1. Contact Us
A Brighter Way
  1. About
  2. Tax
  3. Accounting
  4. Practice Planning
  5. New Dentists
  6. Resources
  7. Blog

Monthly Archives: December 2013

Are Your Employees Aware of the Benefits?

Posted on by

Group of dentists and their assistants looking at camera.With 2013 coming to an end, now is the time to show your employees how much you appreciate their hard work and dedication to your dental practice. A great way to do this is to review with them all the benefits they have the opportunity to receive. While your employees may be aware of them, these benefits can be easily overlooked.

What Benefits Should I Share? 

Provide your employees with an actual accounting of benefits that they received throughout the year.  Your accountant should be able to help gather a list of benefits by employee. The list may seem long, but there are advantages to sharing this information with your employees. It gives them a better understanding of what the actual cost is for running your dental practice. Also, it allows them to see other ways you are supporting them besides a pay check. 

The benefits that you are paying may include: 

  • Regular salary or hourly wages
  • Bonuses paid
  • Amount of paid vacation and sick/personal days
  • Social security and Medicare taxes paid by the practice
  • Federal unemployment tax
  • State unemployment tax
  • Profit sharing match and contribution
  • Health insurance paid
  • Uniforms purchased by the practice
  • Continuing education expenses
  • Other insurances such as disability or malpractice 

Contact Our Dental Practice Professionals

Employees not only take home a pay check but they also receive benefits that they never think about.  Sharing this information will let them know about the many benefits they receive. Not sure what is the best way to share this information with your employees? Contact Rea & Associates. Our team of bright Dental CPAs can work with you to determine the best strategy for your dental practice.

Related Articles

Are You Making the Right First Impression?

Factors in Determining Dentist Compensation

Your Dental Practice May Need a Computer Upgrade

10 Year-End Tax Planning Strategies for Dentists

Posted on by
10 Year End Tax Planning

Now is the time to take advantage of these tax saving strategies for your 2013 tax return.

With the end of 2013 right around the corner, you are probably already thinking about what 2014 will bring. Planning for the new year is very important for your dental practice, but you need to focus now on tax saving strategies for your 2013 tax return.

There are tax saving strategies that can benefit you if you are proactive and act before it’s too late. The following are 10 items for your immediate consideration:

  1. Leave more profit in your dental practice. This enables you to take advantage of Ohio’s new Ohio tax credit on business income passed through to you on your individual tax return. You can reduce your taxable income by 50 percent of your business profit up to $250,000. Depending on your tax bracket, this credit could save you up to $6,000 in cash.
  2. Purchase a new asset for your dental practice. Thinking about new equipment for your dental practice? Take advantage of favorable depreciation laws by making a purchase before year end. You can take a 50 percent bonus depreciation and up to $500,000 of Section 179 depreciation. With Section 179, you can take the full deduction in year one of the asset purchase as long as the item purchased is new and not used. Things will change in 2014 though. The law currently states that bonus depreciation will be eliminated and Section 179 limits will be reduced to $25,000. There is a chance that these laws may be updated, but don’t risk it if there is a piece of equipment that you will need in the next few months.
  3. Adjust your rental rates. Do you own the building that your dental practice operates in? If so, consider reducing the rent charged to the practice to avoid some of the new 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income.
  4. Perform a cost segregation study on your dental practice. Have you recently upgraded or expanded a substantial portion of your dental practice? Better yet, have you recent built a new office? If so, a cost segregation study may be appropriate to help accelerate your depreciation deductions.
  5. Understand the benefits of an IRA. Consider funding a traditional IRA and rolling it over to a Roth IRA for tax-free growth. This is a great strategy for dentists with high incomes who cannot otherwise fund deductible IRA’s. Be careful if you have existing IRA balances though, as the conversion may not be completely tax free.
  6. Fully fund your 401(k). If your plan allows it, be sure to fully fund your 401(k) this year. Your taxable income is reduced by the amount you defer into your plan. The 2013 contribution limit is $17,500 or $23,000 if you are 50-years-old or over.
  7. Pay for your tax estimates now. If you do not expect to pay alternative minimum tax in 2013, be sure to pre-pay all fourth quarter state and local tax estimates. Although these are not due until January, you get a 2013 tax benefit by paying these in December.
  8. Maximize your Health Savings Account (HSA) contribution. Not only do you get a tax deduction for money put into the plan, but the earnings in the account grow tax free and you can take the money out tax free as long as it is used for qualified medical expenses. The limit for family plans is $6,450 and for individuals it is $3,250.
  9. Take advantage of the Domestic Production Activities Deduction. If you manufacture dental devices, you may be eligible for the domestic production activities deduction, which is a 9 percent deduction of the revenue less expenses of the related activity. Be sure to track direct and indirect costs related to the manufacturing process including wages.
  10. Keep it in the family. Employ your spouse and/or children if you have work they can do. Your spouse may then be able to fund a retirement plan and your children can then fund a Roth IRA, which would grow tax free for a substantial amount of time.

