Dental
Books and taxes for general dentists.
Insurance payments that never match the fee schedule, hygiene production, CareCredit plans, and lab bills that land late. 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
October made $16,000. Delta Dental's payment matched the fee schedule, so the write-off logged clean, and the new scanner from Henry Schein went in as equipment, not supplies.
- Delta Dental batch depositInsurance payments
- Patient card paymentsPatient copays and cash
- Henry Schein orderDental supplies
- Glidewell lab invoiceLab fees
- Hygienist production payProvider pay
Why your books are different
A general practice's books go wrong in four familiar places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. Your practice is insurance write-offs, a hygienist paid on production, lab cases, and equipment that costs as much as a car. When the books do not know that, the monthly number is a guess.
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1
The insurance deposit is not the bill
A $1,200 crown carries a $900 contracted rate with Delta Dental, so the deposit covers $900 and the rest never comes. Booked as if the full $1,200 landed, the month looks better than it is.
What we doBooks the deposit as what actually came in, keeps the contracted write-off out of revenue, and flags any payment that breaks the usual pattern. -
2
Hygiene pay hides inside payroll
A hygienist paid a base plus a cut of what she produces looks like one payroll line. That buries whether her chair is actually profitable once her pay is counted against it.
What we doSplits base pay from production bonus, so you can see hygiene production against what it costs to run that chair. -
3
The scanner is not a supply run
An intraoral scanner or a same-day crown mill can run five figures. Filed as supplies, it wrecks the month you bought it. Filed as equipment, it can often be written off the year you buy it.
What we doFlags the purchase the day it clears, logs it as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how much to write off this year. -
4
A Glidewell order lands a month late
A busy week of crown cases can generate a lab bill that clears the following month, making a strong month look thin for no real reason.
What we doTracks lab fees against the work they belong to and tells you when a late bill explains a thin-looking month.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a general dental practice.
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
- Insurance paymentsPPO and HMO deposits from Delta Dental, Cigna, and the rest, with the write-off kept separate.
- Patient copays and cash payWhat patients pay at checkout, by card or cash.
- Patient financingCareCredit or Sunbit payouts, net of the financing company's fee.
- Membership plan duesMonthly or annual fees from patients without insurance who join the practice's own plan.
Money out
- Dental suppliesHenry Schein and Patterson Dental orders for everyday materials.
- Lab feesGlidewell and any local lab for crowns, bridges, and night guards.
- Hygienist and assistant payBase wages and production bonuses, kept apart from front desk pay.
- EquipmentScanners, sensors, and the crown mill, logged so they get written off right.
- Practice and scheduling softwareDentrix or Eaglesoft, plus a patient texting service like Weave.
- MarketingGoogle ads and the website that bring in new patients.
What we watch for you
- Collections rate
What you actually collect against what you billed, once write-offs are counted.
- Hygiene production
What the hygiene chair brings in against what it costs to run.
- Lab cost share
Lab fees against collections. It creeps up as more crown and bridge cases come through.
- The set-aside
What you owe based on real collections after write-offs, tracked all year so April holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things general dentists 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.
Delta Dental's write-offs were bigger this month, a couple of plans re-contracted at a lower rate. Your production was actually up. I kept the write-off separate so you can see both.
Not what you do day to day. I keep her base and her production bonus in their own lines, so you can see her chair against what she brings in.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not supplies, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of a general dental practice.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels and timing. A write-off booked as revenue, a hygienist's pay split wrong, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Equipment write-offsA scanner, sensor, or crown mill can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Hygienist and associate payWhether a provider is an employee or a contractor depends on how much control the practice has over their schedule, and state rules on who can own a dental practice narrow it further.
- Contractor 1099sA locum dentist or a cleaning service paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can take up to 20 percent of profit off their taxable income. It works differently as income climbs, and it comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions general dentists miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Dental supplies
- Loupes and headlights
- Scrubs and clinic uniforms
- Malpractice insurance
- Practice software subscriptions
- Patient texting service
- Biohazard pickup
- Continuing education
- Dental society dues
- Marketing and website costs
- 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
A general practice's year, kept every month.
Patients come in on their own schedule. Your taxes come 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
Get the year started
Last year's return gets underway, your contractor list for the front desk or a locum is ready, and your monthly set-aside begins so April holds no surprises.
- April
Return filed
Your business return is filed and signed. Because the set-aside started in January, the number due is one you already know.
- July
Midyear read
A look at where the practice stands, what you will owe, and whether hygiene production is tracking with the rest of the year.
- October
Before the year-end rush
Patients rush to use insurance benefits before they reset. Before that hits, Gus flags any equipment worth buying and what else to do 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 general dentists. 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 general dentists ask first.
How does Gus handle insurance write-offs?
He books what the insurance company actually pays and keeps the contracted write-off in its own place, so your revenue reflects real collections, not the sticker price of the procedure.
My hygienist is paid on production. Does that complicate the books?
No. Gus keeps her base pay and her production bonus in separate lines, so you can see what her chair brings in against what it costs, without changing how you run payroll.
Can Gus tell me if a slow month is really write-offs or something else?
Yes. He flags when write-offs are unusually high so you are not chasing a problem that is actually just a couple of plans paying at a lower contracted rate that month.
Do I need to send anything besides my bank statement?
Just the bank statement most months. If a deposit or a lab bill is unclear, Gus asks once and remembers the answer for next time.
My practice's books have not been touched in months. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send whatever bank statements you have on hand. Gus works through the backlog, the accountant checks it once it is sorted, and you will have a real number within about a week.
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.
More in dental
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Dental labs
- Dental sleep medicine practices
- Denturists & denture clinics
- Mobile dentistry
- Endodontists
- Oral surgeons
- Periodontists
- Orthodontists
- Pediatric dentists
- Cosmetic dentists
- Dental implant centers
- Compounding pharmacies
- Durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers
- Elective 3D/4D ultrasound studios
- Independent pharmacies
- Medical billing companies
- Mobile nursing & concierge nurse services
- Mobile phlebotomy services
- Mobile x-ray & ultrasound services
- Occupational health & DOT physical clinics
- Orthotics & prosthetics providers
- Sleep clinics
- Wound care clinics
- Birth doulas
- Breathwork facilitators
- Herbalists & apothecaries
- Hypnotherapists
- Lactation consultants
- Midwives & birth centers
- Neurofeedback clinics
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