Dental Bookkeeping: The Ultimate Guide to Making Sense

Without the following documents stored safely in your records, you could face big problems. When making a dental accounting entry, it’s easy for all of the numbers to start running together. Before you know it, there are transposed numbers or expenses recorded in the wrong place. That’s why it’s important to reconcile the financial details as you go. Healthcare is a growing industry and Dental Practices form a core of that.

If there is unbilled project work that has been complete, we will invoice you the remainder of the fee. Likewise, if there is a credit on your account, we will refund you the fee. Bookkeeping exposes “hidden cracks” and weaknesses in your systems that, when detected early, save you time, money, and pain.

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Bookkeeping technology has made the process of tracking accounts and inputting payments and expenses easier than ever. Reviewing your finances is an important part of ensuring your bookkeeping process is working well. It also helps you make the best decisions for your business. Not reviewing your financial situation regularly can leave you with unanswered questions about your business.

A high attention to detail is needed to ensure numbers are entered correctly, and the coding is just as accurate. In the event of non-payment or a delay in reimbursement, our automated dental accounting and bookkeeping system alerts both the dental clinic and the person responsible for payment. No matter the field of business you are in, the challenges and competition are at an ever-high.

• Especially in a dental practice, where no matter you have a stand-alone practice or a chain of clinics, having an accountant who knows your business and its industrial needs to the ‘T’ is necessary.
• Or that front office staff responsible for posting payments may invert a number by mistake?
• You can use this guide to research bookkeeping firms, evaluate their services, and choose the right bookkeeper for your practice.
• Therefore providing a more detailed and long term picture of the financials of a company.

They can look at your financial statements and other reports, make recommendations about spending or investing your money, and help you with strategic planning to meet your goals. Overall, dental bookkeeping requires attention to detail and base knowledge of bookkeeping guidelines. You’ll need to use an industry-specific chart of accounts, reconcile financial data and make sure that the books are properly closed each month. Our accounting and bookkeeping service reduces the stress of running your dental practice. Let us handle the financials, and focus on providing unmatched care to your patients.

When it comes to hiring a dental bookkeeping firm, you have choices. You can hire someone locally or choose a virtual bookkeeper, granting them remote access to your accounts. There are several reasons why dentists and oral surgeons decide to outsource their bookkeeping to a dental accountant instead of keeping it in-house. You might be running a larger dental practice, or the job is just too much to hand off to an office manager. A common misstep that happens in dentist bookkeeping is attempting to use a standard chart of accounts to track income and expenses.

Doing this will have your transactions automatically imported into your bank feeds, saving you a lot of time. Now that the transactions have been uploaded to your bank feed all that’s left is to categorize them. A good thing to note is that you can always go and add more accounts to your chart of accounts so if you forgot something you can always add it later. The other main difference between the two is when taxes are paid. Keeping records organized and meeting with a financial advisor.

Tips for Ensuring Accurate Accounting and Staying on Top of Expenses

A common phrase I often hear is, “the first step is usually the hardest”. Luckily in bookkeeping, this isn’t the case because choosing an accounting software is pretty straightforward. A good place to start When it comes to bookkeeping for your dental office is to learn the basic accounting lingo. By that I mean, you should be well aware of all the common accounting terms and principles. You have a legal and moral obligation to protect your patient’s personal health information and should not hire a bookkeeping firm that doesn’t make HIPAA compliance a priority. You’ll need someone who understands the dental industry and can create an industry-specific COA to help you track your income and expenses.

We understand how important it is to balance your checkbooks on time. As a result, as part of our exceptional dental bookkeeping services, we ensure that your checkbooks are balanced every month. No, it is not; we offer dental accounting and bookkeeping services on a month-to-month basis only. Fees are a primary concern for many dental firms, particularly those relatively new, and may not have extra money to pay for bookkeeping services. Any firm you hire should be completely transparent about fees and charges. Most firms don’t list flat fees on their websites, so you’ll need to have a conversation about that in particular.

A standard COA doesn’t provide the same level of usefulness that a dental industry COA would have for your practice. Our certified bookkeepers only work in the dental field. Our unique specialty allows us reconcile your financial books with your dental managed software. This is key in helping you maximize your productivity and avoid expensive mistakes. Accounting has become more streamlined and organized with the accounting softwares that are there to make the job easier. Save time and gain efficiency by having the right balance of a modern accounting software and a bookkeeping team that knows the industry accounting needs of your business.

