If you ask most CPAs why they picked the industries they serve, you’ll probably get an answer about market size or opportunity. But my answer is a lot more personal.
It Started With My kids… And My Parents
When I had my kids, I started paying attention to health in a way I never had before.
My own parents were never active. They both smoked, they were sedentary, and health problems caught up with them early. My dad passed away at 74, and my mom is now on oxygen in assisted living in her seventies.
Because of that, my kids don’t really have grandparents in their lives. When we’re at their sports games, I watch other kids get cheered on by grandparents in the stands, and mine don’t have that.
That’s a hard thing to sit with as a parent. And it planted a seed early on: I never wanted to be that kind of grandparent.
I wanted to still be active, mobile, and present when my kids have kids of their own… and that means I need to focus on my health, today.
So sports and activity have become a big part of our family life. We all bike together, we’re at every practice and every game, and our kids are deep into sports culture. My 14-year-old is chasing a dream of playing football through college and beyond, and my husband has him drinking protein shakes and eating like an athlete already.
And now that I’m in my 40s and heading into perimenopause, all of it hits even closer to home. Suddenly all the advice I used to skim past (i.e., Eat more protein! Stay active! Walk after meals! Stand up from your desk!) actually applies to me.
As you age, you realize staying strong and mobile isn’t optional if you want to keep up with your kids (and eventually your grandkids).
So that’s my why. I serve business owners who serve their community by helping people feel better, stronger, and healthier, because that’s the life I strive to live every day.
Why Health & Wellness Businesses are Different Than Other Business Models
People often ask me, what exactly qualifies as a “health and wellness” business?
The answer is, I work with a range of businesses dedicated to making people feel healthier (and happier), including but not limited to: gyms, med spas, pilates and yoga studios, Crossfit gyms, dance studios, hair salons, nail salons, acupuncturists, physical therapists, doulas, massage therapists… the list goes on and on.
But the common thread woven through all of these businesses is this:
Running a wellness practice comes with financial complexities that a lot of other small businesses simply don’t have.
For example:
- Membership models that create ongoing revenue but also ongoing compliance questions
- Independent contractors, like personal trainers or instructors, who need to be properly classified
- Sales tax and provider tax exposure that many owners don’t realize applies to them
- Multi-state tax issues, especially when products ship across state lines or employees work remotely
- Insurance reimbursements, which add another layer most typical small businesses never deal with
I saw this firsthand years ago with a gym owner I worked with: He’d learned that his gym memberships were subject to sales tax, which is something he hadn’t accounted for. We were also able to get him a bigger deduction than he expected by properly writing off his equipment and the buildout of his space.
These are the kind of things that are easy to miss if you’re not working with a CPA year-round, and they can either cost you thousands of dollars or save you thousands of dollars, depending on how prepared or unprepared you are.
What Are the Biggest Blind Spots Health & Wellness Business Owners Tend to Have?
Across almost every wellness business owner I talk to, a few themes come up again and again:
- Compliance: making sure everything is filed correctly and on time, every time, and in accordance with changing tax laws.
- Worker classification: figuring out whether the people helping them (trainers, instructors, contractors) should be classified as employees or independent contractors.
- Paying themselves: how much, how often, and in what form, which changes depending on how their business is structured.
If there’s one thing wellness founders need the most help navigating, it’s the concept of paying themselves. So many owners pour money back into their business and treat their own paycheck as an afterthought. Part of my job is helping them find the right balance: how to take enough to sustain their lifestyles, but in a way that’s strategically designed to minimize their tax burden.
Why Choose a Specialized CPA Over a Generalist CPA?
A generalist CPA can file your taxes, of course. But a CPA who specializes in wellness businesses knows to check for sales tax on memberships, understands how to properly depreciate equipment and buildouts, knows the right entity structure for how you actually operate, and recognizes the seasonal cash flow patterns that are common in this industry. At Wood CPA, we know all about the slow months, the enrollment surges, the way revenue ebbs and flows differently than a typical retail or service business.
That industry context changes the questions I ask and the things I catch before they become expensive surprises.
What a Great Client Relationship Looks Like
The wellness business owners I work best with are the ones who:
- Get their systems set up properly from the start to record revenue accurately
- Do tax planning with me throughout the year, not just at filing time
- Keep personal and business expenses separate
- Genuinely want to understand their numbers, not just hand them off
When those organizational and foundational pieces are in place (and never fear, we will help you get there), we’re set up for success. From there, helping these businesses grow is just like putting a puzzle together: a fun challenge that’s sure to turn out beautifully.
Let Wood CPA Take Care of the Numbers For You
You didn’t start a gym, studio, or wellness practice because you love sales tax nuances or worker classification rules. Let someone who specializes in this space carry that weight, so you can focus on the people you’re helping get healthier and stronger.
Let us help you help others. Schedule a free call with us today.
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