29/09/2026
Specialist Accountants for GPs, Consultants & Locum Doctors
Accountants for Doctors in Melrose
Specialist accounting support for doctors in Melrose, built around the way medical professionals actually earn. Whether your income comes from NHS work, private practice, locum shifts or a mix of all three, the right accountant helps you keep accurate records, file Self Assessment and tax returns on time, understand which professional expenses you can claim, and plan ahead with confidence. From straightforward salaried roles to consultancy work, partnerships and limited companies, we explain your options in plain English so you can focus on patients rather than paperwork.
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Which Doctors Do We Support?
Doctors rarely fit into one neat tax category, and the accounting support you need depends heavily on how you work and where your income comes from. We support GPs, hospital doctors and consultants, locum doctors moving between contracts, salaried doctors on payroll, private practitioners running their own clinics or lists, and doctors who combine NHS and private work in the same tax year. Some doctors have a single employer and a modest set of allowable expenses; others juggle several income sources, work through a limited company or partnership, or pay for indemnity cover, professional subscriptions and training out of their own pocket. The treatment of income, expenses, pension contributions and business structures can differ meaningfully between these arrangements, so the starting point is always your own circumstances rather than a template. If you are unsure which category you fall into, that is exactly the kind of question worth talking through.
GPs
Accounting and tax support for GPs with NHS income, private work, practice interests or additional professional earnings.
Hospital Doctors
Support with Self Assessment, professional expenses and tax matters alongside employment income and other professional earnings.
Consultants
Accounting support for consultants managing NHS employment, private practice income, professional expenses and tax obligations.
Locum Doctors
Support with Self Assessment, locum income, allowable expenses, bookkeeping and relevant business structure considerations.
Salaried Doctors
Tax and accounting support for salaried doctors with additional professional income or expenses requiring reporting.
Private Practitioners
Accounting support for doctors providing private medical services through individual practices, partnerships or companies.
Accounting and Tax Services for Doctors in Melrose
Our work with doctors centres on the areas that tend to create the most admin, risk and confusion. Self Assessment is usually the foundation, particularly where you have NHS income alongside private fees, locum earnings or consultancy income, and we prepare and file returns that reflect all of your income sources together. For private practitioners and doctors in business with others, we handle annual accounts, partnership accounts and financial reporting, along with bookkeeping that keeps your records in a usable state throughout the year rather than in a panic before a deadline. Where a limited company or a partnership structure is in place or being considered, we cover Corporation Tax, payroll for you and any staff, VAT registration and returns where turnover and activities make it relevant, and management accounts that give you a clearer view of how the practice or consultancy is performing. Tax planning sits alongside all of this — reviewing allowable professional expenses such as medical indemnity, professional subscriptions, training and development, equipment, and business travel or mileage, and considering pension contributions and income timing within the rules. Business structure advice helps doctors weigh up sole trader, partnership and limited company arrangements as their private work grows or changes. Not every service will apply to every doctor, and we will always tell you plainly when something is not relevant to your situation.
Self Assessment Tax Returns
Preparation and support for doctors with employment, locum, private practice or other taxable income.
NHS & Private Income
Help organising accounting records where income comes from NHS work, private services, locum assignments or other professional activities.
Accurate records built around the way GP practices, partnerships and locum doctors actually work, with cloud software set up for you.
Tax Planning for Doctors & Consultants
Incorporation reviews for private practice, profit extraction, capital allowances and timing of income to keep your effective tax rate down.
Locum Tax & IR35 Support
Contract and IR35 status reviews, limited company versus sole trader comparisons and expense claims for locums working across multiple trusts.
Common Accounting and Tax Challenges for Doctors
Medical careers tend to produce financial complexity rather than simplicity, and a few recurring themes come up time and again. These are the areas where doctors most often need a second opinion or a clearer process.
- Multiple income streams: NHS salary, private fees, locum payments and consultancy income can arrive on different schedules and in different formats, which makes it easy to lose track of total earnings and harder to know what tax is really due.
- Self Assessment deadlines: registering, reporting and paying on time matters, and late filing or payment can trigger penalties and interest that are entirely avoidable with an organised approach.
- Allowable professional expenses: working out what genuinely qualifies — and keeping the evidence to support it — is a common stumbling block, particularly where costs serve both professional and personal purposes.