Dental bookkeeping reviews can help you spot potential problems that the firm’s clients have experienced. It will also give insight into how the firm responds to negative reviews. Experience is also necessary because a bookkeeper without dental or healthcare experience may not understand industry regulations, including HIPAA compliance. This is to ensure that data from other accounting periods doesn’t bleed into the current period .

Dental Bookkeeping Services

Finally, dental bookkeeping involves setting budgets so that you stay within spending limits while still achieving desired goals. By keeping track of purchases from vendors, sales to customers, and employee wages paid out, you can easily monitor the cash flow within your business. Auditing your bookkeeping can reveal whether you have seen an increase in office visits and new patients, allowing you to gain insights into the success and growth of your business. Every business whether big or small requires a certain amount of cash on hand to be able to run smoothly. The Cash flow statement lets the business owner know exactly where his Cash is going and exactly how much cash he’s generating day to day in his business. Get values from dedicated team, it’s the expert financial solution your business deserves.

Imagine the peace of mind you could achieve as a business owner knowing that your bank account and practice management software reflect the same numbers month after month. If they don’t, make sure to ask what technology and automation they use. You should also check to see if they have experience with the accounting or bookkeeping software that you use. If you decide that bookkeeping isn’t your strong suit, they also have a paid bookkeeping service to make the process even easier. It allows you to work with a professional bookkeeper for an additional cost.

How Dentists Can Benefit from Bookkeeping Services

Bookkeeping firms may specifically disclose their familiarity with software such as QuickBooks on their websites. There are several ways to validate the reputation of the firms you consider hiring. Keep in mind that testimonials are usually solicited, and no firm Dental bookkeeping will share a testimonial that isn’t positive. Most small businesses choose to close their books monthly. Depending on what works for your business you could also choose to close books annually. At the end of a financial period, you’ll need to close your books.

We can take care of this at our hourly bookkeeping rate. This is invoice separately from our fixed monthly service fee. Managing receipts or cash flow, we’re here to help ensure your practice is at peak performance.

Did you go to dental school to become a bookkeeper?

Get ready to learn how to organize expenses, streamline processes, and avoid common bookkeeping mistakes that could cost your dental business in the long run. This type of consistent scaling is every practice owner’s dream. As you can see, hiring a dental bookkeeper can help you avoid financial mistakes, and ensure compliance with tax laws, while giving you the time you need to provide the best possible care to your patients. We collect your accounting information via an online form to begin your dental accounting and bookkeeping process. Our team of dental accountants pay your bills using your financial institution’s bill pay service using a limited access to your account.

• It is important for you and your bookkeeper to keep a vigilant eye on all such practices, so that you can be safeguarded from any such financial threat and malpractice.
• As your trusted advisor, our dental bookkeeper is to help you stay competitive.
• See how our dental bookkeeping services can help your pracitce.

We understand the desire to be more hands on with your financial information. We provide expert oversight of your bookkeeping to help you along the way. We provide QuickBooks and bookkeeping training and expert supervision. This service is for someone who enjoys entering transactions and managing bills, but who needs someone to check for accuracy. Call now for a free consultation or to set up training with one of our certified bookkeepers.

There are bookkeeping firms that specialize in certain industries, including the dental industry. If a company doesn’t specifically mention dental bookkeeping on its website, then it may not have the experience and expertise you need to keep accurate records. A dental accountant is someone whose job is to analyze and interpret the data created by the bookkeeper.

Uncollected receivables are another common challenge for practice’s bookkeeping. To avoid this issue, it’s essential to have an organized system for tracking customer payments, such as invoicing software or point-of-sale systems. The software helps streamline cash flow management by automating invoicing and payments and providing real-time reporting so that users can always get an accurate picture of their practice’s financial health.

If you hire a virtual bookkeeper, you should plan on having a face-to-face interview via Zoom or Skype. Do not skip this step, because you want to get a feeling of the bookkeeper’s professionalism and ability to communicate. For example, will they check in with you weekly or monthly? Of course, we also recommend paying close attention to how well they communicate during the evaluation process. You should also ask about how they would handle a data breach. Their answer should include a plan to contact clients immediately and notify them of the breach.