If you’re a dentist with your own practice, and have started to notice that your accountant isn’t communicating with you as often as they used to, isn’t providing you with clear reports, or is giving you advice only during tax season, it might be a good time to make a change.
As a dental practice owner, it’s essential that accounting for dentists helps you gain access to the right financial answers at the right time, gives you bookkeeping that’s organized and consistent, and enables you to confidently grow your business with advice and support that reflects the dental industry’s reality.
Here are some common triggers experienced by dental practice owners, that might encourage them to switch their accountant:
- Lack of responsiveness and delays
Important questions about such things as vendor payments, payroll timing or tax estimates, should be answered promptly; ideally, within the same day. If not, small issues in timing can quickly and easily turn into problems with cashflow and missed tax deductions.
- Services that aren’t personalized
There isn’t a standard solution for every dental practice; dentists need a specialist accountant who understands the nuances and challenges of the dental industry, as well as the financial transactions specific to their practice, their collections, their merchant fees, and their insurance adjustments.
- Lack of context for reports
You’ve been given a report containing a list of numbers, but no information as to how that data can be used to help you make informed financial decisions. An accounting report should be customized and clearly define the bottom line, highlight possible threats to financial stability, and show you a clear path that will lead to financial success.
The real cost of delays in communication for dental practices
With questions surrounding payroll left unanswered, confidence from your staff quickly begins to wane. Delays for payments to vendors, can destroy supplier-relations. Tax planning that happens after the year has closed, can cause significant deductions to be missed. Helping practices protect cashflow, alleviate stress, and bolster management, timely responses are all but critical.
What should a dental accountant be regularly communicating with you?
Monthly financial statements, clear cashflow view, goal-progression, and unambiguous next steps for payroll and taxes, are all things a dental accountant should be providing you with (and discussing with you) on a regular basis. Deadlines should also be documented, variances flagged, and significant financial transactions explained.
And although timing is paramount, content is also important. Details of your practice’s accounting details should be reflected in reports, productions and collections should be trackable, and overheads organized in such a way that lab fees, dental supplies and staffing costs are easy to read and check.
How often should your accountant be communicating with you?
Monthly as a minimum is a good rule of thumb, with urgent issues responded to within 24 to 48 hours as a minimum. Every quarter, more detailed tax planning and discussions about dentist tax deductions should take place, along with any questions you may have in between this period, answered promptly.
If you’ve been feeling as if you’re not quite as in control of your finances as you would like to be, and that you’ve been reacting to certain situations instead of planning for them, it could be the right time for an accounting reset. Look for a dental accountant who specializes in the industry, ideally has prior experience within that same industry, and who places clear value on timely communication. Get this relationship right, and you could begin to see your own success, a lot more clearly.