Dental
Books and taxes for dental implant centers.
Case deposits, surgery and delivery payments, patient financing, and zirconia prosthetic lab bills spread across months per case. Gus sorts every deposit, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number each month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
November made $33,400. Two full-arch cases moved to their final payment stage, and I kept the zirconia lab bill separate from the sedation supplies so both sides of the case show clearly.
- Full-arch case depositNew case deposits
- Proceed Finance payoutPatient financing
- Zirconia prosthetic lab billProsthetic lab fees
- Google ads spendMarketing
- IV sedation supply orderSedation supplies
Why your books are different
An implant center's books go wrong in four familiar places.
A full-arch case pays out in stages over months, and the marketing that brings it in costs more per lead than a typical dental ad. A generalist bookkeeper who does not know that misreads both.
-
1
One case pays out over three stages
A full-arch case might collect a deposit at consultation, a second payment on surgery day, and a final payment when the prosthetic is delivered, sometimes months apart. Booked as separate unrelated payments, you lose track of which case each one belongs to.
What we doTracks each payment against the case it belongs to, so a case in progress does not get mistaken for three different patients. -
2
Marketing here costs more per lead than a typical dental ad
A full-arch case can be worth $20,000 or more, so the practice often spends heavily per lead on ads that a generalist bookkeeper might flag as unusually high for a dental office.
What we doTracks marketing spend against new case value instead of comparing it to a typical dental practice's ad budget. -
3
Zirconia prosthetics are not a routine lab bill
A full-arch zirconia prosthetic can cost several thousand dollars from the lab, far more than a single crown. Filed with routine lab fees, it wrecks the pattern of what a normal lab bill looks like.
What we doKeeps full-arch prosthetic lab fees in their own category, separate from smaller routine lab work. -
4
IV sedation for a full-arch case is its own cost center
Sedating a patient through hours of surgery costs more in supplies and staff time than a quick extraction. Blended into general clinical supplies, the true cost of a full-arch case is hidden.
What we doKeeps sedation supplies and any anesthesia provider fees apart from general clinical supplies, so the real cost of a case is visible.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a dental implant center.
Set up once for how the practice gets paid and what it spends. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- New case depositsThe initial payment when a patient commits to a full-arch or multiple implant case.
- Surgery and delivery paymentsThe remaining payments collected at surgery and when the final prosthetic is delivered.
- Patient financingProceed Finance, CareCredit, or Sunbit payouts, net of the financing company's fee.
- Insurance paymentsThe smaller share of cases with dental or medical coverage for part of the treatment.
Money out
- Implant fixtures and componentsThe implants themselves and the abutments and connectors that go with them.
- Prosthetic lab feesZirconia or acrylic full-arch prosthetics fabricated by the lab.
- Sedation supplies and provider feesIV sedation medications and any outside anesthesia provider.
- Clinical staff paySurgical assistants and any associate provider, kept apart from front desk pay.
- MarketingGoogle and social ads aimed at high-value implant leads.
- Financing merchant feesWhat Proceed Finance, CareCredit, or Sunbit keeps on a financed case.
What we watch for you
- Case pipeline value
The total value of cases in progress across their deposit, surgery, and delivery stages.
- Cost per lead
What each new consultation costs through marketing, against what a full-arch case is worth.
- Financing share
How much revenue runs through patient financing, and what it costs to offer it.
- The set-aside
What you owe as multi-stage cases land across months, tracked so April holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things dental implant center owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
I tag each payment to the case it belongs to as it comes in, so the deposit, the surgery payment, and the final delivery payment all read as one case instead of three unrelated deposits.
Not for this kind of practice. I compare your marketing cost against what a full-arch case is worth, not against a general dentist's ad budget, since the two are not the same business.
I can show you what the practice made this year and what another provider's pay would do to the number, but whether it is the right move for your case load is above my pay grade. The accountant can help you think it through.
The tax side
The tax side of a dental implant center.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing. A case paid across months is not all one month's income, and the accountant needs the whole picture to sort it out.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Equipment for surgery and imagingA CBCT scanner or surgical guide system can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Multi-stage case incomeA case paid in stages over several months is recognized as payments land, not all at once. The accountant sorts out how that flows through at tax time given the whole year's cases.
- Associate surgeon or dentist classificationAn associate provider paid a share of case revenue is usually an employee, and state rules on who can own a dental practice narrow the options further.
- Contractor 1099sAn outside anesthesia provider or a marketing contractor paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions dental implant centers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Implant fixtures and components
- Sedation medications
- Surgical guide fabrication
- Malpractice insurance
- Surgical scrubs and gowns
- Continuing education
- Implant association dues
- Marketing and ad spend
- Practice software subscriptions
- Financing merchant fees
- Credit card processing fees
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
An implant center's year, kept every month.
Cases move through stages over months. Your taxes move on the calendar's schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, the contractor list for any anesthesia provider is ready, and a monthly set-aside begins so April is not a scramble.
- April
Filed and signed
Your business return is filed. With cases tracked across every stage since January, the set-aside covers what is due without a scramble.
- July
Midyear read
A look at where the practice stands, what you will owe, and how the case pipeline is tracking against the rest of the year.
- October
Before the slow stretch
New consultations sometimes dip around the holidays. Before that hits, Gus flags equipment worth buying and anything worth doing before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for dental implant centers. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions dental implant center owners ask first.
How do you track a case that pays out over several months?
Each payment is tagged to the case it belongs to as it arrives, so a deposit, a surgery payment, and a final delivery payment all show up as one case rather than three separate deposits.
My marketing spend is much higher than a typical dental office. Will that raise flags?
No. Gus tracks marketing cost against what a full-arch case is worth for this kind of practice, not against a general dentist's ad budget, since the two businesses do not compare.
Is the zirconia prosthetic lab bill treated like a regular lab expense?
It is kept in its own category since a full-arch prosthetic costs far more than routine lab work. That way one large bill does not distort what a normal month of lab expenses looks like.
Does patient financing through Proceed Finance or CareCredit work differently for tax purposes?
No. The full case amount counts as revenue and the financing company's fee counts as a cost, the same as any other financed case. The rate and terms may differ, but the treatment is the same.
My books have not been touched since the practice opened. Can Gus start from scratch?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have from when the practice opened. Gus works through the full history and the accountant reviews it once it is caught up.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever