At Accounting for Dentistry we believe that a well managed, profitable practice begins with good information.
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.
AFD provides most of our clients with a periodic analysis of
overhead expense, broken down into component categories that help
isolate potential problem areas.
It is essential that dentists view their financial operating results
as both compared to their own prior performance, and also as compared
to the performance of other practices.
As the CEO of a business, the dentist needs to have good managerial information to make good managerial decisions. Accounting for Dentistry strives to take the guesswork out of the question, “How am I doing?”.
Many
dentists assess the financial health of their practice by whether
they can pay their bills, put aside some savings and live a comfortable
life. This is entirely analogous to the following recurring discussion
which we have all had with our patients:
“But
Doctor, it doesn’t hurt and I feel fine. Why do you think I need
periodontal surgery?”
“Because I have been following the progression of
bone loss very closely over a period of regular examinations, and I can
see that if we do not intervene more aggressively now, we will have
problems down the road. The absence of pain does not always correlate with health status”.
Sound familiar? The absence of “financial pain” in your practice does not always correlate with health status. Confidence in the health of your business requires a closer examination.
For
example, your overhead expense can be a great "diagnostic tool". With
lab expenses below 10% of revenues, a restorative practice is probably
undertreating full restorative cases. With staff expenses above 30%, a
thorough review of salaries and benefits is in order to find more cost
effective compensation options.
Accounting
for Dentistry maintains statistics on a variety of practice parameters
from hygiene salaries to supplies expense in order to provide the
dentist with the most accurate possible picture of how the practice is
performing and where change should be focused to maximize profitability
within the dentist's comfort level and individual philosophy of care.
Overhead Expense Controls