An affordable bookkeeping service for naturopathic practices in Melbourne
Most naturopathic practices earn income from both consultations and product sales, and almost none of them are applying the correct GST treatment to both
Bookkeeping for naturopathic practices
Do any of these financial scenarios sound familiar as a naturopathic?
- Consultation income and supplement or herbal product sales are going into the same account with the same GST treatment even though they are legally different supplies.
- Your online supplement store is generating revenue that you are not confident is being correctly included in your BAS GST calculation.
- Stock you have purchased for resale is being entered as an expense rather than as inventory, which means the cost of goods sold figure in your profit and loss is unreliable.
- You have a practitioner colleague who uses your rooms one or two days a week and you are not sure whether their arrangement creates any super or PAYG obligation.
- Professional membership fees, clinical supplies, dispensary stock and practice running costs are all going into one or two accounts without the breakdown you would need to understand where the money is going.
- Your BAS is being lodged by someone who may not hold a current BAS agent registration and you have never checked.
If any of these sound like your practice, you are not alone and there is a straightforward fix.
A bookkeeper in Melbourne for naturopathic practices
A naturopathic practice runs a dual business model that creates a specific bookkeeping challenge that most general bookkeepers and many naturopaths themselves do not fully appreciate.
- Therapeutic naturopathic consultations provided by a qualified practitioner are generally GST-free under the health services exemption.
- The retail sale of supplements, herbal medicines, nutritional products, tinctures and other physical health products from the practice dispensary are taxable supplies that carry GST.
These two revenue streams often flow through the same point of sale terminal, the same bank account, and the same accounting software without being properly separated, which means the BAS is wrong by design from the first transaction.
The online retail dimension adds further complexity for practices that sell supplements and products through an ecommerce store.
Online product sales to customers anywhere in Australia are taxable supplies, and the settlements from platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce or other ecommerce tools arrive in the bank after platform fees have been deducted, meaning the gross revenue and the net deposit are two different figures.
The BAS GST calculation must be based on the gross revenue rather than the net deposit, and the platform fee is a separate taxable expense.
A practice recording only the net deposit as income is systematically understating its GST liability on every online order processed.
What a bookkeeper manages for a naturopathic practice
A naturopathic practice has financial processes that are different to other health related business types, so managing them correctly requires understanding and needs to cover these activities;
- Consultation and product revenue separation. Clinical naturopathic consultations are correctly coded as GST-free in the accounting software. Supplement and product sales through the dispensary are correctly coded as taxable supplies.
The BAS reflects the actual mixed-supply position of the practice from the first transaction, not an approximation based on the dominant revenue type.
- Online store reconciliation. Ecommerce settlements from Shopify, WooCommerce or other platforms are reconciled on gross revenue rather than net deposit. Platform fees are recorded as a separate expense.
GST is applied to the gross revenue amount for each settlement period so the BAS correctly reflects the online sales obligation.
- Dispensary inventory management. Supplement, herbal and nutritional product purchases are recorded as inventory rather than direct expenses, so that the cost of goods sold in the profit and loss reflects what was actually sold rather than what was purchased. Stock on hand values on the balance sheet reflect the actual dispensary inventory position.
- Room rental and contractor arrangements. Where another practitioner uses the practice rooms, the arrangement is assessed for any GST obligation on the room rental, any super obligation if the arrangement creates an employment relationship, and the correct income recognition treatment for the fee or percentage received.
- Professional expense coding. Professional membership fees, clinical supervision costs, continuing education, dispensary stock and practice running costs are coded to the correct accounts with the right GST treatment so the expense breakdown in the profit and loss is meaningful and the BAS input tax credits are fully captured.
- BAS preparation and lodgment. Prepared from fully reconciled records with the correct GST treatment applied across all revenue types including clinical, dispensary and online sales. Lodged by a registered BAS agent with the four-week extension on both lodgment and payment.
A certified and qualified bookkeeper
Working with Clients Needs Bookkeeping means the financial administration of your practice is handled end to end by a registered BAS Agent who understands the specific requirements of a dental business. In practical terms, this covers:
A registered BAS agent with software credentials for naturopathic practices
Matthew Powell is a registered BAS agent. Verify at tpb.gov.au. Safe harbour protection applies to every BAS lodged through a registered agent and the four-week extension applies automatically every quarter.
Software: MYOB Diamond Partner, MYOB Certified Consultant, Xero Silver Champion Partner, Xero Advisor Certified, Xero L2 Certified Professional, Xero Payroll Specialist. Also works with QuickBooks.
About Matthew Powell, registered BAS agent and bookkeeper
Matthew Powell is the director of Clients Needs Bookkeeping and a registered BAS Agent with more than 15 years of experience working with small and medium businesses across Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula.
He works across MYOB, Xero, and QuickBooks, and has particular depth of experience in health and medical practice bookkeeping, including dental, medical, and allied health clients.
Matthew is known for being accessible, clients regularly comment that he responds quickly, handles problems promptly, and communicates in plain language rather than accounting jargon.
He works with business owners from any industry sector or niche who provide services or sells products. He does your bookkeeping remotely and takes on new clients with the intent of building a long-term relationship rather than processing a transaction.
Bookkeeping Packages start from $150 per month. The first consultation is free.
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Frequently asked questions chiropracters ask before hiring a bookkeeper
Are naturopathic consultations GST-free?
Naturopathic consultations are a more complex area of the health services GST exemption than most other allied health professions. The exemption applies to services that are performed by a recognised health professional and are of a kind generally performed in Australia.
Whether naturopathy qualifies depends on the practitioner’s qualifications and registration status. Matthew assesses the correct treatment for your specific practice circumstances rather than applying a blanket assumption.
What is the GST treatment of the supplements and herbs I sell?
Supplements, herbal medicines, nutritional products and other physical goods sold from a practice dispensary are taxable supplies and attract GST at 10%. This applies regardless of whether they are recommended as part of a treatment plan.
The product sale and the consultation are separate supplies with separate GST treatment.
We sell products online as well as in the dispensary. Does that change anything for the BAS?
Online product sales are taxable supplies and the GST obligation is calculated on the gross sale amount before any platform fees are deducted. The bank deposit from an ecommerce platform represents gross revenue minus platform fees and possibly shipping.
Recording only the deposit as income understates both the revenue and the GST liability. Matthew reconciles online sales on gross revenue with the correct GST treatment applied.
What does bookkeeping cost for a naturopathic practice?
Packages start from $150 per month. The first consultation is free.
Ready to get the financial side of your practice managed by a bookkeeper?
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You already know there are things in the books that are not right.
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The personal expenses that went through the business account during a tight month are still sitting there.
The BAS is lodged but you are not entirely sure the figures are accurate.
None of these are unusual, and none of them are unfixable but every month they sit unresolved is another month of compounding risk.
Packages from
$150 per month
Structured around what your business actually needs
Registered & certified bookkeeper
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