Pharmacy Business Advisory

Pharmacy

BDO New Zealand offers the full spectrum of business advisory services in pharmacy, including:

  • general compliance, accounting and tax returns
  • tax planning
  • asset protection
  • structuring

We also have a lot of experience with helping businesses to buy and sell pharmacies. This could involve anything, from liaising with the bank, providing forecasts, due diligence on the pharmacy and advice on valuation.

We understand that funding is unique in pharmacy. With so much coming from the Ministry of Health and other government bodies, this is where our specialist knowledge comes to the fore. We know exactly what to look for when analysing funding models, and we're able to look at the information provided to ensure that everything is presented in a fair and complete way.

Our benchmarking services will give you valuable insight into where you could be taking your pharmacy next. We collect benchmarking data on a range of areas relevant to pharmacy, meaning we can provide you with up-to-date information on your key performance indicators and show you where your business is at compared to the median. We operate a large, end of year benchmarking, as well as a more frequent service that happens every two months.

This more frequent service involves a high level benchmark of your data at each GST return. It will give you a more regular snapshot of where your pharmacy is at and how you're tracking compared to the benchmark. We send this to our clients and have a conversation about your results, finding ways to get you back on trend if you've dropped off at all. It will also give you a good idea of which aspects of your business plan are working well, and what areas need improving.

We do a lot of work on strategic planning. Rather than simply focusing on compliance, we want to get alongside business owners and understand exactly what your strategy is for your business over the coming years. We want to help you look to the future, identifying areas to move into or out of, and ultimately help you grow.

This involves going beyond traditional accounting advice to help you with every aspect of your business. For example, recently we worked on a project that involved implementing Xero. This allowed the pharmacist in question to use a more up-to-date system that has saved the business huge amounts of time and given them access to real-time information.

Pharmacy in New Zealand

New Zealand's pharmacy industry is unique. With so much funding coming directly from government, we understand that the way you operate, buy, and sell your businesses is completely different to any other industry. That's why it's important to have a trusted adviser, one that has a deep understanding of the pharmacy industry and the issues you face. Only then can you get the advice you need to truly succeed.

The population is ageing, and as people live longer, the healthcare system comes under more and more pressure. The government will look to evolve the role of pharmacy in the coming years to accommodate this. More emphasis will be put on service delivery rather than straight dispensing, and pharmacists need to understand how to take advantage of the new opportunities and challenges that this presents.

Pharmacies are among the most popular retail operations in New Zealand. As vendors ask for higher prices for their pharmacy businesses, the need for adequate funding becomes greater. Acquisition negotiations are getting much longer, and it's important to have someone who understands the issues involved in purchasing a pharmacy, to help guide businesses through new transactions.

Deregulation also poses a significant change to pharmacy in New Zealand. It may open the door to larger corporate entities owning pharmacies, and current pharmacists will need a way to keep up with this increased competition.

These changes need not pose a threat, however, if pharmacists operate with a trusted adviser on hand who understands the industry. Our experts can show you where the opportunities to restrategise are, ensuring you differentiate your services from competitors. Ultimately, we'll help your business thrive.


What sets BDO New Zealand's business advisory services apart?

Our advisers at BDO New Zealand are industry experts. We have a genuine interest in pharmacy, and our years of experience in the sector have given us a deep knowledge of how pharmacy works and the best ways to respond to industry trends.

It's not just the pharmacy industry that we understand, however. Our culture of cultivating rich client relationships means we'll get to know your business inside and out. This allows us to work with you to go beyond simple accounting solutions and really get to the heart of the issues facing your business, as well as offer proactive advice that will help you to succeed. Some of our clients have been with us for many years, and we hope to build as many of these long-standing relationships as possible.

BDO has a national presence across New Zealand, so no matter where you are, our business advisory service can reach you. We have clients across the country, and the local knowledge we've built up over the years means we can tailor our advice to your exact situation.

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