The split is a calculation, and the books must show the work
Most associate agreements pay a percentage of collections, not billings, and that one word does the heavy lifting. A no-show, an insurer that reverses a claim, a refund on a prepaid visit package: each changes what the associate is owed that month. When the split gets computed from a screenshot of a Jane App report nobody has reconciled, the clinic is guessing with someone else's income.
We rebuild the base every month: collections by practitioner out of Jane, tied to the bank, net of refunds and reversals, with the percentage applied to the reconciled figure. Each associate receives a monthly statement showing the base, the rate and any deductions, and each February a T4A reporting their fees for services. When an associate questions a payout, the statement settles it in minutes instead of souring the relationship for months.
Contractor or employee: the CRA tests facts, not labels
Calling an associate an independent contractor does not make them one. The CRA weighs who controls hours and treatment methods, who owns the tables and tools, whether the associate carries a real chance of profit and risk of loss, and how deeply they are folded into the clinic's operation. Reclassification is expensive: both halves of CPP, EI premiums with penalties and interest, and vacation-pay entitlements under Ontario employment standards, all assessed retroactively.
| Supports contractor status | Points toward employment |
|---|---|
| Associate sets their own schedule and clinical approach | Clinic dictates hours, protocols and visit quotas |
| Own CCO registration, own malpractice coverage, free to work elsewhere | Exclusivity required and income guaranteed regardless of collections |
| Invoices the clinic a percentage of their own collections | Flat periodic pay that behaves like a wage |
| Builds and can take a patient following | Agreement locks every patient relationship to the clinic |
One more wrinkle sits in the drafting. A split written as the clinic charging the associate an administration or facility fee can be a taxable supply by the clinic for HST purposes, and it counts toward the clinic's registration threshold even though everyone's clinical work is exempt. We read the agreement's money-flow clauses before the CRA does.
Money in: batches, programs and the front desk
Direct billing through Telus Health eClaims lands as one deposit covering many patients across several insurers, rarely on the day of treatment. WSIB pays program-of-care fees on its own schedule, auto-insurer claims submitted through HCAI arrive later still, and the card terminal deposits patient portions net of processing fees. Books that record deposits as revenue will misstate every practitioner's split base and every month's margin.
So we set a day-end routine: Jane's end-of-day report balanced to the terminal batch before the front desk leaves, insurer receivables carried by payer, and a weekly look at anything aging past 30 days. Front desks keep the routine because it takes minutes; owners keep it because it finds money that would otherwise leak silently.
Prepaid visit packages deserve their own line of defence. A patient who buys twelve visits and has attended four is owed eight, and that obligation is a liability, not revenue. Booking the package as income on day one flatters this month, starves the months that deliver the care, and quietly distorts every associate's split base along the way. We carry package balances as patient credits, release revenue as visits happen, and reconcile the credit report at every close.
Exempt care rewires the bookkeeping defaults
Chiropractic services are HST-exempt, so the clinic charges no tax on visits and recovers none of the 13% it pays on rent, software, supplies and equipment. We record operating costs HST-inclusive, because that is what they actually cost, and we keep orthotics and retail products on their own income lines, since those sales follow different HST logic and can eventually force registration. That split of the chart of accounts is boring to set up and valuable every month after.
All of it runs inside End-to-End Accounting: bookkeeping, payroll for reception and admin staff, financial reporting and tax filing under one roof, on QuickBooks Online with Dext capturing supplier bills. Month-end arrives as a short report: collections by practitioner, split costs, overhead, cash position, and whatever moved. If a CRA letter ever asks about a T4A or a classification, CRA Audit & Review Support answers it from records we already maintain. We run this monthly rhythm for clinics across Mississauga and the GTA.
