Accountant for Chiropractors in BC
Chiropractic practices often sell care plans paid up front, run imaging equipment, employ chiropractic assistants and share space with associate chiropractors. Each of those habits leaves a mark on the books and on the tax return.
EverStone CPA handles bookkeeping, payroll and tax for chiropractors throughout British Columbia, entirely online, with every fee agreed in writing first.
Quick answer: New chiropractors tend to begin unincorporated, then review incorporation once the practice reliably earns more than they spend, after checking what their college permits. The recurring accounting issues are prepaid care plans, which are not revenue until the visits happen, associate fee arrangements, and imaging and table purchases that are written off through capital cost allowance.
Chiropractic practices we work with
Our chiropractic clients range from a new graduate on an associate agreement to an owner running a busy clinic with a full team.
- Associate chiropractors on a percentage of collections
- Owners of a single-doctor clinic with one or two chiropractic assistants
- Multi-doctor clinics with an imaging suite
- Clinics shared with physios, RMTs or acupuncturists under one lease
- Chiropractors buying into, or buying out, an existing practice
- Practitioners who have fallen behind on returns and want a clean start
A clinic purchase or partner buyout is its own project. Goodwill, equipment and patient files are valued and allocated, and that allocation drives the tax for years afterwards. Talk to us before the price is final.
Incorporating a chiropractic practice
Incorporation pays off when profit can stay in the company. It does little for a chiropractor who takes out every dollar each year.
Unincorporated chiropractor
You report fees and expenses on a T2125. Profit is taxed at your personal rate in the year earned, and you pay CPP as both employer and employee. Paperwork is light and costs are low.
Chiropractic corporation
The company bills patients and pays the clinic’s costs. Retained active business income is taxed at 11% combined in BC on the first $500,000, shared by associated corporations. You pay personal tax later, when you draw it.
Regulatory conditions
Your college sets whether chiropractors can incorporate, the permit or registration needed, and who may hold shares. Those conditions come first. Check them before filing articles, and we fit the tax plan to them.
The ongoing obligations
Separate banking, corporate books, a T2 due six months after year-end, the annual BC registry filing and a minute book. Tax owing on the T2 is generally due two or three months after year-end.
Our should I incorporate page sets out the test, and incorporation advice covers the setup. New companies can follow the new corporation setup checklist.
Salary, dividends and the chiropractor’s draw
With a corporation in place, there is no “draw” any more. Each transfer to you is salary, a dividend or a shareholder loan, and each one is treated differently.
Taking salary
Salary reduces corporate profit, earns CPP pension credits and creates RRSP room. It runs through payroll with monthly remittances and a T4 at year-end.
Taking dividends
Dividends are paid from taxed profit and need no payroll. They create no RRSP room and earn no CPP. A spouse holding shares raises the tax on split income question.
Avoiding the loan trap
Money taken without labelling it lands in the shareholder loan. If it is not repaid within one year after year-end it is generally taxed as your income.
Model your own mix in the salary vs dividends calculator, and read taking money out of your corporation and the tax on split income.
Sales tax on chiropractic services
Answered for your practice
Whether GST/HST or PST applies to what a chiropractic clinic bills turns on the specific service and on the regulated status of the practitioner who supplies it. Orthotics, supports and retail items can each need their own look.
We confirm this practice by practice rather than give a blanket answer. Email us a short list of what you charge for, and we will confirm the treatment in writing as part of reviewing your enquiry.
Chiropractic assistants, associates and slips
Chiropractic assistants are almost always employees. Associate chiropractors are often contractors. Getting each group on the right side of that line protects the clinic from reassessment.
CAs on payroll
Withhold CPP, EI and income tax, remit on time and issue T4s by the last day of February. BC vacation pay starts at 4%, moving to 6% after five years of service.
Associate agreements
A percentage-of-collections agreement fits a contractor when the associate controls their own hours, carries their own insurance and could treat patients elsewhere. If the clinic controls everything, the CRA may see an employee.
