Financial Planning for GPs
Empowering GPs to Build Wealth and Financial Freedom
Whether you’re a registrar, contracting to a practice, salaried or an owner, how you’re paid shapes your super, leave, cover and tax. We help you plan for all of them together, reviewed whenever your contract or the practice’s billing changes.
Our Financial Advice Team Is Here to Help You
We Can Help You
- Weigh up a registrar contract, a service agreement, a salaried role or practice ownership for your super and cover
- Plan super under a service agreement, whether the practice pays it or you contribute yourself
- Budget around billings and incentive payments that arrive on their own timetable
- Set aside tax on incentive payments that have no tax withheld, alongside an accountant
- Plan a move to rural general practice, with a HELP debt reduction weighed if you’re eligible
- Review income protection for contracting without paid sick leave
- Plan the move from a hospital payroll to a GP training practice
- Weigh a practice buy-in or exit, with an accountant on tax and a broker on finance
Who We Help
- GP registrars moving from a hospital payroll to a training practice
- Rural generalist registrars training for practice in country communities
- Newly fellowed GPs choosing a first arrangement after training
- Contractor GPs paying a service fee to the practice they work from
- Salaried GPs employed by a practice or a health service
- GPs moving to rural practice with any incentive payments to plan around
- GPs working sessions on fewer days a week across a long career
- Partners and practice owners carrying the practice’s costs and its billing model
What we advise on
How Our Advice Works for GPs
Financial Planning & Advice
When a new contract or a change at the practice comes along, which parts of your plan could change?
A plan reviewed at each contract or practice change can keep your super, cover and savings suited to the way you work.
Together, we’ll set out what each way of working means for your super, leave, cover and tax, before you commit to one.
A GP career can pass through more than one arrangement: a registrar contract with a training practice, a service agreement as a contractor, a salaried role or a share of a practice. Each can change who pays your super, whether leave is paid and what any cover needs to replace. We can review the plan with you at each change.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Leaving the hospital payroll for a first GP training term, with super, leave and cover reviewed before the move
- Fellowship and a first arrangement as a fellowed GP, with salaried and contractor offers compared on the same terms
- A new service agreement or a revised service fee, set as a point to review your budget, super and cover
- A change in how the practice bills, such as joining or leaving a bulk billing incentive program, set as a review point
- Any payroll tax change at the practice that prompts a review of service fees, treated as a time to revisit the plan
- An offer of a rural role, and any incentives that apply to the role, weighed against your household’s plans before you accept
- Fewer sessions a week, at any stage of your career, with the change in income and super built into the plan
- A buy-in offer from the practice’s partners, if one comes, with savings, cover and timing reviewed alongside an accountant
Tax & Wealth Strategies
What could a busy year of consults help you achieve, once tax is planned for?
Thinking about tax across the whole year can leave more of a busy year’s earnings for the goals you care about.
We can plan the tax side of any incentive payments, your billings and any practice interest with you, alongside an accountant.
Ryker’s financial advisers plan tax and set tax structure and strategy, working alongside your accountant, who prepares and lodges your return. Workforce Incentive Program Doctor Stream payments, if you receive them, are assessable income and aren’t subject to PAYG withholding, and any GP training incentives are assessable too. An accountant can confirm what to set aside for each.
Together, we’ll work through:
- An incentive payment that arrives with no tax withheld, with the amount to hold back for tax worked out with an accountant
- Your share of any bulk billing practice incentive, paid to your own account each quarter, with its tax planned alongside an accountant
- Any GP training incentive payments counted as assessable income when an accountant estimates your tax for the year
- Payroll tax if you own a practice, where some states tie relief to bulk billing, planned with an accountant
- The HELP Debt Reduction Program for rural general practice, if you’re eligible, weighed against making voluntary HELP repayments now
- Service agreement income in your own name or through an entity, with an accountant advising, including on personal services income
- A practice interest, if you sell one later, with the capital gains changes from 1 July 2027 explained by an accountant
- Income from sessions at more than one practice, brought together so an accountant can estimate the year’s tax early
Personal Insurance & Protection
How could you keep up with living costs if illness or injury ever kept you from consulting?
Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, under your policy’s definition, to help with living costs.
We can look at income protection with you for each way you work, including contracting with no paid sick leave.
