Beyond Bitewings

The tables are turning in this episode of Beyond Bitewings, and the Edwards and Associates team is being asked the questions that so many practice owners want to know. They’re welcoming Prosthodontist Dr. Giancarlo Aymerich to this episode so he can ask all the questions about how he can save more money on taxes for his practice.

They cover common questions about deducting equipment, including when you can deduct equipment, how you can use it as a tax saving, and various cost thresholds. They also cover the common questions about cars including how you can deduct your car as a business expense, and what you need to report to the IRS when it comes to a car’s expenses. Plus, they talk about leasing vs. purchasing and which one is best if you’re using your car as a business expense.

They also talk about when the right time is to switch your company to an S-Corp, and the income thresholds when you typically see the most tax savings. Plus, they cover other strategies to save on your taxes when it comes to retirement accounts for yourself and your employees.

This is the perfect episode to get ready for 2023 and learn how to save more money on your practice’s taxes!

If you have specific questions about your expenses on your taxes, or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

The road from dental school has many options, and knowing which direction to take can feel overwhelming. 

In this episode of Beyond Bitewings, the team at Edwards and Associates talks to Dr. Trisha Patel to discuss her journey out of dental school to building her own practice. 

Dr. Patel shares how her background in business and working with a DSO helped to give her a head start in running her own business. However, she also talks about how starting a business during COVID (plus while becoming a new mother) set her up for some challenges along the way.

Through all the ups and downs, though, Dr. Patel talks about why she is happy with the decision she made, and why it’s so important to have a team of great advisors on your side. She also talks about why she decided to build her own practice from the ground up instead of buying an existing one.

She also talks about her experience at the DSO, and why it helped her to understand the things she saw they were doing well. It also helped her see the processes she wanted to improve for her own business and staff. She also gives advice about just jumping in. As much as we want to make sure we understand all that we can before starting our own business, the truth is, we will never know it all. There will always be a lot to learn and new challenges along the way, and she talks about why she has no regrets about jumping in.

If you have specific questions about your options after dental school, or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

When you’re building a practice, things may not always turn out the way you want to. However, that doesn’t make you a failure, it simply makes it all part of the process.

In this episode of Beyond Bitewings, Ash and Robert are sharing some of their favorite stories of clients who hit major roadblocks while running their practice. Instead of giving up, these clients persevered and came out on top. They talk about what happened, and how they changed course to make their practices a success.

Sometimes it’s about cutting losses; sometimes it’s about making changes; sometimes bankruptcy is a consideration; and sometimes it’s about not being a business owner at all. And all of those are okay.

When it comes to failure, it’s not a matter of being able to avoid it, but changing course and continuing when something does happen. 

If you have specific questions about failure or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

Do you believe embezzlement would never happen within your business? 

Well, unfortunately, the chances of it happening to you are actually a lot greater than you think. In fact, 75% of dental practice owners will experience embezzlement in their office before their career is over.

So what can you do to prevent embezzlement, and what are the signs that you should look for to see if this might be happening to you? The team at Edwards and Associates is joined by David Harris. David is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Licensed Private Investigator, certified in Financial Forensics. He’s also the author of Dental Embezzlement: The Art of Theft and Science of Control. 

David discusses what every dental practice owner should understand about embezzlement and the two types of people who decide to take money from their employer.

He also discusses the signs you can look for, including behaviors, or things going on in someone’s life that may make them a prime candidate to embezzle. Plus he talks about what you should be looking at in your practice on a frequent basis to make it harder for someone to take money from you.

This is definitely something you shouldn’t be sitting on, thinking it’s not going to happen to you, and as your practice starts to grow, the greater chance you have of becoming a statistic. 

If you’re interested in learning more about David, visit: www.prosperiden.com or call: (888) 398-2327.

If you have specific questions about embezzlement or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

When it comes to running your dental practice, there are many things you can do to get a pulse of how your practice is running. One of those is by looking at specific reports.

In this episode of Beyond Bitewings, the Edwards and Associates team is joined by Nancy Kagan, COO of Rosen Summit Dental Advisors to discuss the biggest mistakes she sees dental practice owners make, and what reports you should be looking at on a daily basis, no matter which software you use.

They also talk about the basic information some of these reports can tell you, for example, an adjustment report can shine a light on potentially fraudulent activity in your practice.  She also talks about why sometimes things may look suspicious, but it may not be fraudulent activity. Instead, it may just be a lack of training for those who need to view the reports on a daily basis. 

They also talk about why looking at your outstanding claims report on a consistent basis can be valuable. It’s important to not just look at what claims are being submitted, but specifically, which ones are being resubmitted, and why you need to be careful about this.

The other major report they talk about is the patient retention report. If new patients are coming in, that’s great. However, are you looking at how many of them cancel their first appointment and never come back, or those that don’t come in after one appointment.

Nancy also discusses some red flags that you should look for in your practice. Reports should never be a secret, and if anyone is having an issue with you pulling reports on a consistent basis, that may be a sign they’re trying to hide something.

 If you have specific questions about this or would you like to reach Nancy, you can find out more at: https://rsdentaladvisors.com, or contact her directly by email:  [email protected] or phone: 781.724.7975.

If you have specific questions about your reporting or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

There are a lot of tax changes happening in 2022 and 2023, and in today’s episode of Beyond Bitewings, the Edwards and Associates team is talking about the changes that may affect you, and what you need to know about them. 

You may have heard about the $80 Billion Expansion of the IRS, and with $47 Billion of that money going towards audits, the question becomes who exactly are they going to go after. There is some back and forth on understanding how it will be applied. However, what is known is that ERC Credit recipients will be scrutinized.  There are some rules and regulations that need to be followed with this credit, and they’re going to be checking to make sure those that took it, did it correctly. 

