How NASDA began

Paul Kendall, founding member of NASDA, explains the background to one of the most influential professional groups supporting the dental profession.

I can still remember the moment I picked up the phone. A new client had just left my office after telling me about his experiences with his former accountant. This accountant had failed to claim back the National Insurance the dentist had earned through a part-time salaried job. He had also mis-sold the dentist a personal pension. Fortunately I was able to claim back in the region of £6000 for the National Insurance and the pension contributions. But it upset me to think this dentist had received such a shoddy service.

I put a call through to a number of other accountants who, like the firm I work for, Dodd and Co, specialise in dentistry. We talked things through and my anger subsided. But it set me thinking about the value I place on colleagues who share the same values as I do. And how difficult it is for a dentist to know whether they are getting a good service.

A few months later I picked up the phone again to the same people. This time I had a proposal. I suggested we form an organisation of specialist dental accountants, a network of people across the UK, all working to the same agreed high standards.

It’s not a new idea. Other professions and trades have recognised associations which provide important protection and boost confidence among the client group they serve. In a profession like dentistry, where most people are self-employed, I had decided there was a real need for an association of this kind.

NASDA, the National Association of Dental Accountants, was born at our first meeting, in 1998. We met in Stafford, and six firms were represented. Now we meet twice a year and we have thirty-seven members. The organisation stands or falls on its reputation and we are strict about who is allowed to join our ranks. In fact, I would say that nowadays, more firms are turned down than welcomed into the fold.

All our members are Independent Chartered or Chartered Certified Accountants with a proven track record in serving dentists and who place as much value on providing a reasonably priced accountancy service as meeting high standards.

I knew that the formation of NASDA was a good move but even I have been surprised by just how beneficial it is, both to the membership and the profession we work for. Our greatest achievement is the benchmarking figures we produce every year. These are the earnings, outgoings, profits and losses of hundreds of dentists, our clients, which are anonymised and then pooled to create a set of averages. They provide an invaluable context for any sort of audit of an individual dentist’s performance.

Every meeting is enjoyable but more than that, it’s a valuable learning opportunity as we exchange news, strategies and information. I know we are all providing a better service as a result of pooling our expertise. With hindsight, I am grateful that I was forced to act as I did and optimistic that in the light of NASDA’s work, such an experience may be less likely in the future.