GP practice premises, notional rent and mortgage records

The gp premises records money model

Premises arrangements vary. Some partners own the freehold, some lease the building, some receive notional rent, and some have premises costs shared differently from clinical profits. The accounts must reflect that economic reality.

GP accounting is rarely just a normal sole-trader or limited-company workflow. NHS income, partnership profit shares, drawings, PCN funding, superannuation, premises and sessional income can all sit in different reports.

Examples where this gets messy

• Premises-owning partners receive notional rent while non-owning partners do not.
• Mortgage interest is paid personally but relates to the practice premises.
• A rent review changes reimbursement halfway through the year.
• Repairs are paid by the practice but ownership sits with only some partners.
• Service charges are recharged to the practice without a clear invoice trail.

How to brief an accountant

Brief the accountant on who owns the premises, who receives reimbursement, who pays the mortgage, who bears repair costs and whether premises profit follows the normal partner profit share.

A good brief should say what changed in the year, what is still uncertain, which deadlines are close, and which numbers are estimates. That saves the first call from becoming a vague price conversation and lets the accountant quote for the real work: bookkeeping cleanup, accounts, tax return, payroll, VAT, pension forms, management accounts or one-off advice.

Situation notes

• Premises-owning and non-owning partners may need separate allocations.
• Repairs and improvements can have different tax treatment.
• Mortgage capital repayments are different from mortgage interest.

These situations are exactly where generic accountancy pages become too shallow. The page should help you name the issue, collect evidence and ask the accountant a practical question rather than asking for a broad opinion.

A simple monthly workflow

For gp premises records, monthly discipline is usually more valuable than a long year-end cleanup. Start with the source report, not the bank feed. For this topic, that usually means checking lease, freehold or ownership documents., notional rent or rent reimbursement statements. and mortgage statements and interest summaries. before the numbers are summarised. Then reconcile the report to money received or paid, label any deductions, and keep a short note for anything that looks unusual.

The note does not need to be polished. A useful note might say that a payment was a prior-month adjustment, a deduction was taken before the bank receipt, a partner's drawings changed from a certain date, a clinician moved practice, an invoice included equipment and installation, or a pension statement has not arrived yet. Those notes make the accountant's work faster because they explain why the bank movement and the tax figure may not match.

At year end, build one folder for source documents and one summary sheet. The source folder proves the figures; the summary sheet helps the accountant navigate them. If you only keep the summary, the accountant may still need to ask for the original documents. If you only keep the originals, the accountant may spend extra time rebuilding the story from scratch.

What a useful accountant answer looks like

A useful accountant answer should be more specific than "that should be fine". For gp premises records, ask for a short explanation of the treatment, the records relied on, the assumptions made and the items still uncertain. If the question affects VAT, payroll, pension, employment status, goodwill, capital allowances or partner profit share, ask whether the answer should be reviewed again before filing or before a transaction completes.

The best output is a decision trail. It might say which report was used as the gross income source, how deductions were treated, which costs were excluded, how a partner or associate figure was allocated, whether an official threshold or relief was checked, and what should be monitored next month. That decision trail is useful for the current return and for future years, because the same issue often returns with slightly different numbers.

Common mistakes

• Treating all premises cash as ordinary practice income.
• Not separating capital mortgage repayments from interest.
• Ignoring ownership differences between partners.
• Posting improvements as repairs without an accountant review.

The safer approach is to keep source reports and accountant notes together. If a number is later queried, you want to show how the figure moved from the original report into the accounts or tax return.

When to speak to an accountant

Speak to an accountant before the tax return or accounts deadline if the figures affect drawings, partner profit share, NHS pension records, payroll, VAT, premises, capital accounts or a change in role. Waiting until all reports are closed can make the cleanup more expensive.

Questions to ask an accountant

• How should notional rent be shown in the accounts?
• Do premises profits follow ordinary profit shares?
• Which mortgage costs are relevant to tax?
• Are these works repairs or improvements?
• How should non-owning partners be protected in the records?
• What evidence should be kept for a rent review?

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