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Helpful tips & insights for dentists

We’re sharing helpful tips, tricks, and guides to help you improve your dental practice finances.

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The best retirement plans for dentists in 2026

The Best Retirement Plans for Dentists in 2026 (401k, Cash Balance, Defined Benefit)

A dental practice owner in their peak earning years can often shelter $200,000 to $400,000 a year in retirement accounts, and most are nowhere close. That is the gap this post is about. Between the Solo 401(k), the Safe Harbor 401(k) with profit sharing, the Cash Balance plan, and the traditional Defined Benefit plan, there […]
An Accountant’s Tips for Using QuickBooks for Dentists

An Accountant’s Tips for Using QuickBooks for Dentists

Imagine skipping your regular dental check-ups. Over time, that tiny cavity grows bigger, causing more pain and costing more to fix. It’s the same with your finances—if you don’t stay on top of them, things can get out of control. You might end up unsure about your cash flow or in trouble with the IRS […]
How to Read Your Dental Practice's P&L Like an Expert

How to Read Your Dental Practice’s P&L Like an Expert

When you opened your practice, your time went straight to patient care and building a solid team… not analyzing spreadsheets. But once you’re up and running, understanding your financials becomes the difference between a practice that runs you… and a practice you can actually grow, sell, or scale with less stress. And one report holds […]
What a Dental CFO Actually Does (and When You Need One)

What a Dental CFO Actually Does (and When You Need One)

A dental CFO is a fractional or full-time finance partner who runs the financial reporting, cash flow, KPI dashboards, and strategic planning for a dental practice (or a group of practices), and the role looks almost nothing like bookkeeping. The bookkeeper closes the books. The CFO uses the closed books to make decisions about fee […]
Reasonable Compensation for Dentists: How to Think About It

Reasonable Compensation for Dentists: How to Think About It

The most expensive payroll decision a dental practice owner makes every year is also the one most owners spend the least time on: the W-2 wage. Set it too low and the IRS has an audit lane wide open, and — usually the bigger cost — retirement plan contributions get capped at a lower number […]
How to Handle Student Loans As a Dentist (2026)

How to Handle Student Loans As a Dentist (2026)

The student loan landscape changed substantially between 2023 and 2026, and most of the advice still floating around online is built on rules that no longer apply. The SAVE plan is paused under court injunction with borrowers placed in administrative forbearance. The on-ramp grace period from the 2023 repayment restart ended. Public Service Loan Forgiveness […]
Health Savings Accounts For Dentists: The Triple-Tax Advantage And How To Use It

Health Savings Accounts For Dentists: The Triple-Tax Advantage And How To Use It

Dental practice owners who are serious about tax strategy often focus on retirement accounts, S-corp elections, and depreciation. The Health Savings Account, or HSA, tends to get less attention, which is a mistake. No other account in the tax code offers three layers of tax advantage in one vehicle, and for dentists with high taxable […]
Backdoor Roth IRA For High-Earning Dentists: How To Get Around The Income Limit

Backdoor Roth IRA For High-Earning Dentists: How To Get Around The Income Limit

Most dental practice owners find out about the Roth IRA income limit the hard way: they try to contribute and their financial software tells them they cannot. The IRS phases out direct Roth IRA contributions for single filers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) above $153,000 and eliminates them entirely above $168,000 for 2026. For […]
S-Corp Election For Dentists: When It Makes Sense (And When It Doesn't)

S-Corp Election For Dentists: When It Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)

The S-corporation election is one of the more talked-about tax strategies in dentistry, and also one of the more misunderstood ones. Plenty of dental practice owners have heard it saves money on taxes. Fewer understand exactly when it works, what it costs to maintain, and when it actually makes your situation worse instead of better. […]