Chaliff CPA Blog

How To Do Dental Practice Accounting Right

Written by Skip Gronauer | Sep 2, 2022 1:00:00 PM

When dentistry students dream about starting a practice of their own, they aren’t dreaming about accounting software, billing processes, and reconciling their financial statements.

Even so, accounting is an essential part of running a dental practice.

You can only provide your community with high-quality dental services if you are successfully gathering payment for services rendered, paying your staff a competitive wage, and strategizing growth opportunities. 

Hiring a dental CPA to handle your dental practice accounting is one of the best ways to ensure that things are done right!

DENTAL PRACTICE ACCOUNTING OPTIONS

There are a few ways that you can tackle your dental practice bookkeeping needs. 

The three common approaches are:
  1. Do it yourself. As the owner of the practice, you can learn each of the necessary software programs, consistently update your software usage as your needs change, send out billing statements, track financial records, file taxes, etc. This is in addition to all your day-to-day responsibilities.
  2. Have your administrative assistant do the work. Most private practices don’t have a dedicated billing department, which is why administrative assistants often end up shouldering the burden of bookkeeping. This is on top of all of their other tasks, including scheduling, invoicing, contacting insurance companies, and more.
  3. Hire a dental CPA. Hiring a dental CPA is about outsourcing your practice’s bookkeeping and payroll work to a qualified and experienced professional. You get the benefit of someone who knows exactly what they’re doing without needing to hire additional full-time staff or risk costly errors from bookkeeping mistakes.

DENTAL PRACTICE BOOKKEEPING ESSENTIALS

The person in charge of bookkeeping at your dental practice needs to have extensive knowledge of the following tasks and responsibilities:
  • Point of sale transaction software 
  • Access to company bank accounts
  • Medical insurance billing
  • Cash flow
  • Accounts receivable & accounts payable
  • Taxes
  • Licensing fees for dental professionals

The Importance of Expertise

Accounting mistakes can be costly. The tax code is constantly changing, and the IRS requires you to comply. Stakes are high when it comes to recordkeeping and filing! 

With a cash flow forecast, you can determine whether or not you can make it happen before committing.


You have important work to do. You provide excellent care to your patients, who are depending on you to have an area of expertise: dentistry. But in order to run your business, someone needs to be a bookkeeping and accounting expert. That’s where Chaliff + Associates come in.

Outsourcing Your Bookkeeping Needs

Chaliff + Associates are leaders in dental practice bookkeeping. We know the ins and outs of keeping your practice aligned with every accounting requirement and best practice. 

Outsourcing to a dental CPA doesn’t just help you avoid expensive mistakes. It also means that you and your team can focus on the job you are there to do! Additionally, you can end up saving money because you don’t have to hire a full-time professional to manage all of this work for you.

Schedule a Free Consultation Today

Schedule a free consultation with an experienced dental practice accounting professional today. You can pick the time and date that work best for you! We make ourselves available to meet you at your convenience.

We pride ourselves on delivering the best accounting services in the Midsouth. We are ready to deliver exceptional customer service for each and every client, and we’re looking forward to talking with you soon!