Here are some questions that your financial information allow you to answer on a periodic basis:

• Where is my income coming from? 
• What are my biggest expenses? 
• Are there any financial gaps? 
• How does my cash flow align with my financials? 

Answering questions like these over a series of financial periods will help you spot changes that could indicate business issues. For example, are you seeing a sudden increase in the cost for certain supplies? This can prompt you to determine the reason for the upswing—perhaps you have more patients needing a particular procedure that uses the supplies, or your vendor has initiated price increases. While the former reason is good news, the latter reason may lead you to source a new vendor. Or you might see a change in your income sources, which can let you trace back to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing activities.

Who should keep your books? You can certainly do your own bookkeeping; software like QuickBooks has simplified the process, allowing many dentists to manage it in house. Another alternative is to outsource to a financial professional. Some of the benefits of outsourcing your bookkeeping include:

Freeing up time for you or your staff to concentrate on growing your practice, delivering quality dental services, and creating an excellent patient experience.

Having an offsite backup of your practice financial data.

Certainty in the accuracy of your financial information because it has been prepared by a trained expert.

Improved efficiency at tax time because your records are clear and accurate.

Last but not least, outsourcing your bookkeeping puts a person on your team who understands finance practices and who can point out any potential issues based on their experience.