Easy Ways to Boost Audiology Profit
Authored by: Frank Vinopal – Partner, CPA | Date Published: July 15, 2025
In the field of audiology, your mission is clear: to improve the quality of lives through better hearing. Every day is dedicated to patient care, using your knowledge to properly diagnose, treat, and provide solutions that impact individuals and their families. This commitment to improving health outcomes is what defines your practice.
However, beyond the impact of patient well-being lies the importance of maintaining a financially healthy practice. You’re not just treating hearing loss; you’re building a business that supports critical treatment for your patients and supports the employees and your community. A firm financial foundation is what allows you the flexibility to invest in new technologies, attract top talent, and reach more people in need.
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Why Tracking Financial Metrics is Non-Negotiable
Understanding your practice’s financial health goes far beyond simply knowing your income and expenses. By tracking your financial metrics, you gain the knowledge to make informed decisions, find areas of strength and weakness, and strategically plan for future expansion or even the potential sale of your practice. This data can also inform your audiology marketing strategies, helping you target effectively.
This is where MBE CPAs steps in as your dedicated financial partner. We go beyond basic bookkeeping to provide the financial guidance that enables your audiology practice to grow.
Which Financial Metrics Should I Monitor?
To gain an understanding of your practice’s performance, here are some key metrics to keep a close eye on, and how MBE CPAs can help you to track and interpret them:
- Conversion Rate (Opportunity to Treatment): Of the patients that are potential candidates for hearing aid fitting/treatment, how many of those successfully move forward with a treatment plan? For example, if you aim for 10 opportunity appointments per week, how many results in 4-5 fittings? We can assist you in setting benchmarks and identifying areas for process improvements to significantly boost your conversion rate success.
- Cost Per Lead (CPL): How much does your practice spend trying to acquire a potential patient? That is, what is your practice’s total marketing spend divided by the number of leads generated? This is directly impacted by the efficacy of your hearing loss marketing efforts. We can help you to analyze your marketing expenses against new patient data, allowing you to improve your budget and invest in the most cost-effective channels for growth.
- Understanding Major Expense Categories: For any audiology practice, meticulously monitoring the three major expense categories- Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), Marketing, and Payroll- is crucial for accurate financial understanding and decision-making. The importance is not necessarily in trying to reduce these figures, but rather routinely monitoring these numbers to ensure accuracy, comparing them to industry norms, and accounting for any unexpected changes.
- Ratio of Level of Technology Used to Fit Patients: Tracking this data serves as a vital barometer for evaluating various aspects of your operations, from assessing the effectiveness of your marketing strategies and pre-appointment patient education to establishing benchmarks for improving profitability. It can also be used to determine if your providers are giving an effective audiological assessment and their effectiveness in the room with the patient. By improving on these various items, you can, in turn, enhance patient satisfaction and retention, with the ultimate potential of driving in more referrals.
- Breakeven Analysis: This gives you a guideline of the volume of services/sales needed to cover all operational costs and pinpoint areas for greater efficiency. We can help you understand these numbers and create a plan for improvement.
Key Performance Indicators to Monitor
Along with measuring your financial metrics, there are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that are important to track. Inbound and outbound call conversion rates are important to see how initial and follow-up inquiries are turning into appointments. Tracking your rates on opportunities, (bringing a companion to an appointment, and new vs. existing patient opportunities), hearing aid return rate by provider, and average selling price (ASP) of units sold can all contribute to the growth of your practice.
From Data to Dominance
Regular Review and Analysis
You shouldn’t pull these numbers once a year. With MBE CPAs, you’ll benefit from monthly metric reviews that we conduct with you. These regular check-ins allow us to quickly identify both positive trends to capitalize on and negative trends that need immediate attention.
Benchmarking
How do you stack up? We help you compare your practice’s metrics against industry averages (available through reputable resources like American Academy of Audiology). This benchmarking provides invaluable context, helping you to understand where you stand relative to your peers and pinpoint areas for improvement. We can help you translate these comparisons into actionable strategies.
Set Clear, Measurable Goals
Once we’ve identified areas for improvement, we will work with you to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for each metric. For example, “Increase conversion rates for providers by 10% in the next quarter.” We don’t just help you identify your goals; we help you create a plan to achieve these goals.
Strategic Resource Allocation
Gaining information on your financial metrics will give you insights to reallocate your marketing budget, invest in specific staff training, and optimize your service offerings. For example, if Cost Per Lead is high for a specific marketing channel, we’ll help you investigate and transition to more cost-efficient channels that will produce higher results.
Staff Education and Empowerment
We believe in educating your entire team. MBE CPAs can help you inform your staff of the importance of educating and preparing each patient for their appointment and how their individual roles contribute to overall success. We can give your front office staff the tools and abilities to turn inquiries into appointments and your providers the knowledge to optimize patient interactions for improved conversion rates. We emphasize the importance of encouraging continuing education from audiology-accredited programs that can further empower your staff, directly impacting your financial metrics.
Working with MBE CPAs Year-Round
The days of meeting your CPA just once a year are over. Strategic financial planning offers a wide range of benefits, but to maximize these benefits, an ongoing, collaborative relationship is essential. At MBE CPAs, we promote this through:
Monthly Check-ins vs. Annual Meetings
Instead of a last-minute meeting before the tax deadline, let us ease your stress with regular proactive check-ins and profit coaching. These don’t just involve monitoring your taxes, but they provide a report on your financial health, addressing questions as they arise, and identifying opportunities in real-time.
Proactive Communication
We won’t wait for you to reach out when a problem arises, we will proactively communicate with you about relevant tax law changes, potential planning opportunities, and reminders for key deadlines. This allows you to be informed and make timely, financially sound decisions that directly benefit your practice.
Quarterly Strategy Sessions
These sessions are not just about compliance; they are about leveraging financial insights to improve your overall business profitability and long-term financial health. We’ll prepare comprehensive reports that make these complex discussions clear and actionable.
Final Thoughts
In audiology, financial health is not separate from patient care; it’s connected. A strong, profitable practice has the capacity to invest in the latest technology, provide ongoing professional development for its team, and expand its reach to serve more individuals struggling with hearing loss.
Diligent monitoring and strategic action on key profitability metrics, coupled with MBE CPAs as your financial guide, strengthens your practice to dominate in the audiology sector. We want to contribute to your long-term success and the exceptional care your patients deserve. Start measuring, start analyzing, and start accessing your practice’s full potential today.
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