Dental
Books and taxes for mobile dental practices.
Facility contracts from nursing homes and schools, Medicaid billing, van fuel and mileage, and portable equipment that wears out faster on the road. 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
January made $9,800. The nursing home contract renewed at the same rate, and I kept the van's fuel and tolls apart from your portable equipment repairs.
- Facility contract paymentFacility contracts
- State Medicaid depositInsurance and Medicaid
- Portable generator repairPortable equipment
- Van fuel and tollsVehicle and travel
- Mobile supply restockDental supplies
Why your books are different
A mobile practice's books go wrong in four familiar places.
Your operatory rides in a van, your patients pay through facility contracts as often as insurance, and your equipment takes a beating between stops. A generalist bookkeeper built for a fixed office misses all of it.
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1
The van is not overhead, it is the operatory
Fuel, tolls, maintenance, and mileage between stops are core costs of doing business, not incidental travel. A generalist bookkeeper who treats them as a minor expense line misses how much it actually costs to bring dentistry to a patient.
What we doTracks vehicle and travel costs as their own category and keeps mileage logged the way the accountant needs it at tax time. -
2
A facility contract does not pay like a walk-in patient
A nursing home or school district often pays a flat monthly or per-visit fee regardless of how many patients were actually seen that day, which does not match the pattern of typical patient billing.
What we doBooks facility contract payments as their own category, separate from per-patient Medicaid and insurance billing. -
3
Portable equipment breaks differently than a fixed operatory
A generator, a portable compressor, or a folding chair takes more wear from being loaded and unloaded at every stop, and repairs come more often than they would in a fixed office.
What we doKeeps portable equipment repairs and replacement in their own category so you can see what mobility really costs. -
4
Multiple stops in one day blur into one fuel receipt
A single day's route might hit three facilities, but one fuel receipt and one set of tolls cover the whole day, making it hard to see which stops are actually worth the drive.
What we doTracks travel costs at the month level against total visits, so you can see overall efficiency even when a single receipt covers multiple stops.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a mobile 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
- Facility contractsFlat monthly or per-visit fees from nursing homes, schools, or employer sites.
- Insurance and MedicaidPer-patient billing for practices that see Medicaid or insured patients at facility visits.
- Patient copays and cash payWhat patients or their families pay directly, where that applies.
- Grant or program paymentsFunding from a public health program or school district contract, where the practice participates in one.
Money out
- Vehicle and travelFuel, tolls, maintenance, and mileage for the van or mobile unit.
- Portable equipmentGenerators, compressors, and portable chairs, along with their repairs.
- Dental suppliesRestocking the mobile unit between routes.
- Clinical staff payHygienists and assistants who travel with the unit.
- Sterilization suppliesPortable sterilization equipment and biohazard pickup.
- Scheduling and routing softwareSoftware used to plan multi-stop routes and facility visits.
What we watch for you
- Cost per visit
Vehicle and equipment costs divided by patients seen, since a mobile practice's overhead runs differently than a fixed office.
- Facility contract mix
How much revenue comes from flat contracts against per-patient billing.
- Vehicle maintenance cost
Repairs and upkeep on the van and portable equipment, since travel wear adds up.
- The set-aside
What you owe across facility contracts and per-visit billing, tracked so April holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things mobile dentistry 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 keep vehicle and travel costs in their own category all year, and log what the accountant needs so the mileage deduction is ready when the return is prepared.
No. I book it as a facility contract payment, separate from per-patient billing, so it reads correctly whether the visit was light or full.
I can show you what the current van is costing against what it brings in, but whether a second one pays for itself is above my pay grade. The accountant can help you think through the numbers.
The tax side
The tax side of a mobile dental practice.
Most of what goes wrong here is the vehicle and the equipment. Both get treated like minor costs when they are really the backbone of the business.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Vehicle costs and mileageBusiness mileage is 72.5 cents a mile from January through June 2026 and 76 cents from July through December 2026. The accountant works out whether tracking actual costs or the mileage rate saves more.
- Portable equipmentA generator, a portable compressor, or a folding dental chair can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Facility contract income timingA flat monthly facility fee counts as income when it is paid, the same as any other revenue, regardless of how many patients were actually seen that visit.
- Contractor 1099sA relief hygienist or a driver paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions mobile dentistry miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Van fuel and maintenance
- Portable generator repairs
- Mobile dental supplies
- Malpractice insurance
- Scrubs and travel uniforms
- Continuing education
- Mobile dentistry association dues
- Routing and scheduling software
- Sterilization supplies
- Tolls and parking 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 mobile practice's year, kept every month.
Routes run on their own schedule. Your taxes run 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 relief hygienist or driver is ready, and a monthly set-aside begins so April is not a scramble.
- April
Filed and signed
Your business return is filed. Between facility contracts and per-visit billing, the set-aside running since January covers what is due.
- July
Midyear read
A look at where the practice stands, what you will owe, and whether facility contracts are covering vehicle and equipment costs as expected.
- October
Before winter routes
Winter weather can complicate travel between stops. 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 mobile dentistry. 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 mobile dentistry owners ask first.
How do you handle mileage for tax purposes?
Vehicle and travel costs are tracked all year in their own category, so whichever method the accountant uses, actual costs or the mileage rate, the numbers are ready when the return is prepared.
Our facility contracts pay a flat fee no matter how many patients we see. Does that complicate the books?
No. Facility contract payments are booked in their own category, separate from per-patient billing, so a flat fee reads correctly whether the visit was light or full.
Our portable equipment breaks down more than a fixed office's would. Does that change anything?
Gus keeps portable equipment repairs and replacement in their own category, so the real cost of working out of a van instead of a fixed office is visible, not buried in general supplies.
We serve mostly Medicaid patients. Does that change how the books work?
It changes the pace and rate of some payments, but the books work the same way. Gus books what actually lands from Medicaid, on its own timeline, the same as any other insurance payment.
My books have not been touched since we added a second route. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send what you have from that period. Gus works through the routes and deposits in order, and the accountant checks it once it is current.
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
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- 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