They all seemed to not truly understand what I needed from them to help me know how my practice was doing. Without closing your books properly, it could result in mistakes and inaccurate depictions of how much profit or loss was experienced within one accounting dental bookkeeping period. To close your books properly, you’ll need to transfer journal entries to a general ledger account. At the end of a financial period, you’ll need to close your books. Meaning that the financial information in the reports is finalized.

This proactive approach allows you to plan for upcoming expenses and allocate resources accordingly. I’d like to share our Bookkeeping for Dentists monthly checklist with you and walk you through the items on it so you can also achieve the same quality bookkeeping. If you’re not the one doing your bookkeeping, then this would be great to share with your current bookkeeper or accountant to follow along. See your practice overhead expenses alongside the averages of other practices in the app or compare against industry standards developed by dental CPA firms. You continue to pay your bills and run your payroll while you get a dedicated bookkeeper keeping track of the financial activity in your business accounts in QuickBooks Online. This is our app that compares your overhead costs against other practices.

Just continue to pay your bills and run your payroll. We do the rest.

Pre-COVID you could typically call our office and get in touch with a CPA same-day to answer your business or tax question. We strive to provide an open line of communication between our team and our dental clients. Spend more time with patients and less time hovering over a spreadsheet. We’ll keep track of your revenue and expenses, providing you with valuable benchmarks for sustainable growth.

Make sure you choose one with extensive dental business consulting. Many businesses recognize this issue after their first few months or year of operations, but the damage is done by then. To avoid unnecessary accounting work, open separate business accounts before transitioning to practice ownership. Providing care to your dental patients is a full-time job, and every additional hour you can dedicate to your core competency increases the efficiency and profitability of your business. Dentists accept the lower prices insurance companies set for their services in exchange for the consistency of capitation payments and increased patient volume due to insurance referrals. That’s because litigation is one of the most significant risks in the healthcare industry, and you can’t afford to leave yourself exposed.

welcome to brighter smiles bookkeeping!

This could involve renegotiating contracts, optimizing staffing levels, or finding alternative solutions that maintain quality while reducing expenses. This involves analyzing each expense category to identify areas where costs can be controlled or reduced. Regularly assess bookkeeping processes and systems, seeking opportunities to enhance efficiency and address any challenges that may arise. Regular auditing and reviews of bookkeeping records are crucial for identifying discrepancies, ensuring accuracy, and maintaining financial transparency. Implement regular and secure backup procedures for digital records.

All businesses need to know how they make money and where the money is spent. Successful businesses know exactly where it goes and to whom for cost-effective evaluations. Another tool in QuickBooks, not in Quicken, is the Accountant’s Review. This handy tool allows you to make an Accountants Copy for your accountant, who can then make adjustments to your finances, entries for tax purposes, etc.

Get clean bookkeeping & reports

To avoid this serious issue, you may want to consider outsourcing. Outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional bookkeeping firm is an excellent way to save your clinic money while getting the bookkeeping expertise that you require to keep your books up to date. They handle all of their staff’s hiring, training, and management, so you don’t have to. With years of training and expertise, we know how to help your practice achieve greatness. We have been recognized as industry leaders offering a number of services for dental professionals. We typically reply to your email or phone call within one business day.

For example, dental practice management and payroll service software are essential tools for many dentists. Effective cash flow management is vital for the day-to-day operations of a dental clinic. It ensures the clinic has enough liquidity to cover expenses, invest in growth, and weather any financial challenges. One of your main goals is to grow your practice by either increasing the number of patients you see or expanding to new locations. When this occurs, the number of accounting transactions that will need to be handled will also grow.

We all know how little business training we get in school, and knowing how to manage your business effectively and efficiently is equally as important as the dental skills. The Percentology course that Sona and her team at Percentology have put together should be mandatory training for any dentist who owns or is even thinking about buying their own practice. This is to ensure that data from other accounting periods doesn’t bleed into the current period . These are important distinctions that might be overlooked when using a standard COA as opposed to a dental industry COA. One strictly for the business, and one that’s for personal transactions.

• This financial buffer provides stability during unforeseen challenges.
• That means you should take the time to explore your financial statements and look for ways to improve your profitability, cash flows, or operational efficiency.
• We typically reply to your email or phone call within one business day.
• Efficient tracking of insurance payments is crucial for financial transparency and effective revenue management.
• That means you’re in-network with a dental benefit plan and usually involves collecting payments from insurance companies and patients.
• And to top it off, we can calculate profit distributions and year-end reconciliation of draws.

By staying proactive and informed, you can position your practice for long-term success. In conclusion, effective bookkeeping is not just a matter of compliance; it’s a powerful tool for driving the growth and success of dental practices. These tools often come with features specific to the industry, streamlining processes such as patient billing, insurance tracking, and expense management. A number of accounting software systems are available for your practice, and it can be bewildering to know which one to use. Accounting software is a compliment to automated practices that use dental practice-management software. The patient’s financial information, completed and planned treatment, payments, and insurance is managed within the dental practice software (accounts receivable).