It’s hard to believe, but the end of the year is upon us. Year-end reporting is not one of the more enjoyable aspects of owning an orthodontic practice, but it is an important part of running your practice and making sure it continues to thrive. To end the year on a high note, follow the tips below to make year-end reporting run smoothly and accurately.

Make year-end reporting a year-round activity

One way to stay on top of your practice’s profitability is to run various reports throughout the year. Instead of waiting until the end of the year to find out your practice is in the red, run reports at certain points throughout the year, such as the beginning of each month. This will allow you to see any problem areas as they develop and help you make changes as needed to your marketing, staff, patient numbers, or administrative costs.

Know which reports to run

It’s not only necessary to run reports, it’s also important to run the right reports so you have the information you need to maintain a positive balance sheet. Here are five key reports to run throughout the year.

  1. Production report: This report totals how much money is being made based on production. In your case, production is patient procedures and appointments. For example, if silver braces cost $3000 per patient and you normally make $300,000 a year from braces, you can tell production has decreased if your total falls to $200,000. The only way to see this issue, however, is to run a regular production report.
  2. Write-offs report: This report calculates the amount lost due to lower fees required by insurance providers. Using the braces example again, if you typically charge $3000 but the patient’s insurance only allows you to bill $2500, your write-off amount would be $500. This helps you see how much money you are actually making on each procedure with insurance included. Write-offs can also occur if patients don’t pay for an extended period of time and you decide to stop attempting to collect what is owed. If your write-offs become too high, it may be time to reconsider which insurance coverage to accept and/or how to handle your patient billing and collection processes.
  3. Collections report: This report calculates the amount of revenue that has been paid by insurance companies and patients. This helps you see if there are certain patients or insurance companies that fail to make timely payments and how much revenue you actually have on hand versus what has been billed.
  4. Accounts receivable report: This report shows you how much is owed to your practice from your patients and any insurance companies you work with. If the total on this report is decreasing, it’s time to ramp up your marketing efforts; if there is a large gap between the total on this report and your collections report, you may need to revamp your collection procedure to ensure payments are being made regularly.
  5. Daily deposit report: As the name implies, this is a report you should run daily. While this might sound tedious, it will help you see how much money is made each day and where that money came from. You can then make sure you have enough money on hand to pay staff and handle other ongoing operating costs.

At Greyfinch, we can make year-end reporting and daily reporting easier. Save time with our KPI dashboard and get real-time data about how your office is performing. You can easily compare your numbers to previous time periods, break down data by location if you have multiple offices, and connect your Greyfinch dashboard to other reporting tools you currently use. All of this information allows you to share updates and goals with your team, providing transparency and keeping staff motivated. Contact Greyfinch today for a free demonstration!