Moneysmart notes that being self-employed means no paid holidays or sick leave, and suggests checking whether a move from employee affects any insurance cover through your super. Income protection usually bases the benefit on your earnings in the 12 months before an illness or injury. The insurer sets the terms of any cover and makes the final decision on any claim.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Cover reviewed after fellowship, when earnings and commitments can change, with any increase subject to the policy’s terms
- Any practice costs that continue under a service agreement while you’re off work, weighed when choosing how much cover to hold
- Any default cover in a fund you joined as an employee, checked before moving to a service agreement, as Moneysmart suggests
- A year with fewer sessions, such as after parental leave or a move, read for its effect on any future benefit
- How a policy counts income when a practice keeps a service fee, read in the policy wording before you apply
- Life and TPD cover reviewed whenever your household’s debts or commitments change, such as after a new home loan
- Trauma cover, which can pay a lump sum for a listed condition that meets the policy’s definition and isn’t excluded
- Sessions at more than one practice, if you work that way, all listed when you apply for cover
Cashflow & Financial Wellbeing
In the months your earnings from the practice run higher, what could the extra help you fund?
Matching bills to the earnings you can rely on can let larger payments go to tax first, then to your chosen goals.
We’ll build a household budget with you on earnings you can count on, with any incentive payment planned before it arrives.
GP earnings can move with sessions, bookings and the practice’s billing, and incentives can arrive separately from regular pay. If you’re a registrar paid on receipts under the NTCER, the practice supplies details of outstanding receipts when employment ends and 3 and 6 months later. We can plan a buffer with you for quieter months and any tax still to pay.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Household bills paid from a set monthly transfer, with billings above that level held back for goals and tax
- Incentive payments, if you receive them, kept out of the everyday budget and planned for a goal before they arrive
- Receipts still arriving after you leave a training practice, if you’re paid on receipts, budgeted from each statement
- Tax on any incentive with nothing withheld, set aside as each payment lands, with an accountant estimating the amount
- Relocation and accommodation for a rural term, which the NTCER doesn’t require a training practice to pay unless agreed
- Months with fewer sessions, such as unpaid leave or a quieter season, saved for from busier weeks
- Any change to a service fee or to the practice’s billing, with the household budget reworked from the next statement
- A buffer built before moving from a salary to a service agreement, to carry any gap while billings build up
Superannuation
Through registrar, contract and salaried years, could more of your pay be going into your super?
Seeing who pays in under each arrangement, and adding more where you choose, can help your super grow through every stage.
We’ll set out with you where super comes from in each arrangement, and what you may want to add yourself.
If your contract follows the NTCER, super is paid on your base rate or percentage of billings or receipts, whichever is higher. On a contract, a business may still have to pay super if you’re paid mainly for your labour. GP training incentives carry no super, though the leave incentives include an amount equal to super you can contribute.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Each payslip from a training practice, matched against your fund’s statement, so super on any billings percentage is visible
- Whether a practice owes super under a service agreement, a question for an accountant, with contributions planned around the answer
- Regular personal contributions in years without employer super, timed to land after billings come in each month
- The amount equal to super in a study or parental leave incentive, if you receive one, and whether to contribute that amount
- A contribution made from incentive payments, if you choose, weighed against keeping the money for tax or a deposit
- Changing practices as an employee, where a stapled fund generally follows you, so contributions can stay in one account
- Premiums for any cover held in super, weighed against what they take from the balance in years without employer contributions
- Your fund’s fees and investment option, reviewed when you leave a payroll for a service agreement
Property Investment Advice
Can a home fit into your plans when your income moves with billings rather than a set salary?
Sizing repayments to your quieter months as well as busy ones can help you choose a home that suits your income.
We can weigh up with you when and where to buy, whatever way you’re paid, alongside a broker.
Lenders decide how they assess contract and billings income, and a broker arranges any loan. If a rural role is part of your plans, how long you expect to stay and any incentives that apply can shape whether buying there suits you. We can weigh both with you before you apply for a loan.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Billing statements and income records kept in order for a broker, who may need to show lenders how you earn
- A deposit saved from incentive payments, if you receive them, once tax on those payments has been set aside
- Buying in a country town for a rural GP role, compared with renting until you know how long you’ll stay
- Repayments tested against a quarter of lower billings, to see whether the loan still fits the budget in a slower stretch
- Stamp duty, removalists and any second home for a rural role, built into the purchase budget before you commit
- A partner’s income, where relevant, with a broker explaining how lenders may view a household where one income is billings-based
- A cash buffer kept after settlement to cover an income protection waiting period, if you contract with no paid sick leave
- The timing of a purchase around the step from registrar to fellowed GP, with a broker on how lenders view the change
Retirement & Aged Care
What could your life look like when you choose to see fewer patients?
