When pharmacy expertise matters

They ran a tight operation and grew the pharmacy into one of the busiest in Cork. What they didn’t have, until a change of circumstances brought them to ifac in 2021, was a clear view of how the business measured up to its peers.

The Quills came to ifac following the sudden passing of their previous accountant. It was a difficult moment but it prompted Nicky to look carefully at the market and seek out someone with specialist insight. “I heard that Yvonne McCormack’s pharmacy accounting expertise would be invaluable to us,” Nicky recalls. “She had knowledge of the sector and understood the challenges we faced.”

From compliance to clarity

Before engaging with ifac, the pharmacy’s accounts were largely compliance driven. “We had no idea where our staffing levels should be as a percentage of turnover, whether our gross and net profit were in line, or whether our stock holding was too high,” Nicky recalls. “Once we started working with Yvonne, it really opened our eyes.”

Yvonne McCormack, Partner at ifac, works with a large number of pharmacies across Ireland. That breadth of experience means she can precisely benchmark a client’s performance. “We know what a given pharmacy’s gross profit percentage should be based on its sales mix,” Yvonne explains. “We can look at areas like vaccinations or blood pressure services and say, based on what similar pharmacies are doing, here’s where you might be leaving something on the table.”

For the Quills, the benchmarking exercise delivered a reassuring verdict. “I was surprised to learn that we were more or less where we should have been,” says Nicky. However, the work with the team at ifac also identified areas to tighten further, particularly around bookkeeping and tracking the sales mix year-on-year.

Beyond the numbers

Ifac also handles payroll for the pharmacy and has brought in wider expertise to support the couple’s personal financial planning. They are now working towards a structured long-term exit or succession plan by making the business progressively leaner and more transferable.

According to Nicky: “I know the roadmap now. I’ve been given a clear objective and I’m working towards it month by month.”

Yvonne points to the constantly shifting regulatory landscape as one of the key reasons why ifac’s expertise matters. The HSE regularly adjusts fees and scheme terms and the cumulative effect on margins can be significant. Staying on top of that requires advisers who are not just processing the numbers.

“Industry insights and knowledge of sector norms are invaluable,” Nicky adds. “You have to buy smarter and mind the pennies. You need someone who notices when something is out of line and who wants to understand why.”