Wisdom Centre – Finance Function Case Study

Challenge Medical, dental & allied health practice managers share common challenges – a key one is staying on top of the business’ financials, delegating tasks effectively, and keeping things in order while aiming to deliver top tier patient service. Dr Khaled Zoud is the owner of Wisdom, Centre for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, with practice locations in Burwood and Westmead. Like many of our clients, offering a premium and comfortable patient experience while dedicating enough time to effectively manage the business, was an ongoing struggle. Dr Zoud needed to ‘corporatise’ his practice so he & his team could focus on providing patients with the best possible experience, while capitalising on opportunities to grow the business. Solution  “Coming from a tricky starting position, the focus was on getting the financial aspects in order and appropriately restructuring the company so we could better tackle our accounts function and tax planning” says Dr Zoud. CharterNet took a staged approach, firstly setting up the appropriate corporate structures, and getting financials on cloud-based software Xero. With information in one place and easily accessible, all outstanding reporting & tax returns were finalised efficiently. “Once that was done, I wanted a dependable business adviser that could manage our finance function, provide strategic advice on how to increase profitability as well as interact with my team on a day-to-day basis.” Within Xero, automated processes were set-up to enable quick authorisation of payments by Dr Zoud so that CharterNet could process all payments including payroll, superannuation, supplier invoices and ATO. These tools and processes made light work of liaising with suppliers, patients, and staff alike. Monthly meetings, supplemented by management reporting, and dashboards (comparing actual performance to pre-set budgets and KPIs), provided the opportunity to assess practice performance in real-time. “This is great, because the team explains what’s happening, where things are going and what I can do to improve”. says Dr Zoud. Results  “The whole mix is important – everything is automated now. I used to do everything myself, now I just authorise accordingly” says Dr Zoud. “The most valuable thing for me is freeing up my time and giving me a better understanding of my business revenue, expenses, and where we need to focus – now also extending to how I look at finances across my personal life as well.” An increased focus on patient care, reduced cost, and greater visibility in making budget decisions (e.g. knowing monthly revenue targets in advance) has favourably impacted the business, resulting in a significant increase in net profits over the last 3 years. “Has all this helped me make certain strategic decisions? Yes – staffing, purchasing new premises recently, knowing how much money I had available to pay another mortgage, and ongoing budget management helps me think about strategies to increase revenue and decrease outgoings. Having the information allows you to think about what you can do, whereas when you don’t have that information – you’re just in the dark”.