Should You Hire a CPA OR Bookkeeper for Your Dental Business?

Should You Hire a CPA OR Bookkeeper for Your Dental Business?

Small businesses, especially dental offices, need someone to help them with their accounting. The question is, should you hire a CPA or a bookkeeper? The answer is, you need both. Often times, CPA’s have bookkeepers in their office and vice versa. Most often, these two work hand in hand to help dentists keep track of expenses and file their taxes.

What’s the difference between a CPA and a bookkeeper?

Every day, you are making purchases in your practice that have to be categorized correctly. It’s the job of a bookkeeper to make sure the things you buy are being accounted for in the accounting software. When they input the information into the system, you will be able to see your profit and loss statement.

It’s the job of the CPA to file your taxes at the end of the year. They will use the report that is compiled by the bookkeeper to make sure you claim the right amount of money. Also, they use the data to take deductions for the business.

Of course, a dentist can do their own bookkeeping and taxes or have someone in their office do it. But, it’s not recommended that they have the task done by a non-professional. For one thing, it’s never a good idea to put a staff member in charge of all of the financials in the office. This can lead to stealing and under-handed practices.

Besides the risk you put your business in by having someone in the office handling your finances, you also don’t benefit from using a professional. They are more accurate, faster, and have the experience needed to guide you.

The best tax accounts for dentists are the ones that specialize in working with dental offices. They are able to do more than just input numbers and file taxes. Instead, they can give the dentist guidance on how much they should be spending on each area of the practice. Usually, they can tap into the numbers of like-practices and share averages of how much offices spend on supplies, staff, etc.

Using only bookkeeping services for dental practices works out better for the doctor because they get the counsel they need to cut back on overspending. When they know what their numbers should be for each area of the practice, they will be able to cut back on spending.

It’s important that you only use tax preparation services for dentists. This is a good long-term move to partner with a professional that can advise you year after year as the market changes. They can give you a specific plan to save more while being just as productive.