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 for paying the wrong taxes.
Just like regular dental care prevents bigger issues, staying on top of your bookkeeping helps avoid costly financial headaches. That’s where QuickBooks Online (QBO) comes in.
QuickBooks is one of the most widely used accounting tools in the U.S., and it’s especially helpful for dental practices. But, here’s the thing: most practices shouldn’t use QBO for patient account management or invoicing—those tasks are best handled by your practice management software (PMS), like Dentrix, Eaglesoft, or Open Dental.
However, QBO is invaluable when it comes to expense tracking and managing your practice’s financial health.
Let’s walk through how you can use QuickBooks Online to streamline your finances and keep your practice running smoothly.
#1 Expense Tracking: Know Where Your Money Goes
One of the easiest things to overlook in a dental practice is tracking expenses. Before you know it, costs can start piling up quickly without realizing it.
With QuickBooks Online, expense tracking becomes much easier. You can connect your business bank account and credit card, so every transaction automatically pulls into QuickBooks. From there, you categorize each transaction — ideally against a dental-specific chart of accounts, so your reports compare cleanly against industry benchmarks.
For example, purchases of dental supplies like gloves, sterilization tools, and filling materials can be assigned to an expense category called Dental Supplies. Lab work goes to Lab Fees, rent payments under Rent Expense, and payroll costs under Salaries and Wages.
Once your expenses are categorized, you can use the Profit and Loss report to see a clear breakdown of where your money is going:
- Staff overhead
- Supplies
- Lab expenses
- Marketing
For instance, if you notice that your supplies expense has increased by 20% compared to the previous month, you can dig deeper into specific transactions to understand why.
You’ll also be able to quickly spot any unusual spending or areas where costs might be creeping up, allowing you to make informed decisions.
#2: Integration with Your Practice Management Software (PMS)
One of the key ways to make QuickBooks Online work for your practice is to integrate it with your PMS. While QBO is great for tracking expenses, your PMS handles all the patient management, including billing, appointment scheduling, and tracking payments.
By syncing your QBO with your PMS, you get the best of both worlds.
Here’s how it works:
- Keep each system in its lane: Your PMS handles patient billing and coding; QBO tracks the operational side — supplies, staff salaries, rent, and marketing. Daily deposits recorded in your PMS should tie to the deposits hitting your bank feed in QBO, which is exactly the reconciliation that catches posting errors and missing money.
- Streamline financial reporting: By connecting the two systems, you bring all your financial data into one place. This helps you generate accurate financial reports and make decisions based on your full financial picture.
If you don’t have this workflow set up yet, we can help you connect QBO to your PMS reporting so everything works smoothly.
This allows you to make sure you’re tracking all your expenses and managing your cash flow without the headache of double-entry.
#3 Financial Reporting: Useful Reports for Dentists
At the end of each month, it’s crucial to review your dental practice’s financial reports to understand how your practice is doing.
Here are the QuickBooks Online reports we lean on most for dental clients:
Profit and Loss by Month: Watch Your Overhead Trends
Run your P&L with monthly columns and turn on “% of income.” Now every overhead category — staff, supplies, lab fees, rent, marketing — shows as a percentage of collections, and you can watch the trend instead of a single number. A supplies line that creeps from one month to the next is a conversation to have with your team (or your rep) before it becomes a habit.
Statement of Cash Flows: Know Where the Money Actually Went
Profit on paper and cash in the bank are different things, especially when you’re making loan payments on equipment or a buildout that never show up on the P&L. The Statement of Cash Flows shows what came in, what went out, and why your bank balance doesn’t match your net income. Review it alongside your P&L every month.
Profit and Loss by Class or Location: Compare Offices (or Providers)
QBO doesn’t have a “Profitability by Dentist” report out of the box, but its classes and locations features can get you close. Tag income and expenses by office — or, if your bookkeeping supports it, by provider — and the Profit and Loss by Class report shows each segment side by side. For a multi-location practice this is the single most useful view in QBO: one office may look busy but run 10 points higher on overhead. (True production and collections by provider still come from your PMS.)
What about production by procedure, or patient receivables? Those reports live in your practice management software, not QBO. Your PMS tells you which treatments drive revenue and which patients or insurers owe you money; QBO tells you whether the practice as a whole is profitable and where the cash went. You need both views — and they should agree with each other.
And don’t worry if you’re not a financial expert—generating these reports in QuickBooks is simple! With just a few clicks, you can adjust filters like the date range or columns, and QuickBooks will pull up the data you need in seconds.
Beyond the basics: QuickBooks also offers employee time tracking (QuickBooks Time) and employee self-service for pay stubs and W-2s (QuickBooks Workforce), which can be handy as your team grows. Intuit’s feature names, plan tiers, and pricing change often, so check what’s included in your current subscription — or ask us — before you rely on a specific feature.
Need More Help With QuickBooks for Dentists?
We get it—as a dentist, accounting isn’t your specialty. That’s why Core Advisors is here to help!
Whether you need help setting up your QuickBooks Online account, handling your taxes, or planning your retirement and investments, we’ve been helping dentists like you get their finances in order for almost 20 years. And if you’d rather never categorize a transaction again, our live accounting service enters and reconciles your books weekly — so your reports reflect this week, not last quarter.
Book an introductory call with us, and let’s chat about how we can help you get your personal & practice financials in order.
Just use the calendar below!
Until next time!
This article is for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. QuickBooks product features and plans change; verify current functionality with Intuit. Please consult your own advisors about your specific situation.
Related reading: Why Dental Practices Run on Cash Basis Accounting (And What Accrual Is Actually For)
