Discover how to accurately budget for veterinary team costs, including salaries and benefits, to avoid surprises and enhance practice management.
On this week's episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomed Rhys Giannarelli to the show to talk about the importance of understanding what the true cost of having a team at a veterinary practice looks like. Throughout the episode, they discuss not just salaries but also benefits such as retirement contributions, payroll taxes, sick days, and more, as well as why it is crucial to budget for these costs, which can be up to 30% of payroll.
Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity.
Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: Let's talk a little more about that with budgeting, too, because this budgeting system seems to work across the board. What is it about this system that makes such a big difference for business owners [in] day-to-day operations?
Rhys Giannarelli: It uncovers the invisible costs. It's something...we just didn't know about. But once we've outlined a...blueprint of what each thing can cost a practice per employer, nothing gets slipped through the cracks. It's basically a checklist. You say, "This is how much this person gets paid [and] how much that person gets paid. This is what they get allocated for each thing." We'll talk about doctors in a second, but it gives you a yearly or a monthly snapshot with no more guessing.... You know exactly what each person is going to cost, and [there is] no surprise at the end of the year because, again, you've budgeted for this. It's...fine to understand or just report what you have paid somebody in that moment, in that month, in that biweekly payroll, but you still need to be able to budget for the future. That's something that I preach a lot about. Owners and managers can confidently assign pay rises, hiring, or equipment replacements, and budget for taxes. This is something that we just don't do, which we should or [pay] for.... Actually, there is no limit when it comes to budgeting itself; it's just a matter of identifying what those margins are.