WorkSafeBC
Register as an employer before the first CA starts. Premiums are based on payroll, and contractors you hire may need a clearance letter. WorkSafeBC applies its own test, separate from the CRA’s.
The first employee page covers setup, and payroll services take over the running. For classification, read employee vs contractor.
Care plans, front desk sales and clinic software
Chiropractic bookkeeping has one habit that most other clinics do not: patients often pay for a block of care in advance. That changes when revenue is recorded.
Prepaid care plans
A multi-visit plan paid on day one is a liability until the visits are delivered. We record the prepayment as unearned revenue and release it as visits happen, so monthly profit is real.
Refunds and dropouts
When a patient stops partway through, the plan’s refund terms decide what goes back. Clear written terms make the bookkeeping simple and avoid disputes.
Software, cards and insurers
Your clinic software reports what was billed. Card payouts arrive net of fees, and insurer deposits bundle many patients. We tie each one back to the billing report.
See our monthly bookkeeping services and the guide to cash vs accrual accounting, which explains why prepaid plans are deferred.
Adjusting tables, imaging and the clinic fit-out
A chiropractic clinic carries more equipment than many health practices. Drop tables, decompression units, digital x-ray and the reading software around it are capital purchases.
- Equipment is claimed through capital cost allowance by class, not expensed at once
- The half-year rule generally limits the first-year claim on most classes
- Leasehold improvements follow the lease term and their own CCA treatment
- Financed equipment: interest is deductible, the principal is not
- Selling or trading in old equipment can trigger recapture or a terminal loss
Read about the half-year rule and equipment CCA classes in BC before a large purchase late in your fiscal year.
Things that catch chiropractors out
Buying a practice
Price allocation between goodwill, equipment and any non-compete affects the buyer’s deductions and the seller’s tax. Agree the allocation in the purchase agreement.
Marketing and events
Screenings, community events and online advertising are deductible marketing. Meals and entertainment are generally only half deductible.
Continuing education travel
Seminars and the travel to them are deductible when the primary purpose is professional. Keep the agenda with the receipts.
Shared-space clinics
When several practitioners share rent and a front desk, a written cost-sharing arrangement shows who pays what and keeps each set of books clean.
See the 50% meals rule and advertising deductions.
Monthly close for a chiropractic clinic
A short routine each month keeps care plans, payroll and deposits in order. Do the steps in sequence.
- Export billing and payments. Pull the month’s reports from your clinic software.
- Update the care-plan balance. Record new plans sold and visits used, and release the earned portion.
- Match card and insurer deposits. Separate processing fees and flag any claim paid short.
- Reconcile bank and credit cards. Every account should agree to its statement.
- Post payroll and associate pay. Check remittances were made and associate invoices match collections.
- Log equipment and big costs. Keep invoices for anything capital, with the date it went into use.
- Reserve for tax. Set aside a share of profit for income tax and instalments.
The month-end close page explains how we run this for clients.
Services and fees for chiropractors
- Self-employed T1 for an associate chiropractor: commonly $250–$450
- Basic personal return: from $100
- Monthly bookkeeping with care-plan tracking: from $300 a month, GST and PST filing included
- Corporate T2 return with statements: quoted after a free consultation
- Payroll for CAs and the owner: quoted alongside the bookkeeping
- Practice purchase or incorporation planning: a written quote before any work
We agree a fixed fee in writing before starting. See every published fee on our pricing page.
Chiropractors’ common questions
Are prepaid care plans income when the patient pays?+
When is my corporate return due?+
Should I buy an x-ray unit before year-end to save tax?+
Do you work with chiropractors across BC?+
Written and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working remotely with businesses across British Columbia. Updated . You can read client reviews before deciding to work with us. Our editorial standards explain how pages are checked.
Related reading
More on structure, pay and neighbouring practice types.
Send an enquiry
Let us know how your clinic is set up: associate or owner, care plans or pay-per-visit, and whether you have staff. A Chartered Professional Accountant replies within one business day with a fixed fee and a clear next step.