Accounting and tax for dental practices.
A dental practice records revenue when treatment is performed and collects it weeks later, often only in part. We keep the books, plan the taxes, and run payroll with that in view, for practice owners anywhere in the United States.
The Tooth CPA works only with dental practices. Production and collections, owner compensation, equipment timing, and practice transitions are the center of our work, and we bring that industry experience to every practice we serve.
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What working with us includes
Reconciled to your practice software
Each month the books are tied to the production, collections, and adjustment reports from Dentrix, Open Dental, or the system your practice uses.
Tax planning during the year
Owner salary, estimates, and equipment purchases are reviewed while there is still time to act on them.
Books, tax, and payroll in one firm
The people who prepare your return have already seen every month of the year that produced it.
What general-purpose accounting tends to miss.
Dental practices share a set of financial mechanics that a general bookkeeper, or a preparer who sees the practice once a year, is rarely positioned to follow. Each of them shows up in the monthly numbers long before it shows up on the return.
Production and collections
Production is recorded at the fee schedule when treatment is performed. Collections arrive weeks later, net of PPO write-offs, insurance adjustments, and patient balances that may never be paid.
Books that record only deposits cannot show where the difference went. A gap that widens over several months often points to a billing or payer issue, and we report it as soon as it appears.
Owner compensation in an S corporation
Most profitable practices are taxed as S corporations, which divides the owner's pay into a salary and distributions above it. The salary must be reasonable for a dentist in that market and role.
Where it is set affects payroll taxes and retirement plan contributions as well as the return itself, so we set it with the full year in view.
Equipment and depreciation timing
Imaging, chairs, and practice software are replaced on multi-year cycles and are usually financed. Section 179 and bonus depreciation can allow much of the cost to be deducted in the year the equipment is placed in service.
What we do for dental practices.
Each service is organized around the reports and decisions particular to dentistry. Most practices begin with the books and the tax plan and add the rest as ownership questions arise.
Bookkeeping & Monthly Reporting
MonthlyBooks reconciled each month against your practice management reports. Statements show collections, overhead by category, and profitability by location where you have more than one office.
How it worksTax Planning & Preparation
Quarterly and year-endPractice and personal returns prepared together, with planning meetings during the year on entity structure, owner salary, retirement plan design, and quarterly estimates.
How it worksPayroll
Every pay periodPayroll for dentists, hygienists, assistants, and front office staff, with deposits, quarterly filings, and year-end W-2s.
How it worksAccounting Advisory
Purchases, sales, and specialty practicesA review of the figures and the tax consequences before you buy a practice, sell one, buy in as an associate, or buy out a partner. Orthodontic and oral surgery practices receive advisory built around treatment contracts, medical billing, and larger equipment investments.
How it works
Client email, the secure portal, engagement letters, and billing all run through Lang Accountants & Advisors.
What a practice receives.
The scope of each engagement is set out in writing before work begins. Depending on the services a practice engages us for, the ongoing work includes the following.
- Monthly financial statements, reconciled to the bank and to the production, collections, and adjustment reports from your practice management system.
- Tax planning meetings during the year, and a projection of the practice's and the owner's tax position before the year closes.
- Practice and personal returns prepared together, including quarterly estimates and any additional state returns.
- Payroll each pay period, with deposits, quarterly filings, and year-end W-2s and 1099s.
- Figures prepared for your lender, financial advisor, or practice broker when they are requested.
- A secure client portal through Lang Accountants & Advisors for documents and questions between meetings.
How we work.
Tell us where things stand
A few lines about the practice and what prompted you to write. If the books are several months behind, that is more common than many owners expect, and it can be resolved.
We review the practice together
A conversation with us about your entity, your current reports, and the questions on your mind, held by phone or video.
You receive a written proposal
What we would do, how often, and why, in plain language. The proposal sets out the scope, the fee, and any catch-up work the books require.
Who we work with.
Owner-led practices at several stages of ownership, from a first acquisition to a group of offices across state lines.
General practice owners
One office or severalOwners who want current monthly statements and a tax plan that is settled before the year closes.
ServicesOrthodontists and oral surgeons
Specialty practicesPractices with treatment contracts, medical billing, and substantial surgical or imaging equipment.
Specialty workMulti-location groups
Reporting by officeGroups where profitability by location and payroll across entities or states have become the central accounting questions.
ServicesDentists buying in
Acquisitions and buy-insAssociates considering a buy-in, and dentists evaluating a first practice or a second location.
Transitions
Why we focus on dental.
Dentists spend their days with patients, and the books are often the part of the practice that receives attention last. Collections, payroll, owner compensation, and equipment financing still require regular care, and the questions they raise are much the same from one practice to the next. Our experience with dental practices allows us to keep that work current and accurate, so that your attention can remain on patient care.
Because we work only with dental practices, the reports, the tax plan, and the advice are built for dentistry from the start. Alex Lang, CPA, brings experience with businesses from the Fortune 500 to one-person operations, and we serve dental practices remotely throughout the United States. The Tooth CPA is operated by Lang Accountants & Advisors, a CPA-led firm based in Woodstock, Georgia.
- Georgia Licensed CPA
- AICPA Member
- QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor
Let us take a look at your practice.
Share a few details about your practice and the areas where you would like assistance. We usually reply within one business day to arrange a time to talk.