Aesthetic & Cosmetic Clinics
Accounting and tax work for aesthetic centers and cosmetic clinics. Device investments, retail product lines, package revenue, and provider pay all land in the books, and they have to land correctly. Hunter Green CPA keeps the financial side as polished as the clinical side.
The Equipment on Your Balance Sheet
Aesthetic clinics run on technology. The laser systems, the IPL devices, the RF microneedling equipment, the body contouring platforms. A single device can cost $80,000 to $200,000 or more. Most clinics finance them over three to five years, which means years of loan payments, depreciation schedules, and interest expense flowing through the books.
This creates a financial picture that general bookkeepers often get wrong. Principal payments reduce the loan balance but are not expenses. Interest is deductible but must be separated from principal. Depreciation spreads the equipment cost over time for tax purposes but doesn’t match the cash going out the door. When the books don’t track this correctly, you can’t see your real margins and your tax return probably leaves money on the table.
Device Financing
Device Financing
A laser financed over 48 months creates four years of payments split between principal and interest. We track each device separately so you know your true cost of ownership and can plan future purchases strategically. This also feeds directly into tax planning conversations about depreciation timing.
Multi-Entity Structures
Multi-Entity Structures
Some aesthetic clinics operate through management service agreements with a physician entity. The equipment might sit in one entity while clinical services flow through another. When that structure applies, we keep both sets of books clean and consistent. Our Multi-Entity and MSA Accounting service handles exactly this situation.
Packages, Memberships, and Retail
A patient buys a six-treatment laser series for $3,600. That money hits your bank account today, but it is not all revenue today. Until those treatments are actually delivered, it sits on your books as a liability. The same goes for membership programs where patients pay monthly for treatments they will use later. Getting this wrong means your profit and loss statement shows income you have not yet earned.
Then there is retail. Skincare product lines are a real revenue stream for many aesthetic clinics. But retail means inventory to track and sales tax to collect and remit. Products and services are taxed differently in most states, and the rules vary. If your retail operation is growing, the sales tax obligation grows with it.
Prepaid Revenue Done Right
Prepaid Revenue Done Right
We record package and series sales as deferred revenue and recognize income as treatments are delivered. Your books reflect what you have actually earned. This matters for financial clarity and for accurate tax reporting, especially at year-end when undelivered services should not inflate your taxable income.
Retail Sales Tax
Retail Sales Tax
Skincare products sold at the front desk are taxable in most states. We track your retail inventory through Inventory and Cost Tracking, calculate the sales tax owed, and handle the Sales Tax Management filings on time. If you are not collecting and remitting properly, the liability builds up quietly until the state notices.
Provider Pay and Patient Financing
Provider compensation in aesthetic clinics often has commission or production-based components. A nurse injector might earn base pay plus a percentage of the treatments they perform. An esthetician might have a different structure entirely. Tracking this accurately requires the books to capture production by provider, which many accounting systems do not do automatically without proper setup.
Patient financing adds another layer. When a patient uses CareCredit or Cherry or another financing program to pay for a procedure, you receive the funds minus a discount fee, and the deposit arrives on the financing company’s schedule. The books need to record the full treatment revenue, the discount as an expense, and the timing of the actual deposit. Otherwise your margins look different than they actually are.
Commission Tracking
Commission Tracking
When providers earn a percentage of what they produce, the books have to track production by provider. We set up the system so compensation calculations are based on actual numbers pulled from the books. This removes the guesswork and ensures payroll is tied to verifiable data.
Patient Financing Programs
Patient Financing Programs
Third-party financing means the patient pays $4,000 for a procedure but you receive $3,700 after the financing company takes their fee. We record the full revenue, the fee expense, and the deposit timing correctly so your profit margins reflect reality and your reconciliations stay clean.
Financial Clarity for Your Clinic
When the books are done right, you can actually see which treatments and product lines make money. That laser you financed at $150,000 might be generating excellent returns on one treatment type and barely breaking even on another. Without proper tracking across revenue, supplies, labor, and equipment costs, you are guessing at your margins instead of knowing them.
Tax planning becomes possible with clean books and the right CPA. Equipment purchases can be timed to maximize deductions in high-income years. Entity structure can be set up for your situation. Hunter Green CPA handles the bookkeeping and tax work together through our Bookkeeping and Tax Package, so planning happens throughout the year and nothing falls through the cracks. If you are ready to get your clinic’s finances in order, reach out for a consultation.
Know Your Margins
Know Your Margins
When revenue and costs are tracked properly by service line and product category, you can see which offerings actually produce profit after supplies, labor, and equipment costs. This changes how you price treatments, where you invest in new equipment, and which services deserve more marketing spend.
Equipment and Tax Strategy
Equipment and Tax Strategy
A $120,000 device purchase creates tax planning opportunities. Section 179 deductions, bonus depreciation, and timing across tax years all matter. We help you plan equipment purchases around your overall tax situation so you get the benefit when it helps most.
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