They also talk about the Inflation Reduction Act, and what you need to know about the tax credits that are from this new bill. 

When it comes to saving on energy, there are several different types of credits: the electric vehicle credit and the home energy credit. They discuss what has changed, and why you may want to look at the electric vehicle credit again in 2023, as some cars have been added back to the list. They also cover what, if anything, has changed on the home energy credit side.

And last, but not least, they cover the student loan forgiveness program. They’re answering some of your biggest questions about the program, including how much you can expect to get back, who qualifies, and how you can apply for it.

If you have specific questions about changes to 2022 and 2023 taxes or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

Have you thought about offering a patient membership plan but aren't sure where to start? Or are you wondering about different options that could be added to your current patient membership plan?

As more dental practices are moving to offer membership plans to their patients, how to charge for these plans can be confusing when considering what options to offer, etc. In this episode of Beyond Bitewings, Ash and Robert and are joined by Katie Franklin, Director of Illumitrac Software, to discuss why patient membership plans are becoming so popular for dental practice owners, and what you need to know about adding such a plan to your practice.

Katie discusses why it is so important to focus on the relationship between the patient and the practice first when creating your membership plan, and why some states are cracking down on how practices are charging for these plans.

They also talk about how dentists can customize their own plans and the different options typically seen. Plus they talk about the benefits of having a patient membership plan and why it goes far beyond just offering an option for those who don’t have insurance. A patient membership plan can also be an option for your insured patients because most dental insurance plans only offer limited reimbursement. And with the cost of dental services going up, this can help patients.

Katie discusses what types of practices are ideal candidates for patient membership programs and why this strategy can benefit so many. She also talks about why, if you’re thinking of selling your practice in the near future, adding a patient membership plan can potentially increase your sales price.

Katie also announces a generous offer for all Edwards & Associates listeners, a reduced rate of $149 for Illumitrac's initial fee. If you’d like to learn more and take advantage of this offer, visit: https://www.illumitrac.com/ and schedule a demo.

If you have specific questions about membership plans or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

BAM! It’s not just something the chef, Emeril Lagasse used to say, but it’s actually one of the most important numbers your dental practice should be tracking.

In today’s episode of Beyond Bitewings, Ash and Robert talk about BAM, also known as the ‘Basic Amount of Money’ needed to operate your practice on a monthly basis, and why this is such an important number in your practice. They also talk about why practice owners oftentimes overlook this number, and why focusing solely on other numbers like production and hygiene billing can be a costly mistake.

In addition, when looking at the practice as a whole, many practice owners believe that net income is the main line item they should focus on. However, when only focusing on net income, you’re potentially not considering other factors that could be affecting your bottom line. This is where BAM comes in as it’s not just about practice overhead, but it’s about looking at the doctor’s goals of take-home pay, retirement, a road map to implementing a bonus system, and other factors. 

They also get into how this can be calculated when there are big changes to the practice, like lease changes, or an increase in revenue. Plus they discuss why your staff will make this one of the top priorities in the numbers they’re watching and striving to hit.

If you have specific questions about BAM or other questions about your practice’s numbers. Or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

Is your dental hygiene team working to their full potential?

It’s common to find that dental practice owners haven’t ever seen a dental hygiene department working in tandem and generating their full income potential so these practice owners aren't even aware of the possibilities.

Most dental practices have room for improvement in the efficiency and mindset of their staff, and that’s where Rachel Wall comes in. Rachel is the founder of Inspired Hygiene, a company committed to helping dentists tap into hygiene’s profit potential through coaching webinars, and mastermind groups.

She joins the team at Edwards & Associates in this episode to discuss where dental practice owners are missing the mark in terms of their hygiene department, and why they may be leaving massive money on the table. 

She also discusses why it’s so important for teams to work together, and where you begin to get a hygiene team to work to its full potential. They also talk about why the majority of hygiene teams are underperforming, and if the 3:1 production standard is still realistic to expect with pay rates increasing.

So if you’re looking to boost your patient care and profits with your current hygiene team, then make sure you listen. 

If you’re interested in connecting with Rachel, you can sign up for a consult by visiting: https://www.inspiredhygiene.com/talk/ or emailing [email protected] 

Use code Edwards300 for a $300 discount.

If you have specific questions about these updates or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.

It’s hard to believe we’re still talking about COVID/Pandemic programs, but the truth is that we’ll probably still be talking about them for a long time.

In today’s episode of Beyond Bitewings, Robert and Ash are covering some of these programs, and other things that might be changing based on the potential passing of new bills in 2022.

The first thing they cover is what you need to know about the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), and when you need to start thinking about paying it back. Although the program is over, payments on it haven’t started and holding off that payback may be in your best interest.

They also talk about the Provider Relief Fund. Again, this fund is no longer taking applications, but there are requirements for reporting, and those are based on when you took out that money. They discuss what you need to know about when your reports should be submitted.

Other topics they cover are why getting an NPI number was important for some of these programs, and why if you don’t have one, you should consider getting one sooner rather than later.

They also discuss retirement funding, and why the government is trying to pass a bill that delays when you will be forced to start taking your distributions. This may not seem like a big deal, but Robert talks about why this could mean more money in your retirement years.

And the team at Edwards and Associates is seeing a huge uptick in their clients receiving spam about applying for the ERC Credit. Robert and Ash talk about why you need to be very careful about these emails, and what you need to know before sending these companies any of your data or allowing them to submit the ERC Credit request for you. 

If you have specific questions about these updates, or if you'd like to have another question answered on a future podcast, please reach out to the Edwards & Associates team.