In all the excitement that comes with a new year, don’t forget to take advantage of tax planning opportunities. Your dental practice and pocket will benefit from it! 

Contact Our Dental Practice Professionals

Not sure what options are best for you and your dental practice? Contact Rea & Associates – our team of bright Dental CPAs can work with you to determine the best strategy for your dental practice.

Related Articles:

Are You Missing Any Reimbursements?

Schedule a Check-Up with Your Tax Accountant

Tax Planning – Not A Once-A-Year Event

Are You Making the Right First Impression?

Posted on by

The old saying is you only have one chance to make a good first impression. So, when it comes to your dental office, the first impression is made at the front desk. What does your front desk say about your office?

When your patients walk in the door, it is important that they feel welcomed and comfortable. Going to the dentist can be scary and dreadful, so you want their experience to be as pleasant as possible. Make sure your office staff understands that and does everything they can to make your patients happy. Here are a few things you can do to improve your patient’s experience at your office.

Ask for feedback.

Personally ask your dental patients for feedback about the service they are receiving from your front office staff. Your patients will be very open and honest with you and this is the best way to decide what needs improved and what doesn’t.

Be the patient.

Try calling into the front office as a patient so you can personally assess how your patients are being treated. Disguise your voice so you can really hear what your patient is experiencing.

Take action NOW.

If you discover there are improvements that need made, take action to correct the issues. Ignoring poor performance, poor attitudes and poor communication skills will cost you. You will not attract new patients and you will lose existing patients. You may even lose good employees. Fix these issues now, before it is too late.

Don’t wait it out.

You may have employees that feel they have entitlement if they have been with your dental practice for a long time. Don’t let their feelings of entitlement jeopardize relationships with your  dental patients. Discuss with them what needs to change and how they should be doing their job and treating the patients.

Invest in your employees.

Training is an important aspect for continual job improvement. Invest in all your employees by offering additional training so they know how important they are to your dental practice and its success. Also, consider your employees’ titles. Does their title convey their importance? At Rea, our receptionists have the title of Director of First Impressions; this title acknowledges and conveys the importance we place on the position.

Contact Our Dental Practice Professionals

If your front desk is not exceptional, take action. It’s too important to ignore. Need help deciding on how you can improvement the patient experience at your dental office? Contact Rea & Associates; our team of bright Dental CPAs can answer any questions you may have and provide suggestions on improving the patient experience.

Related Articles:

Are You Missing Any Reimbursements?

Why Your Dental Practice Needs Dental CPA

Ten Tips for Growing Your Dental Practice

Subscribe via Feedburner Subscribe via Email
Contact Us

Contact Us

Security Check

* Required Fields

Rea & Associates, Inc. | Bright Dental CPAs | 7201 Center St, Mentor, Ohio 44060-4858
phone + 440-266-0077