6 Qualities to Look for in a Dentist CPA

Your dental practice is a complex business, a high-touch clinical operation with razor-thin margins, regulatory red tape, and constant pressure to improve production. That complexity demands more than a general CPA. You need someone who understands your industry as intimately as you understand molars and margins.

When your CPA knows dentistry, your tax planning gets smarter, your budgeting gets sharper and your peace of mind improves. You’re getting strategic insight on practice transitions, hygiene profitability, real estate structuring and long-term wealth preservation. And in our experience working with healthcare clients across Florida and beyond, we’ve found that the most successful dentists have one thing in common, they partner with a CPA who actually gets it.

So how do you know if your accountant is up to the task? Here are six qualities every dentist should expect from their CPA.

Quality #1: Deep industry knowledge (dentistry is not just another business)

You wouldn’t expect your patients to settle for a general practitioner when they need a root canal. The same principle applies to your CPA. A dentist’s financial picture is fundamentally different from other professional service providers. Your business is capital intensive, driven by third-party reimbursements and deeply impacted by production-based compensation models. If your CPA doesn’t understand this, they may be leaving money on the table — or worse, increasing your risk exposure.

The data tells the story. Average dental practice overhead is widely believed to be around 60 to 65%, with staff wages making up the largest component. At the same time, insurance reimbursement rates have remained flat, forcing many practices to boost production just to maintain profitability.

An accountant who understands the nuances of chairside scheduling, front office staffing ratios and equipment financing can build tax and accounting strategies that align with your operational reality. Whether it’s structuring your practice as an S corporation, handling continuing education expense deductions or allocating costs across multiple providers, they should already know the playbook.

And let’s not forget hygiene profitability. If your CPA doesn’t track hygiene revenue per provider or know what a healthy collections percentage looks like in dental, they’re guessing with your numbers. That’s not good enough when your livelihood is on the line.

Quality #2: Proactive tax planning, not just filing

If your CPA only calls you during tax season, you’re missing out on a critical layer of support. Filing is just the bare minimum. Dental practices need a strategic tax partner who looks ahead, not just behind.

The reality is that dental practices face tax questions year-round. Should you purchase that new CBCT scanner before year-end? Can you write off continuing education trips? What is the best way to structure compensation for an associate joining your practice? Each of these decisions affects your tax liability, and waiting until March to address them is simply too late.

A dentist-focused CPA will help you capture deductions specific to your profession. Equipment purchases, uniforms, CE, malpractice insurance, and even meals can offer tax opportunities when documented and planned correctly. A proactive advisor will also make sure your business entity is set up to reduce personal tax exposure, whether you operate as an S corporation, LLC or partnership.

If you are growing your practice or looking ahead to retirement, the tax planning conversation should never pause. We offer this kind of continuous planning through our individual tax services because it’s essential to keeping your wealth on track. Our work is about more than filling out forms. It is about aligning your structure with your goals, and helping you keep more of what you earn.

Quality #3: Experience with dental-specific benchmarks and KPIs

Dentistry is a metrics-driven profession. Your CPA should be just as fluent in KPIs as you are. Hygiene production. Collection percentage. Overhead ratio. Staff-to-clinician ratio. Good numbers here are signs of financial health, so these terms shouldn’t be a foreign language to them.

When your accountant knows what a successful dental practice looks like on paper, they can spot trends and recommend timely adjustments. For example, if your hygiene revenue is below industry norms, that might point to underutilization or scheduling issues. If your collections lag behind your production, it could be a red flag for billing inefficiencies or insurance bottlenecks.

A dental CPA who understands your business model can help you set realistic budgets, manage cash flow and grow with intention. This is especially true if you’re running a multi-provider operation or looking to expand. You should be able to compare your numbers to established industry benchmarks to see how you stack up.

This kind of insight is a key feature of strong outsourced accounting support. It goes beyond bookkeeping and turns your financial data into practical guidance you can use to make confident decisions.

Quality #4: Ability to guide strategic growth

Growth in a dental practice can mean a lot of things. Maybe you’d like to buy into a partnership, open a second location, or buy another practice across town. Or you might negotiate with a dental service organization. These are high-stakes moves, and the financial side is complex.

That’s where a dentist CPA proves their value. A strategic accountant helps you understand the long-term tax and financial impact of expansion. From evaluating debt structure to reviewing production potential, your CPA should be walking you through the details with clarity and confidence.

Let’s say you are planning to purchase an established practice. You will need a business valuation, cash flow analysis, tax projection, and a review of the seller’s financial statements. A dentist-focused CPA will know how to spot inflated receivables, inconsistent compensation models or red flags in hygiene revenue.

Similarly, if you’re considering transitioning out of ownership, your CPA should have experience working with DSO buyers, structuring tax-efficient sales and planning for retirement income. This guidance cannot come from a generalist. It takes someone who has worked with practices like yours and understands the specific financial patterns of dentistry.

Quality #5: Understanding of regulatory compliance and risk management

Dentists face a wide range of regulatory responsibilities. HIPAA, OSHA, the Department of Labor and the IRS all have a seat at your table. And when rules are not followed, the penalties can be serious. That is why your CPA must understand how these regulations apply to your practice and how to build systems that protect you.

Risk management helps you avoid audits and make sure your employee classifications are correct, your payroll taxes are timely and your expense documentation meets IRS standards. A CPA who understands the daily workings of a dental office can help reduce your exposure to avoidable risks.

Consider HIPAA. While your CPA doesn’t handle patient privacy, they should know how to structure financial workflows in a way that protects sensitive data. OSHA compliance is another example. A CPA who has worked with dental practices will understand how to allocate training costs, safety expenses and compliance-related upgrades appropriately for tax purposes.

Even your retirement plan or profit-sharing setup needs to follow DOL requirements. Mistakes in plan administration can trigger penalties, or even disqualify the plan. With healthcare-specific knowledge, your CPA can help you avoid missteps and stay aligned with regulatory expectations.

To learn more about compliance frameworks, visit the Department of Health and Human Services’ HIPAA resource center. Then talk to a CPA who can translate that information into day-to-day processes for your business.

Quality #6: Choose a CPA who helps your dental practice thrive

When it comes to your dental practice, financial success depends not only on hard work and a full schedule, but also on smart strategy, proactive tax planning and a trusted advisor who understands your world.

At James Moore, we bring this full spectrum of insight and personal connection to our healthcare clients. We know what dental practices need because we’ve walked this road with practices across Florida and beyond. From startup through expansion, transition and retirement, we’re here to help you make confident decisions.

If your current CPA isn’t asking the right questions, or giving you guidance that fits your practice, it may be time to talk to someone who will. Contact a James Moore professional to find out how we can help your dental practice stay strong, compliant and financially healthy.

All content provided in this article is for informational purposes only. Matters discussed in this article are subject to change. For up-to-date information on this subject please contact a James Moore professional. James Moore will not be held responsible for any claim, loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within these pages or any information accessed through this site.