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It is just as important to know how much we are spending, as it is to know how much we are collecting. Dental practice management software has concentrated on receivables, that is how much money we make and how to bill for and collect it. Dental systems have not tracked how much we spend. However there are some extremely powerful general business applications that will manage payables for the dental office. The most widely used checkbook accounting program is QuickBooks.

QuickBooks is a good general business program; QuickBooks Pro is more complete and includes advanced payroll features. Either will work in a dental office but the Pro version is preferred.

QuickBooks is like an electronic check ledger. That is you enter what you are paying and why. It then will print the checks for you (or make an electronic payment). The great advantage of using a computerized checkbook just like using a computerized ledger is that you now have instant electronic access to all the financial data. Payroll can easily be done in the office. You don’t need to know all the tax codes, deductions and benefits, you just need to click the mouse and the program does the rest.

Many CPA firms work with QuickBooks. You can easily send the accountant a copy of your data either as e-mail or on a disk. Then the CPA can review your accounts, make corrections, and prepare tax reports easily, quickly and therefore less expansively. Plus you have instant real time access to all the information you used to have to pay an accountant to prepare like overhead percentages or profit and loss statements. You can also customize the data to precisely review areas of concern, you aren’t limited by what the accountant prepares.