Key takeaways
What this article covers, in order:
- The chart of accounts for a clinic
- The 3 entries a clinic gets wrong
- What a clinic can claim
- The reports to run every month
- Frequently asked questions
- Where to go next
An insurer or health scheme pays part of a consultation, at a contracted rate, weeks later; the patient pays the rest, sometimes never. Until claims and patient balances are tracked apart, your receivables figure is a number nobody can collect against.
This is the bookkeeping side of that problem: the accounts to set up, the entries that go wrong, and what you can claim. If you are still choosing software, the round-up linked at the end compares the options.
The chart of accounts for a clinic
Start from these rather than the default template. The codes are illustrative; the separations are what matter, because each one answers a question you will be asked later.
1100 Patient receivables
1150 Claims receivable by payer
4000 Patient service revenue at scheduled fee
4050 Contractual adjustments — contra revenue
4100 Self-pay revenue
5100 Clinician costs
5200 Medical consumables and drugs
5300 Stock write-offs and expiryThe 3 entries a clinic gets wrong
A remittance paying less than the fee charged
Scheduled fee to revenue, the difference to contractual adjustments. Recording only the cash hides the rate you negotiated.
A denied claim
Keep it as a receivable with a denial reason and an ageing, not an immediate write-off — most denials are resubmittable.
Drugs past their expiry
A write-off, not cost of service. In cost of service, waste never becomes visible enough to fix.
What a clinic can claim
Deductibility follows the rule in your own jurisdiction, so this is a checklist to take to your accountant rather than an answer. For a clinic the cost lines to review first, and the record each one needs, are:
| Cost line | The record to keep |
|---|---|
| Clinician costs | The invoice, and the business-use split where the cost is shared |
| Medical consumables and drugs | The invoice, and the business-use split where the cost is shared |
| Stock write-offs and expiry | The invoice, and the business-use split where the cost is shared |
Whether each of those is deductible, and how much of it, is a rule your tax authority sets and changes. Keep the record either way; take the question to your accountant with the figures in front of you.
The reports to run every month
- Claims receivable per payer, reconcilable against a remittance line by line — review it monthly, not at year end.
- Contractual adjustments — review it monthly, not at year end.
- Patient balances and payment plans separate from insurer claims — review it monthly, not at year end.
- Denials and resubmissions visible, with their ageing — review it monthly, not at year end.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best accounting software for clinics?
There is no single best one; there is a best one for a shape of business. For a clinic, work down the criteria in the section above and stop at the first option that clears all of them — that list is short, usually two or three.
The criteria that eliminate most options fastest are: Claims receivable per payer, reconcilable against a remittance line by line; Contractual adjustments; Patient balances and payment plans separate from insurer claims.
Give me a list of accounting software for clinics that offer the best security?
Ask for evidence rather than adjectives. The things worth checking, in order: an independent audit you can see (SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001, with the report date), encryption in transit and at rest, enforced multi-factor authentication, role-based permissions fine enough that a bookkeeper cannot export your whole ledger, an immutable audit trail of who changed what, where your data is hosted and under which country's law, and a stated backup and recovery position.
Then ask the question the brochure will not answer: can you see, after the fact, who changed a figure and what it was before? For a clinic that audit trail is worth more than any single feature on the security page. A vendor who will send the audit report under NDA is telling you something; one who answers with the words "bank-grade security" is telling you something too.
Is there free accounting software for clinics?
There are free tiers, and they are real — but the limit is what matters, not the price. Find the cap before you move your books: how many documents or transactions a month, how many bank accounts, how many users, and whether the free tier includes the one thing you came for. HelloBooks has a free plan; /pricing lists what it covers today.
How much does accounting software for clinics cost?
Published prices move, and the figure that matters is the one including the module you actually need — inventory, payroll or multi-currency are often a tier up, so the headline price is rarely the price you pay. Price each shortlisted option at the tier that carries what you actually need, on the vendor's own page, on the day you decide.
How do I switch accounting software without losing my history?
Migrate on a period boundary and bring three things: opening trial balance, open customer and supplier balances, and your chart of accounts. Transaction history can usually stay in the old system as a read-only archive — attempting to re-import years of detail is where most migrations lose a week and a reconciliation.
Where to go next
- HelloBooks for medical practice and clinic
- HelloBooks in the United States
- HelloBooks pricing and what each plan includes
This guide is written for businesses in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Tax treatment differs by country — check the rule for yours before you act on it.
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