When it comes to understanding how well your veterinary practice is doing, the more data you can feast your eyes on, the better. That said, it’s important that you not only look at the numbers in your reports, but also the specifics of what exactly they are measuring.
At VetSuccess, we’ve witnessed a fair bit of confusion caused by discrepancies between reports. Here’s one question we get asked quite frequently: “Why are the revenue numbers in my Cornerstone and VetSuccess reports different?” The answer is complicated, but let’s take a look at two of the most common reasons.
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Some practice reports take discounts into consideration; some don’t |
As any practice owner or manager knows, discounts can be applied to an invoice for a variety of reasons. In keeping with normal accounting practices, Cornerstone does not consider discounts when calculating gross revenue. This is great, because it makes it easier to use Cornerstone to find standardized financial numbers for your business.
VetSuccess reports, on the other hand, focus more on the final invoicing amounts to allow practices to see the actual revenue in each category as it is billed to the client. To put this in concrete terms, if you sell a service for $50, but have a pre-set discount of $10 applied, your Cornerstone gross sales report will show $50, but our report will show $40.
Neither practice report is wrong; they’re simply different. At VetSuccess, we’ve chosen to focus on final invoicing amounts because we believe this can help you make informed decisions about your price points and product offerings.
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Final practice revenue figures depend on which month transactions are attributed to |
Again, let’s look at Cornerstone and VetSuccess reports as an example. Cornerstone relies very heavily on the invoice information, and applies all transactions for an invoice to the day that the invoice was closed. VetSuccess, however, applies individual transactions to the day they occur, regardless of when the invoice is closed.
If these different approaches are taken in the middle of the month, no problem. But if they’re taken as one month is transitioning to the next, you may run into a discrepancy. For example, if a single invoice that was closed on April 1 has two $50 transactions — one from March 31 and one from April 1 – Cornerstone will apply $100 to April, while VetSuccess will apply $50 to March and $50 to April.
When comparing practice data reports, don’t put apples and pears in the same basket
[bctt tweet=”Remember, different reports are designed to give you different insights, and all quality reports offer value in their own unique way.”]
If you’re a VetSuccess member and have any questions or concerns about your reports, our client support team is always happy to help. If you’re not a member and would like to see our practice reports in action, request a free demo.
Jen Kowalski is a Business Analyst for VetSuccess with a self-proclaimed obsession with minutia that serves VetSuccess clients well.
