Month-end close for dental groups
Month-end close is the work of finishing a month’s books: proving that what was posted in the practice management system, what reached the bank and what was booked all agree for every location, listing every open item with an owner, and having the month reviewed and approved. For a dental group, each location closes, then the group.
Also calledMonthly closeClosing the booksClose package
By Dr. Maya Arnaout, DDS, VP of RevenuePublished 4 min read
What happens at month-end close?
- Every bank credit for the month is matched, or listed as an open item with an owner.
- Every remittance is matched to a deposit, or its payment is confirmed still in transit.
- Every claim and patient payment on a matched deposit is posted in the practice system.
- Fees, virtual card fees and recoupments are booked on their own lines.
- Each location’s deposits are booked to that location.
- The month is reviewed, approved and locked.
Why does month end take so long at dental groups?
Because the matching waits for it. When deposits are matched only at month end, every difference is weeks old: a check posted but never deposited, a recoupment that cut a deposit, money in the wrong location’s account. Each one means digging through statements, remittances and ledgers, and every location adds more.
Matching every day as deposits land turns month end into a review of the open items instead of a search. See four-way reconciliation.
Who should sign off the close?
Three different people: a preparer, a reviewer and an approver. Whoever posted the payments should not approve their own bank match, and whoever posts a journal entry should not approve it. Once approved, the month is locked. Reopening it should need a reason and a second approval, with every earlier sign-off kept.
What goes in a close package?
- Posted in the PMS, deposited in the bank and booked in the ledger, side by side for each location and for the group.
- Every open item with its owner, age and dollar amount.
- Unidentified credits held in suspense, never spread across patients.
- Entries between legal entities, booked as due to and due from and netting to $0.00 across the group.
- The sign-offs, and a record of every change after approval.
What changes for a DSO or multi-location group?
Each location, and each legal entity, closes on its own books and bank accounts, and the group closes on top. A deposit that landed in another location’s account is moved, not netted. Remittances that arrive after a month is approved show as changes against the approved numbers, never as edits to them. See ScoutIQ for DSOs.
How ScoutIQ handles it
ScoutIQ matches deposits every day as they land, so month end becomes a review of the open items. Each location shows posted, banked and booked side by side, with every difference named and owned, and Atlas exports the open items as a file your accountant can check line by line. ScoutIQ requires the preparer, reviewer and approver to be three different people, and keeps every step in a hash-chained record your auditor can check.
Insurance Billing Automation
ERAs and EOBs read; EFT, check and card payments reconciled.
See Insurance Billing Automation