Bookkeeping for Dentists

Becoming a dentist and opening up a dental practice doesn’t come overnight. There are many years of hard work, studying, and apprenticeships behind it, during which you learn everything from filling cavities to removing a tooth, but probably not much about bookkeeping for dentists. If you’re tired of books and continuous studying, you might want to leave taking care of these books to someone else.

Why You Should Know a Thing or Two About Bookkeeping for Dentists

Let’s face it, dental bookkeeping doesn’t sound fun at all. Although, as a dentist, you probably get excited about all sorts of weird stuff, such as giving anesthesia, filing a financial statement, or dealing with tax preparation probably are not one of them. And that’s totally understandable. Everyone should do what they know best, which is why as a dental professional, you should probably leave bookkeeping to someone else.

Sure, cash flow monitoring on a daily basis sounds interesting but do you really have the time to do it on your own, or even worse, to hand in such a responsibility to a member of your dental office? As a responsible small business owner, you should be aware of your tax obligations and financial records, but you’re not the one who should be taking care of them.

What Is Bookkeeping for Dentists?

All oral healthcare providers working in the dental industry should find a reliable dental practice accounting service as soon as they start working. Bookkeeping is a core term that stands for tracking and taking records of all financial transactions on a daily level.

It might sound like it is not a lot of work, but when you have a dental practice through which dozens of patients go through every day, there will be a lot of transactions to follow, which is why you need a bookkeeping service that will take care of it all instead of you.

7 Essential Bookkeeping Tips for Dentists

As a dentist, you’re probably not afraid to dive into the unknown, which is why figuring out how dental practice accounting functions shouldn’t be too intimidating. And it really is not, it is all a matter of good organization and discipline when it comes to recording all of your transactions. Here are a few things you should keep in mind when starting an adventure like this.

• Get familiar with some basics of dental accounting – don’t know what is a balance sheet or cash flow statement? You don’t really need a bookkeeper or an accountant to gather basic financial information, but you do need to familiarize yourself with the basics.
• Separate personal and business expenses – while you’re still at the very beginning, it could be very easy to fall into this trap and pay some things from your personal bank account. However, mixing these two categories will cause you more problems in the long run, especially with tax planning, so it is better to keep them separate. Also, it will be hard to see the bigger picture and the financial well-being of your dental office.
• Go digital – forget about the old-school pen-and-paper approach. It is a good backup method, but you do need a reliable program that will help you run things smoothly and efficiently. It might take some time to get used to it or train someone to do it, but it will pay off in the long run.
• Keep an eye on your cash flow – when talking about cash flow, many think only about the profit, but what also counts is the money that goes out. You need to track both streams to be able to see the real picture and spot eventual shortages timely.
• Make monthly financial statements – just like you get your own bank statement at the end of each month, you should have one for your dental office. Just to draw the line, see where you are in comparison to the previous month, how it is going, and so on.
• Track your equipment – every dental office has to invest a lot in all sorts of equipment, which is usually very expensive. Keep in mind that such equipment is an asset and that it loses value over time, so tracking its depreciation is a crucial thing to do. Also, pay attention to the equipment you repurchase frequently.
• Consider outsourcing – a lot of dental offices just train one of their employees to act as a bookkeeper as well, usually, it is the manager or receptionist who gets to take care of this. However, they almost always have other things to do, so bookkeeping is not their priority which leads to frequent mistakes. Outsourcing and hiring a bookkeeping company to take care of this daunting job could be a more convenient solution.

Should You Do It on Your Own or Turn to the Best Bookkeeping Solution for Dentists?

Luckily, oral healthcare professionals don’t have to do it all on their own when they can easily find the right dental practice accounting services. There are many specialized dental accountants who understand the specifics of this industry and can help you optimize your books and make them tax compliant. Many of them offer free consultation sessions so you can get in-depth information and ask all questions about financial reports, taxes, and other things that keep you up at night.

Dentists and oral surgeons looking to start their own small businesses should invest in a reputable bookkeeping service to ensure their books are flawless. Luckily, LessAccounting doesn’t come at a high cost, and it is more than a reasonable investment for any small business owner who wants to do things right from day one.

LessAccounting combines the best of both worlds, great service and reasonable prices, which is why so many small business owners love it. Therefore, if you opt for LessAccounting and their bookkeepers, you can rest assured that bookkeeping won’t be an issue in your dental office.