In this episode of the Dentology podcast, hosts Andy and Chris chat to Bilal Ahmed, a chief accountant with a passion for financial literacy and a knack for breaking down complex money matters.

Bilal shares his journey from growing up in a family business to navigating the complexities of accountancy and eventually finding his niche in the dental industry.  

He chats about the state of financial literacy in dentistry - why so many professionals struggle with managing personal finances, tax planning, and budgeting, and why these crucial skills aren’t taught in schools or even business education. He also shares some of the financial pitfalls he’s seen dentists fall into and how a shift in mindset can turn tax from a burden into a tool for growth.

With a strong presence on social media, Bilal has also built a reputation for making accountancy engaging and accessible. He explains more about his strategy for educating and demystifying financial topics online and discusses the balance between being data-driven and running a business with human intuition.

Topics:

-         Tell us about your childhood

-         What was it aboutnumbers that inspired you to go deep and study accountancy?

-         How did you happen upon the dental niche?

-         What is your strategy with social media?

-         What is your view on the general levels of financial literacy?

-         Why is there such a lack of emphasis on manging your personal finances, how much tax will I pay, how much should I save, how do I budget and so on? In schools, dental schools, even business education.

-         You must have seen some horror stories over the years, what pitfalls do dentists fall into?

-         Discussing money and numbers tends to be a private matter in the UK, is this part of the issue with people getting into troubles?

-         Tell us about the 3 principles your practice is built on?

-         Does this purely apply to tax or general business advice?

-         What is the crossover between being completely data-driven and the person running the business?

-         What are the practical ways for dental professionals to shift from reactive to proactive planning?

-         Is there a cultural mindset shift needed to not see tax not as a burden but as a natural part of a well-planned and thriving business?

-         What keeps you busy away from work?