Although you’re a dentist, as the owner of a dental practice, you’re also the owner of a small business, who must juggle the responsibilities of patient care, along with running a busy practice. Having expert guidance from a specialist dental accountant can help you avoid making the kind of financial mistakes that could cripple you, while allowing you to focus on your passion for dentistry and the provision of compassionate care for your clients.
Here are 6 financial mistakes with the potential to hold your practice back, that guidance from dental accounting firms could help you avoid:
- Not assessing your finances often enough
When your days are spent helping patients with their dental issues, bookkeeping can be easy to overlook. But, by failing to review your finances regularly – and ideally with professional help – you run the risk of your practice becoming disorganized and unprofitable, as well as missing out on internal theft that could be taking place.
But, by carrying out regular check-ins with those who manage your finances, and sitting down periodically to go over your finances with an accounting professional, you can prevent future problems from taking place.
- Failing to stop insurance fraud
Just as with internal theft, another common risk for dental practitioners is insurance fraud. The performing of services that aren’t necessary, waiving of fees related to insurance, personnel who aren’t licensed carrying out procedures, and billing for services not rendered are all forms of insurance fraud. To help prevent this from happening, create policies within your company that don’t allow for it, and be sure to hold those who commit such fraud, to account. For more detailed advice, talk to a dental accountant.
- Not insuring your dental practice adequately enough
Accidents, natural disasters, injury and illness can happen at any time, and if they’re not planned for, they can jeopardize your financial plan for the dental practice. But with a robust insurance plan in place to protect the practice and its employees from such unpredictable risks, you can secure your finances even when the worst happens.
To help ensure you don’t pay more than you need to on insurance, sit down and assess what type of insurance is really needed for your practice.
- Not leveraging tax savings
Not leveraging tax savings as the owner of a dental practice, could see you paying more in taxes than you need to. Sit down with a dental tax expert and discuss what deductions and credits you may be eligible for.
- Not planning for retirement
Even if your retirement might seem like many years away, or you simply don’t want to think about it, timely retirement planning can help you make significant tax savings. Talk to a tax professional specialising in the dental industry, about the different retirement options for both you and your employees.
- Not planning your estate
If you’re interested in securing your wealth for your loved ones, or a cause close to your heart once you’re gone, legacy planning is essential. Outlining how exactly you wish for your money to be used when you’re gone, legacy planning could protect your family from financial hardships in the event of your passing, and ensure that your money is used according to your wishes.
Working with dental accountants to ensure that your practice is adequately insured, that your finances are regularly reviewed and optimized, and that you’ve planned for your retirement, are all ways of securing your financial future, and avoiding the kind of financial mistakes that could run your practice into the ground.