Specialist accountancy for associates, practice owners and squat founders in Edinburgh — from a team that works exclusively with dentists.
The short version. Health service dentistry in Edinburgh is commissioned by NHS Lothian. Income comes from item-of-service fees and allowances under the Statement of Dental Remuneration, paid through Practitioner Services at NHS National Services Scotland. Practices are inspected by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and dentists are in the NHS Superannuation Scheme (Scotland), administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency. We work with Edinburgh dentists remotely, and only with dentists.
A strong private and plan market alongside NHS commitment — Edinburgh practices often carry the most valuable goodwill in Scotland.
Edinburgh carries a substantial private and capitation-plan market alongside health-service commitment, and plan income behaves differently from both. It is contracted, monthly and predictable, which makes it valuable at sale — but only if it is documented well enough for a buyer to rely on. Plan schedules, patient numbers and lapse handling all belong in the sale pack.
Where goodwill is valuable, structure matters more, because the tax on the exit is a bigger number. Business Asset Disposal Relief, how the premises are held and whose name the goodwill sits in are decisions to take years ahead of a sale, not weeks. Rateable value is set by the local Assessor and billed by the City of Edinburgh Council, with the Small Business Bonus Scheme the relief to check.
NHS Lothian plans health-service dentistry for Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders side of the region, with payments running through Practitioner Services at NHS National Services Scotland. As in the rest of Scotland there are no UDAs — income comes from item-of-service fees and allowances, which is a different set of numbers to model.
NHS dentistry in Scotland works differently from England: there are no UDAs — payment runs through item-of-service fees under the Statement of Dental Remuneration, plus allowances, with practices inspected under Healthcare Improvement Scotland arrangements. Income analysis, benchmarking and practice appraisals need to reflect that system — an England-trained generalist reading a Scottish practice through UDA eyes will misread it. Scottish income tax bands also differ, which changes associate take-home and incorporation arithmetic.
Edinburgh has no undergraduate dental school — Scotland's are at Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen — though the city is a significant centre for postgraduate dental training. Associates arriving from England should know they have changed pension scheme as well as address: Scotland has its own NHS Superannuation Scheme, administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, not the England-and-Wales scheme. Dental Foundation Training in Scotland is run by NHS Education for Scotland.
"How much is my dental practice worth" has a different answer in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK, because the payment system your income comes from is different — item-of-service fees and allowances under the Statement of Dental Remuneration, paid through Practitioner Services at NHS National Services Scotland. A valuation built on English UDA assumptions will misread a Scottish or Northern Irish practice, and a Welsh one whose activity measures have been rebased by contract reform. Our valuation guide explains how the nation changes the answer.
No, and it is worth being honest about why. Everything runs remotely — video and phone around clinical hours, records and approvals handled securely online — which is how most of our clients prefer it: no afternoons lost to accountant visits. What you gain by widening the search past your postcode is a firm that already knows item-of-service fees and allowances under the Statement of Dental Remuneration, the NHS Superannuation Scheme (Scotland) and Healthcare Improvement Scotland without being told.
NHS Lothian. Income is earned through item-of-service fees and allowances under the Statement of Dental Remuneration, paid through Practitioner Services at NHS National Services Scotland, and practices are inspected by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
More than the address. In Scotland you are in the NHS Superannuation Scheme (Scotland), administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, you pay Scottish income tax rates and bands, set by the Scottish Parliament and different from the rest of the UK, your practice is inspected by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and health service income comes from item-of-service fees and allowances under the Statement of Dental Remuneration, paid through Practitioner Services at NHS National Services Scotland. A cross-border move changes the pension scheme, the payment mechanism, the regulator and often the tax arithmetic at the same time, so it is worth a conversation before the start date rather than after it.
No — we work remotely with dentists across Scotland and the whole UK, by video and phone, scheduled around clinical hours, with everything shared securely online. In practice that means faster responses than a local generalist, from a team that only does dentistry.
Yes — pre-offer appraisals, financial due diligence, funding introductions and structure advice, built around how health service dentistry actually works in Scotland. Send us the sales pack before you offer, not after.
Your tax return filed early, a monthly set-aside figure so January is a non-event, your superannuation reconciled against actual pensionable earnings, honest incorporation advice with the NHS Superannuation Scheme (Scotland) in the picture, and unlimited advice through the year — all for a fixed monthly fee.
A free, no-obligation conversation about your situation. If we can't add value, we'll tell you.
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