Mapping your super, savings and any practice interest together can show the life your later years could support.
We’ll go through with you how a gradual wind-down by sessions could be funded from super, savings and any practice interest.
A GP career can wind down a session at a time. If you own a practice or a share in one, it’s one input beside super and savings. For gains accruing after 1 July 2027, indexation and a 30% minimum tax generally replace the 50% CGT discount, and an accountant can confirm what applies.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Your spending in the years after full-time practice, estimated so the plan shows the income your later years need
- Contract years without employer super shown in the projection, so any personal contributions can be planned well ahead
- Selling a practice share, if you hold one, with the handover and any agreed time consulting afterwards planned in
- Super, generally preserved until you reach preservation age and meet a condition of release, set beside part-time earnings as you cut back
- A retirement income estimate built on stated assumptions, never a promised return, and reviewed as your sessions change
- Handing over patients to colleagues over time, with the drop in billings built into the year-by-year plan
- Locum or occasional sessions after regular practice ends, if you’d like that, with the extra income shown year by year
- A target year to stop consulting, with each step down in sessions planned back from that year
Your GP Career, Worked Through Together
Your GP Arrangement Compared
Registrar, salaried, contractor and owner roles set side by side for super, leave and cover.
Billings and Incentives Budgeted
A household budget built on reliable earnings, with any incentive payments planned before they arrive.
Tax Set Aside on Incentives
Tax on any payment with nothing withheld held back as it lands, with an accountant.
Super Planned for Each Arrangement
Contributions planned around who pays super in each way you work, and what you add.
Cover Reviewed for Contract Work
Income protection and waiting periods weighed against your savings, on the policy’s terms.
A Rural Move Planned
Buying or renting in a country town weighed against the role and how long you’ll stay.
HELP Reduction Weighed
A rural HELP debt reduction, if you’re eligible, weighed against repaying early.
A Gradual Step Back in View
Fewer sessions, super and any practice interest planned together for your later working years.
Proactive, Holistic, and Experienced Financial Planning
Much of general practice is about caring for the same patients and families over many years. Your own finances can change along the way, with a new contract, a move to a country town or a change in how the practice works. We start by listening to what you want from your work and your life. Then we help you build a plan for your earnings, super and cover, and we review it with you whenever your arrangement changes.
Life beyond the consulting room matters to us just as much. If there’s a partner, children, parents you help or a community you’d like to stay part of, we’ll plan with them in mind too. Whether the years ahead bring fellowship, a country practice, a share in a practice or fewer sessions each week, we’ll plan each change with you, so your money can support the life you’d like to lead.
Every financial decision impacts the next
Your Financial Life Is Connected
Great advice starts with understanding the bigger picture. Every stage of life presents new opportunities and challenges, from buying property and changing careers to growing your family, planning for retirement and protecting what matters most. At Ryker, we help connect every piece of your financial world into one clear strategy.
Your
Wealth
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
Frequently Asked Questions
We’re invested in your long-term success. What we do is personal, and we take it personally.
Your financial decisions connect, so we consider the parts of your financial life that are relevant to the advice you need:
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
This is how we help you make decisions today with your longer-term goals in view.
Everybody’s situation is different, so we listen first, understand what matters to you and explain your options clearly before we make a recommendation.
It depends on your agreement and how the arrangement works. On a contract, a business may still have to pay super if you’re paid mainly for your labour, so a service agreement doesn’t settle the question on its own. An accountant can confirm whether the practice owes super in your case.
If the practice doesn’t pay super for you, contributions are yours to plan. We can set an amount with you that suits your cashflow, and review it if your agreement or your sessions change.
Your accountant and financial adviser bring different expertise to the same decisions. Your accountant can advise on tax reporting, structures and consequences; we help you plan how cashflow, debt, super, investments and protection work towards your goals. We can coordinate before important decisions.
What an accountant does
- Prepares and lodges tax returns, BAS and financial statements
- Advises on tax structures such as companies, trusts and partnerships
- Manages bookkeeping, payroll and ATO compliance
- Provides tax advice on the consequences of a transaction
What a financial adviser does
- Sets a long term strategy across retirement, investing and cash flow
- Builds wealth from early in a working life, starting with cash flow, a first home and super
- Recommends specific super funds, investments and personal insurance
- Operates under an Australian Financial Services Licence, which is required to give personal advice on financial products
- Handles retirement planning, Centrelink and aged care strategy, and estate planning considerations
Professional roles and authorisations matter. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and work with your accountant for specialist tax advice and lodgements.