- Medical indemnity and professional subscriptions: these are significant outgoings for many doctors, and getting the treatment and documentation right helps ensure they are properly reflected rather than overlooked.
- Training and professional development: courses, exams, conferences and mandatory CPD can be relevant to your tax position, but the rules are specific and the boundaries are not always obvious.
- Travel and mileage: between sites, to clinics, to training or to temporary locum posts, travel costs add up quickly, and the records needed to claim them are often kept inconsistently.
- Pension considerations: annual allowance charges and contribution planning can affect doctors with high or varied earnings, and these interact with your wider tax position rather than sitting in isolation.
- Record keeping through the year: receipts, invoices, bank statements and expense logs pile up fast, and reconstructing them months later is both stressful and less accurate.
- Business structures: deciding whether to operate as a sole trader, partner or limited company — or whether an existing structure still fits — has tax, administrative and pension consequences worth reviewing as your work changes.
- Partnership and practice finances: doctors in partnership arrangements need clear profit allocation, accurate accounts and agreement on how drawings, expenses and tax liabilities are handled between partners.
Why Doctors Choose CruseBurke
Doctors choose an accountant for reasons that go beyond a set of accounts. They want someone who understands how medical income actually works — that a single tax year might include NHS pay, private fees, locum shifts and consultancy work — and who can translate the rules into practical decisions without burying them in jargon. CruseBurke provides accounting and tax support shaped around those realities: clear explanations of what you can and cannot claim, help keeping financial records organised and complete, timely preparation of Self Assessment and other returns, and advice on structures and planning that reflects your particular mix of employment, self-employment and business income. Communication is straightforward and consistent, so you know where things stand, what is needed from you and when. We also recognise that doctors differ from one another — a salaried hospital doctor, a locum working across several contracts, and a partner in a private practice each face a different set of questions — so advice is tailored rather than recycled. Where your circumstances change, whether through a new role, additional private work or a change in structure, we adjust the approach with you.
Healthcare Focus
We support GPs, locum doctors, consultants and other medical professionals with accounting and tax matters tailored to their individual circumstances.
Every Allowable Expense Claimed
GMC and indemnity fees, royal college subscriptions, exams, courses, equipment and mileage — nothing left on the table.
NHS Pension Specialists
We calculate your pension input amount, check tapering and advise on Scheme Pays before a charge becomes a problem.
IR35 & Locum Confidence
Status reviews on your engagements and a clear answer on limited company versus sole trader for your circumstances.
Deadlines Handled for You
Returns, accounts and payroll filed on time, with reminders well in advance so penalties never happen.
Fair, Fixed Fees
One agreed monthly fee, quoted up front, with no hourly billing and no surprise invoices.
Getting Started: Our Simple 3-Step Process
Setting up accounting support should not feel like another administrative burden. The first step is a conversation about how you work and where your money comes from — NHS employment, private practice, locum contracts, consultancy arrangements, partnership profit shares or a combination of these — along with any existing structure such as a limited company. The second step is a review of your accounting and tax position, looking at current records, previous returns, expenses you may have been claiming or missing, VAT and payroll obligations where they apply, and any deadlines on the horizon. From there, we set out what support fits your situation and put it in place, agreeing responsibilities so it is clear what you handle and what we handle, and how records will be shared and kept up to date. The aim is an organised, workable arrangement rather than a one-off fix.
1. Initial Consultation (It’s Free):
We begin by getting to know your practice and understanding your unique needs. This step ensures we have a clear picture of your operations and your goals.
2. Customised Plan:
Based on our initial discussion, we create a personalised plan designed specifically for you. The aim is to keep everything organised and easy to follow. You can rest assured that your numbers are being handled with expert precision.
3. Ongoing Support & Updates:
From there, we take care of the ongoing work and keep you updated with reports. You’ll always know what’s happening, and we’re always here to answer your questions, ensuring you have a clear picture of your financial health at all times.
