5 Dental Accounting New Year's Resolutions You Need to Make for 2018

No matter how you may feel about 2017, it’s time to look forward and concentrate on the year ahead. For dental accountants, this means taking a closer look at what is and isn’t working or surveying any roadblocks hit throughout 2017. From there, effective resolutions can be made to help ensure a more streamlined, productive and prosperous 2018.
Not sure where to start? Here are five dental accounting new year’s resolutions you should consider making for 2018, all of which will put your practice on the path toward success.

1. Review Your Practice’s 2017 Financials

For many dental practices, January 1st is not actually the beginning of the business’s financial year. This is not to say, however, that you can’t benefit from taking a day or two to look back at all of your sales receipts, invoices and other documents from 2017 so as to ensure that everything adds up figure-wise. The easiest way to do this is with a software application like Quickbooks, which can save you countless hours as opposed to manual processing.

2. Embrace Cloud Technology

One of the biggest mistakes that today’s dental practice managers and accountants tend to make is overlooking advancements in technology that can help make daily life at work easier and more streamlined—cloud technology is an excellent example. Offering a number of different applications and the ability to access and manipulate data from anywhere with a device and an Internet connection, the future is truly in the cloud, and the sooner you can embrace these applications, the better.

3. Update Payroll

The new year is a great time to update all of your internal systems, with payroll being no exception to the rule. Aspects such as bonuses, electronic direct deposits and employee status may all be out of date and require some degree of manual updating. While some practices won’t see many internal changes in a year’s time, others may require extensive payroll overhauling in order to ensure everything is accurate.

4. Identify Goals for 2018

Most people can think of aspects of their professional lives they’d like to improve upon, but it’s important to also zoom out a bit and take a look at the practice’s overall goals for the coming year. Is business development a pressing need? Do revenue figures need to be adjusted to make the business model work? Make a list, and be sure to identify key milestones so that you can monitor progress throughout the year.
Remember—new year’s resolutions don’t have to be difficult or impossible to stick to. By taking the time to identify things that you’d like to change this year, you’ll already be one step ahead of the game.