Dr. Felsted is a CPA as well as a veterinarian and has spent the last 15 years working as a financial and operational consultant to veterinary practices and the animal health industry.  She also spent three years with the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues as CEO.  She has written an extensive number of articles for a wide range of veterinary publications and speaks regularly at national and international veterinary meetings.  She is the current treasurer of VetPartners, a member of the Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board, a member of the CVPM board of directors and the current treasurer of the CATalyst Council.  In 2011, she was awarded the Western Veterinary Conference Practice Management Continuing Educator of the Year and in 2014, the VetPartners Distinguished Life Member Award.Dr. Felsted enjoys exotic international travel, and when the dvm360 team last heard from her, she was headed to the Galapagos.

Q. I'm opening a veterinary practice with grooming services. The groomer wants to lease a room monthly, but I'm not sure how much to charge for rent. Do I charge base rent plus a percentage of her production? 

How much you charge a groomer depends on the services you provide, says 

Editorial Advisory Board member Dr. Karen Felsted, CPA, CVPM, a consultant with Gatto McFerson in Santa Monica, Calif. As a starting point, Dr. Felsted recommends looking at the facility costs for the whole practice in each category (rent, water, and other utilities) and prorating those costs based on the percentage of square footage the groomer is renting. 

You also need to cover your other costs related to the arrangement—and let's not forget about profit, Dr. Felsted says. Will the groomer provide her own administrative services, such as booking appointments, check-in, and checkout? If not, Dr. Felsted recommends you add an amount to the base rent to cover these costs before you look at profit margins. You and the groomer will need to negotiate on this number, which can be a percentage of her sales or a flat amount. "The more you understand about the costs of the services that you will be providing to the groomer," Dr. Felsted says, "the easier it'll be for you to make sure you're charging a fair price for yourself." 

Personnel Management

Q. I'm opening a veterinary practice with grooming services. The groomer wants to lease a room monthly, but I'm not sure how much to charge for rent. Do I charge base rent plus a percentage of her production?

Charging the groomer rent

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