What Makes Our Approach to Doctors' Accounting Different
What sets the approach apart is the willingness to work with the genuine messiness of a medical career rather than forcing it into a standard template. Doctors frequently arrive with income spread across several sources, expenses recorded inconsistently, and uncertainty about whether their current structure still makes sense. We start by mapping that properly: identifying each income stream, confirming how it should be reported, reviewing the expenses that may be relevant — indemnity cover, professional subscriptions, training, equipment, business travel and mileage among them — and checking that bookkeeping and records will hold up if questions are ever asked. Self Assessment, annual accounts, Corporation Tax, VAT and payroll are handled as connected pieces of one position rather than isolated tasks, which matters when NHS and private income sit side by side. Doctors also value being told what is not worth doing. Where a limited company or partnership is not appropriate, or where a particular expense claim is not defensible, that is said clearly and early, because sensible tax planning depends on accuracy rather than optimism. As your working arrangements evolve, the advice evolves with them.
Technology Driven
We use Xero, Quickbooks, Sage & many other online software.
Dedicated Medical Accountant
Meet, call or email the same qualified accountant who knows your practice and your pension position.
Unlimited Support
Free telephone & email support
throughout the year.
Experienced Team
Our team have over 100 years of combined experienced.
Free - Email Reminders
Never Miss any deadline with our automated email reminders.
Yes, We Are Chartered!
We’re an ICAEW, ACCA & AAT accredited Firm.
How to Switch to Our Doctor Accountants
Take a back seat and let our specialist healthcare accountants handle everything. Switching part way through the year is straightforward and you never need to speak to your old accountant:
Get in touch
Reach out to us, and we’ll discuss your needs and how we can help your healthcare practice thrive.
Letter of Engagement
We’ll send over a simple letter to formalise our partnership and get everything in motion.
Previous Accountants
If you're switching, we’ll take care of contacting your previous accountants to make the transition smooth.
We Do the Rest
From there, sit back and relax. We’ll manage your accounts, taxes, and everything in between, keeping your practice running smoothly.
FAQs
It depends on your circumstances. A doctor with a single salaried role taxed through PAYE may have relatively simple affairs, though there can still be benefits in checking expenses and pension contributions. Once you add private fees, locum income, consultancy work, rental income or a partnership share, the position becomes harder to manage alone — and that is usually when specialist accounting support earns its place. Self Assessment, income allocation across sources, allowable expenses and deadlines all become more involved.
NHS pay is normally taxed through PAYE, while private fees, locum work and consultancy income are typically reported through Self Assessment. Both need to be brought together so the overall tax position is correct, and payments already made through PAYE are properly credited. Keeping the two streams clearly separated in your records helps too, which is something we set up as part of the bookkeeping process.
Commonly considered items include medical indemnity insurance, professional body subscriptions, relevant training and professional development, equipment used for work, and business travel or mileage. What qualifies depends on your employment status, whether a cost is wholly and exclusively for your work, and whether it has already been reimbursed. Records matter as much as the rules, so we help you capture evidence as you go rather than at year end.
It can. Locum work often involves self-employment income, expenses travelling between contracts, and uncertainty about whether you are engaged on an employed or self-employed basis. Agency arrangements vary, so it is worth reviewing your contracts and payment terms to confirm how the income should be treated before returns are filed.
It depends on your income level, how many doctors are involved, your plans for growth and your pension position. A limited company can suit some private practitioners and consultants, while partnerships are often a natural fit for doctors running a practice together. Each structure carries different tax, administrative and compliance obligations, so the right answer comes from looking at your actual figures rather than a general rule.
Yes, where these obligations apply. A private practice or consultancy may need to be VAT registered depending on its activities and turnover, and payroll is relevant wherever you employ staff or pay yourself through a company. We will confirm whether these registrations are needed and manage the ongoing returns and submissions where they are.
Yes. Accounting work is well suited to remote arrangements, and most records and documents can be shared securely online, with conversations held by phone or video at times that fit around clinics and on-call rotas. If you prefer to meet in person, that can be arranged separately.
Less than most people expect. We ask for your authorisation to contact your current accountant, request the handover of records and any professional clearance, then review what has been done previously before taking over filings and deadlines. Most of the admin sits with us, and we will flag anything that needs attention along the way.
Speak to an Expert
Get Your Doctor Accounting Sorted with Accountants for Doctors in Melrose
If your income arrives from several directions — NHS pay, private fees, locum shifts or consultancy work — it is easy for records to slip and for expenses such as medical indemnity and professional subscriptions to be missed. CruseBurke provides accounting support built around medical careers, covering Self Assessment, bookkeeping and practical tax planning for doctors in Melrose, so nothing is left to chance at deadline time. Get in touch to talk through your situation and find an arrangement that fits how you actually work.