Where they work together
- Tax position. Your accountant confirms your marginal rate, deductions and carried forward losses, which shapes decisions on super contributions, investment structures and the timing of asset sales.
- Business and entity structures. Your accountant advises on the structure itself and your financial adviser works within it for investments, insurance and succession planning.
- Cash flow. Your accountant’s figures can help us understand what’s available for debt repayment, protection and longer-term goals.
- Before key decisions. We can coordinate with your accountant on contributions, asset sales and other material choices in time to consider relevant tax consequences.
Yes, they’re assessable income. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says Workforce Incentive Program Doctor Stream payments aren’t subject to PAYG withholding and don’t attract GST, so no tax is taken out when they’re paid.
That means the tax on them is worked out when your return is lodged. If you receive these payments, an accountant can estimate how much to set aside from each one, and we can build that amount into your budget with you so it’s ready when the tax is due.
If your practice takes part in the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, eligibility is assessed each quarter, and payments are based on the eligible services billed in that quarter. Services Australia says the incentive is distributed equally between the practice and the provider, and your share is paid directly to the bank account recorded for you in HPOS.
Taking part is voluntary, and a practice can opt in or out. An accountant can advise on the tax on your share, and we can plan the payments into your budget with you.
Your employer and the way you’re paid can both change. Points worth knowing:
- Under the NTCER, if it applies to your contract, pay is a base rate, or a percentage of billings or receipts where that’s higher.
- Super is paid on the base rate or the percentage, whichever is higher.
- If you’re paid on receipts, the practice supplies details of outstanding receipts when your employment ends, and again 3 and 6 months later.
- GP training incentives, if you receive them, are assessable income, and no super is paid on them.
We can plan your budget, super and cover with you before the move.
Webinars, guides and events for GPs can be a useful way to learn the general rules on tax, super, insurance and borrowing.
Advice starts from your own situation: your contract or service agreement, how you’re paid, any incentive payments, your super, your cover and your goals. A financial adviser can recommend what suits you and review it with you when your arrangement changes.
The two can work well together. We can build on what you’ve already learned and plan each decision with you.
It comes down to your plans and your timing. Points worth weighing:
- The HELP Debt Reduction Program can reduce HELP debt for eligible doctors who live in and provide general practice services in rural, remote and very remote areas, and waive indexation on what’s outstanding.
- How much is reduced depends on the time you spend working in an eligible location, so how long you expect to stay matters.
- Compulsory repayments still apply in the meantime, through your tax return, in any year your repayment income is above the minimum repayment threshold.
- Money put towards voluntary repayments can’t also go to a deposit, a buffer or the costs of moving.
The Department of Education sets out who’s eligible. We can weigh the choice with you.
Each policy sets its own definition of income, which matters when part of what you bill goes to the practice as a service fee. The benefit is usually worked out from your earnings in the year before you became unable to work, so a run of fewer sessions in that year can show up in the amount.
As a contractor you generally won’t have paid sick leave to use first, so the wait before payments start is worth matching to your savings. We can go through policy terms with you before you apply, and the insurer makes the final decision on any claim.
Yes, and we start from where you are, whether that’s a first community training term or a choice between a service agreement and a salaried role.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first.
It’s useful to have your contract or service agreement, a billing summary, any incentive payment advice, your latest super statement and your HELP balance, if you have them. We can meet in person or online.
Who We Help
Advice for All Stages of Life
From first job to retirement, we help you build wealth, protect it, and live well.
Starting Out
First jobs, first home, first super, HECS debt, budgeting and more.
Growing Families
First home buyers, new parents, school fees, single incomes, young families and more.
Medical & Health
Doctors, dentists, pharmacists, allied health, nurses and more.
Professional Services & Tech
Lawyers, accountants, brokers, engineers, consultants and more.
Trades & Business Owners
Electricians, plumbers, builders, sole traders, franchisees and more.
Corporate & Executive
Executives, senior managers, directors, board members and more.
Public Sector & Defence
Police, firefighters, paramedics, ADF personnel, teachers and more.
Approaching Retirement
Pre-retirees, transition to retirement, Age Pension, aged care, estate planning and more.
Other Stages
Any income, any stage, career changers, separation, second opinions and more.
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Grow & Protect Your Wealth Today
Whatever’s on your mind, we’re here to help. You’ll speak with an authorised financial adviser who’ll listen first and get to know what matters to you.
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