Medical practices & clinics
Books and taxes for audiology and hearing aid centers.
Hearing aids sold on a trial period, multi-year service plans, financed pairs, and battery sales at the front desk. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September came in at $26,700. Two patients returned their trial devices for a refund, so I backed those out of revenue instead of leaving the original sale looking final.
- CareCredit payoutFinanced device revenue
- Trial period sale, Whitmore pairHearing aid sales
- Oticon device orderDevice inventory
- Extended service plan, 3-yearService plan revenue
- Battery and accessory salesAccessory sales
Why your books are different
A hearing aid center's books go wrong around the trial period and the service plan.
A hearing aid sale isn't final the day it happens, it comes with a return window, a multi-year service plan, and often a financing company taking its cut. A generalist books the sale as done the day it's paid for, and the numbers stop matching reality the moment a patient returns a device.
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1
Trial period returns undo a sale that already happened
Most hearing aids are sold with a 30 to 60 day trial period, and if the patient returns the devices, the original sale needs to come back out of revenue, not just sit there as income for a product you no longer have.
What we doBacks out returned trial devices from revenue the month they're returned, so a refunded sale doesn't overstate income that never really landed. -
2
Multi-year service plans get spent before they're earned
A three-year service plan sold alongside a hearing aid pair is paid up front, but the cleanings, adjustments, and repairs it covers happen over the full three years.
What we doKeeps service plan revenue in its own line, separate from the device sale itself, so a big plan sale doesn't overstate the month it was sold. -
3
Financed device sales pay out less than invoiced
When a patient finances a $4,800 pair of hearing aids, the financing company pays out less than the invoiced amount and keeps a fee, and booked as the full sale, both your pricing and your true cost read wrong.
What we doBooks the full device price as revenue and the financing company's cut as its own fee, so your real pricing and your real cost both show up honest. -
4
Battery and accessory sales blend into device revenue
Battery packs and cleaning accessories sold at the counter are small, frequent, and steady, while device sales are large and infrequent, and blended together the steady base of the business disappears.
What we doKeeps accessory sales in their own line, apart from device sales, so the steady recurring base of the business stays visible.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a hearing aid center.
Set up once for how devices, plans, and accessories all get paid. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Hearing aid salesDevice sales, tracked against the trial period until it's complete.
- Financed device revenueThe full device price, with the financing company's cut booked as a fee.
- Service plan revenueMulti-year cleaning and repair plans sold alongside a device.
- Accessory salesBatteries, cleaning kits, and other small accessory items.
Money out
- Device inventoryHearing aids purchased from manufacturers such as Oticon or Phonak.
- Financing and card processing feesWhat CareCredit or a card processor keeps before you get paid.
- Clinical wagesAudiologists and hearing instrument specialists, kept apart from front desk pay.
- Testing equipmentAudiometers and fitting equipment, logged so they get written off right.
- Rent and utilitiesThe clinic space for testing and fitting appointments.
- Malpractice or liability insuranceCoverage for the practicing audiologists.
- Marketing for new patientsAdvertising and community outreach that drives new fittings.
What we watch for you
- Return rate
How many trial period devices get returned versus kept, tracked from actual refunds.
- Service plan revenue owed
How much service plan money still represents years of cleanings and repairs not yet delivered.
- Financing cost
What financing companies keep on device sales, worth knowing before offering it on every fitting.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things hearing aid center owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
I back the sale out of revenue the month the return happens, so this month reflects it honestly instead of leaving a sale on the books for a product you don't have anymore.
As its own line, separate from the device sale, since the plan gets used over three years, not all at once.
The financing company took its fee before paying out. I book the full invoiced price as revenue and the fee as a cost, so your real pricing still shows on the books.
The tax side
The tax side of a hearing aid center.
Most of what matters here is timing device and service plan revenue correctly and knowing where the pass-through deduction starts to phase out.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- The pass-through deduction phases outA hearing aid center can lose part or all of the 20 percent pass-through deduction once taxable income passes $201,750 single or $403,500 joint, since medical practices are a specified service trade.
- Device inventory and cost of goods soldHearing aids held for sale are generally tracked as inventory, with their cost recognized as devices sell rather than when they're purchased from the manufacturer.
- Service plan revenue timingA multi-year service plan is income when sold, but keeping it clearly labeled helps the accountant match it to the right period as the plan is used.
- Testing and fitting equipmentAudiometers and fitting booths can usually be written off the year you buy them, with 100 percent bonus depreciation available for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
Deductions audiology and hearing aid centers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Device demo and loaner inventory
- Testing equipment maintenance
- Malpractice or liability premiums
- Continuing education and certification
- Practice management software
- License renewal fees
- Financing and card processing fees
- Marketing for new patients
- Cleaning and repair tools
- Patient education materials
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A hearing aid center year, kept every month.
Trial periods, service plans, and financing each move on their own schedule. Your taxes come on a fixed one. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled, even with trial periods and service plans still in progress.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether device sales or return rates changed the number.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at equipment worth buying and anything worth doing before December, as many patients use year-end insurance benefits before they reset.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for audiology and hearing aid centers. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions hearing aid center owners ask first.
Do you bill insurance for hearing aid purchases?
No. Gus does not handle insurance billing, medical coding, or claims of any kind. Your practice management software or billing service still does that. Gus works from what actually lands in your bank account.
How do you handle a device sale during the trial period?
It's tracked as a sale, but if the patient returns the devices within the trial window, Gus backs it out of revenue the month the return happens, so the books stay accurate.
Do multi-year service plans need their own bookkeeping category?
Yes, and Gus already keeps them apart from device sales, since a plan sold today gets used over several years, not all at once.
Why does a financed device sale show less revenue than we invoiced?
The financing company's fee comes out before the payout lands. Gus books the full invoiced amount as revenue and the fee as its own cost, so your real pricing still shows.
Battery and accessory sales feel small compared to device sales. Do they matter to the books?
They matter for showing the steady, recurring side of the business. Gus keeps them in their own line so they don't disappear next to bigger, less frequent device sales.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever