Pay yourself from a dental practice without creating a tax problem
Owner compensation, distributions, and the "reasonable salary" test.
Practice money
P&Ls, cash flow, overhead, owner pay, and the controls that stop money from walking out the door.
6 pieces / coarse grit
Most dentists learn the business side after it has already cost them. These pieces walk through the numbers an owner lives by: what overhead looks like, how to read a P&L and a cash flow statement, how to pay yourself without a tax problem, and how to keep money from walking out the door.
Start here
- P&L Statement ExplainedLearn to read a dental practice P&L line by line, from production versus collections to overhead benchmarks, EBITDA and owner pay.
- The Overhead Truth Your P&L is HidingADA data puts median dental overhead near 62 percent of collections. See what 60 versus 70 percent costs, what drives staff costs, and what to check now.
- Why profit doesn't always equal cash and why your cash flow statement mattersA profitable dental practice can still run short on cash. See how the Statement of Cash Flows explains the gap between your P&L and your bank balance.
- Embezzlement PreventionHow to protect a dental practice from embezzlement: separation of duties, owner oversight, software permissions, daily reconciliation and hiring checks.
The Overhead Truth Your P&L is Hiding
You billed a great month. You collected decently. And somehow you don’t have much left. Here’s what's actually happening, and what the numbers mean
Embezzlement Prevention
Dental embezzlement is common and incredibly costly. The natural next question is the one every owner asks: how do I keep it from happening to me?
The $109K Employee You Trust the Most
Dental embezzlement is not rare. It is not something that happens to careless owners. It is happening, statistically, to you or to someone you know.
P&L Statement Explained
Understand one of the fundamental financial statements explained in a context familiar to you.
Why profit doesn't always equal cash and why your cash flow statement matters
Understand the relation between profit, your cash flow statement, and P&L statement