakes, and ensure that your accounting is accurate, all while focusing on what matters most—your patients.
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Healthcare specific accounting basics
How to encode your revenue?
As a healthcare professional, you have specific ways to encode your revenue in Accountable. Here's the most common way of managing your income:
Grouping Your Revenue: Keep track of all your daily sales in a cash registry or on paper in a sales journal. Group your transactions together per day, week, or month for a clear view.
Encoding in Accountable:
Go to the green 'Revenue' screen in the app.
Click on "Add another revenue".
You don't need to provide client names, which helps maintain confidentiality.
For Client Payments: Add these as 'other income' in the app. You can group multiple payments together (daily, weekly, or monthly).
📚 You can find more details in the following article:
How to encode revenue if i am a Physical therapist / Health care professional.
In some cases, you might receive a monthly salary from a cabinet. To enter this type of self-employed income in the app, you need to take into account the amount you receive (for example, if the amount is corresponding to 45%) and create an invoice (Income > Create invoice) with the cabinet as your customer. In this invoice, you will indicate the % that you received. In the event of a tax audit, you'll be able to justify your income with your sales (service) invoices to the medical practice.
🔎 INAMI/RIZIV benefit
The accreditation bonus is a benefit paid by INAMI/RIZIV (National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance) to certain healthcare professionals, who meet specific continuing education requirements and quality standards in their practice. The amount and conditions for receiving this premium may vary depending on your specific healthcare profession and the current regulations.
This benefit is considered a taxable subsidy, as it's a professional income related to your medical practice. As a complementary self-employed person who is not subject to VAT, you should still declare this income in your tax return.
To encode this benefit in Accountable, you should follow these steps:
Go to the "Revenues" section in the Accountable app or website.
Click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner.
Select "Add another revenue".
Choose Subsidies > Taxable subsidies.
Enter the amount received.
You will later receive a 281.50 tax form with the amount received.
Do I need to keep physical copies of my patient records for tax purposes?
While the Accountable app helps with digital record-keeping, healthcare professionals should maintain separate, secure storage for patient records in compliance with medical privacy laws. These records are not typically required for tax purposes unless specifically requested during an audit.
What does it mean to be Exempt of VAT?
As a healthcare professional, your services are exempt from VAT. You don't need to charge VAT or file a VAT return. In the app, make sure you have the right VAT regime, go to your settings > Taxes > change your status if necessary to Exempt of VAT.
For your purchase invoices, the supplier applies the VAT rate. Being exempt from VAT means you don't charge VAT on your medical services, but it doesn't exempt you from paying VAT on your purchases.
⚠️ Remember the following :
You cannot reclaim the VAT you pay on your purchases, as you are not registered for VAT.
These VAT costs become part of your business expenses.
When calculating your professional expenses for income tax purposes, you should include the full amount of your purchases, including the VAT you've paid.
📚 This FPF article will provide you more information on this VAT type.
Transports
Patient visits are part of a lot of healthcare professionals’ routine. Here is how you can deduct the expenses linked to your transport mode :
🚗 Own car
Record your professional use and keep track of your business-related mileage. The deductibility depends on CO2 emissions of your car, the percentage of professional use and the date of purchase. You can deduct expenses such as fuel, insurance, maintenance and repairs, depreciation, road taxes, parking fees, etc.
In Accountable App, add your car details and record each expense and link it to your vehicle. Don’t forget the percentage of professional use. The app will calculate the deductible amount based on the formula: 120% - (0.5% x coefficient x CO2/km).
📚 Here are more details on the procedure. Remember, as a complementary self-employed person, you can only deduct expenses proportional to your professional use of the vehicle.
🤝 Leasing
The process of encoding your car lease depends on your type of contract. It is crucial to choose the correct category.
📚 The following article will give you an extended explanation on this matter and give you the exact steps to follow:
Leasing, renting or buying a car: which is the best option?
🚕 Car rental
To easily encode your Poppy or Cambio subscription in the app, enter one average car for the service. Characteristics of vehicles can be easily found on their website (Poppy of Cambio). After this step, you can link all expenses to this vehicle.
