Dental Practice Bottom Line

Managing cash flow is key to being a financially healthy business.  Most dentists know their monthly cash flows, with a keen awareness of when payroll, credit cards, rent, labs and the other big bills are due each month.  But managing cash flow is not just about increasing next month’s production or reducing expenses.

Medical insurance continues to be challenging for small business owners; carriers are leaving the individual market in many states, forcing some of our clients to look at group insurance as an option.  While there are tax credits available for offices who qualify to help defray the cost, it is an additional staff cost and can be a compliance headache unless you have a knowledgeable agent.&

I received an email from David Harris at Prosperident offering free access to their Embezzlement Risk Assessment Questionnaire for free through the end of August.  This is a quick (15 minutes or less) online questionnaire that allows you to analyze if a staff member's behavior is consistent with embezzlement.

Once an individual or family has reached a point in their lives that they have enough income to easily pay their basic living expenses and other bills, they often desire to put their excess monthly cash flow to work in an investment.

Perhaps the most important factor in formulating your investment plan is your risk tolerance; that is, the amount of risk you’re willing to assume in order to achieve your most important objectives.

All investors – be they conservative, moderate or aggressive – need to understand that the level of returns they expect to generate is directly related to the amount of risk they are willing to assume – the higher the return, the higher the amount of risk one needs to take.

We all have a certain emotional attachment to our money, which is very logical since we work hard to earn it. We don’t always make the best financial decisions with our spending, especially when we are in heightened emotional states.

Generally, a dental practice is not required to issue a 1099-MISC to a corporation.  However, remember to track and report fees and proceeds paid to attorneys, as well as payments made to physicians, dentists, medical suppliers, proprietary hospitals, laboratories, and medical centers in excess of $600. 

When you set up or edit a Vendor in QuickBooks, click the “Tax Settings” tab to identify them as a 1099 Vendor. Make it a point to keep track of 1099-eligible vendors throughout the year.

You just lost another patient. C’est la vie, right? Say that too many times and your office may become a little lonely.