🚲 Bicycle
In principle, the bicycle allowance is for employees and directors of a SRL/BV. You should deduct actual expenses. If you still wish to deduct the bicycle allowance as a self-employed person, contact the FPF to confirm that this is possible in your case. Then you can record the total amount as a deductible expense in the application, under the category Travel > Other travel costs. This amount will then be taken into account in the total expenses of your income statement and in your income tax declaration. Simply create a monthly/quarterly/annual expense with the amount of the mileage allowance, adding an Excel file as justification.
Training
Your profession often requires to stay constantly informed of the new practices. Therefore, remember that all costs related to these training expenses are deductible. Don't forget to include:
Associated transport costs
Canteen or restaurant expenses (if separate from the main training cost)
Equipment purchase costs related to the training
💡 If you want to maximize your deduction for a training that includes food, consider splitting the expense:
Encode the training part under "Training and documentation"
Encode the food part separately under "Canteen & reception"
📚 Read more about this type of expense on Deductibles.be.
List of deductibles and categories to use
Deductions for healthcare professionals
As a healthcare professional, having deductible expenses can be highly beneficial for your financial situation. The primary advantage of deductibles is that they lower your taxable income. This means:
You pay less in taxes overall
You potentially move to a lower tax bracket, further reducing your tax burden
By reducing your tax liability, you have more funds available to invest in new medical equipment, upgrade your office or clinic, pursue additional training or certifications.
Here is a list of some of the expenses specific to your field and categories that you should use to encode them:
Item | Category |
Professional clothing | Administration fees > Office supplies |
Small medical equipment | Goods for resale and materials > Machines & tools |
Professional Development | Training & documentation |
Technology | Technology & communication > Technology service or software |
E-invoicing software (Accountable) | Technology & communication > E-invoicing software (120% deductible) |
Office expenses | Workplace > Furniture & material |
Professional liability insurance | Taxes & insurance > Professional liability insurance |
Other insurances related to your profession | Taxes & insurance > Insurance (pro) |
Medications and treatments | Goods for resale and materials > Machines & tools |
Professional memberships | Marketing > Club membership |
What to do if I want to share costs with a collaborator?
In certain situations, you might need to share business costs with another self-employed healthcare professional. In this case, you can invoice your collaborator for their share of the costs, which they can then deduct.
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions:
💭 Which subscription should I choose?
The most suitable Accountable subscription plan for a healthcare professional who is exempt from VAT and doesn't need to submit VAT declarations is the SMALL plan.
💭 Do I need to submit a client listing?
Non-VAT liable businesses, exempt from VAT due to the nature of their activities, do not need to submit a customer listing. If they have another activity that is VAT-liable (commercial : Franchise VAT or Subject to VAT), then they must submit a customer listing for that part only.
💭 Can I use the Accountable app if I work part-time as a healthcare professional?
Yes, you can definitely use the Accountable app if you work part-time as a healthcare professional. Accountable is designed to support various types of self-employed individuals, including those in complementary activities.
💭 What if I use mixed VAT types?
If you are a mixed VAT taxpayer and you carry out some activities that are subject to VAT and others that are VAT exempt, you need to clearly distinguish between the two on your VAT return to have an accurate calculation of your right to VAT deduction. You can find more information on this particular case here.
💭 Do I need to mention VAT if I make an invoice for commercial purposes?
As a healthcare professional, you're generally exempt from VAT for your medical services. However, the situation becomes more complex when you have income from non-medical activities, such as selling products or services for commercial purposes (mixed taxpayer). On invoices for products that are subject to VAT, you would need to include your VAT number and charge the appropriate VAT rate.
💭 What if I have a SRL/BV?
Yes, you can use Accountable as an SRL/BV healthcare professional, but there are some important considerations to keep in mind. When you are running a legal entity, your fiscal obligations are different from the natural person obligations. You can read more on the benefits of Accountable for this specific legal structure here.
💭 What if my exact profession isn’t in the list?
You can enter your profession manually in the appropriate box.
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I hope this guide helps you a little further along the way, but if you are looking for specific accounting advice, you can also turn to an accountant for help or even better, just drop us a message.