How DSOs reconcile dental deposits in NetSuite and Sage Intacct
A dental group reconciles each deposit the same way a single practice does, then adds two questions: which entity owns the bank account, and which location the money belongs to. Match every EFT, check, virtual card and card payout to what explains it, confirm the posting at the right location, book it to the right entity and location, and book anything that crossed between entities on both sides.
Book a demoBy the ScoutIQ AI teamPublished 8 min read
Key takeaways
- A group reconciles in layers: each location to its own bank account and practice system, then each legal entity, then the group.
- Insurance EFTs match their ERA by trace number, checks match their EOB and card payouts break back into the payments inside them, at every location.
- Book one entry per bank deposit, in the entity that owns the bank account, tagged with the location it belongs to, with fees and recoupments on their own lines.
- Money that lands in the wrong entity’s account is booked on both sides as due to and due from, so the group nets to $0.00.
- Match deposits every day, so month end is a review of the open items, signed off by three different people.
Why groups keep the books in NetSuite or Sage Intacct
Many dental groups run each practice as its own legal entity, with a management company, often called an MSO, providing billing, staff and services. Each entity keeps its own books, bank accounts and month-end close. With one set of books per entity in a small accounting system, a group of many practices means many files to keep, no single view of the group, and entries between entities kept by hand.
NetSuite and Sage Intacct keep many entities in one accounting system. Each entity has its own books and bank accounts, entries can be tagged by location, and the group’s numbers roll up from the entities. What does not change is the bank line: one payer name, one trace number and one total, often for many patients and sometimes for more than one location.
Location, entity and group
A single practice proves its postings, its bank and its books agree. A group does that at every location, then checks each entity and the group as a whole. The matching at each location is the same; see how to reconcile dental insurance payments.
| Layer | What has to agree | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Its practice system postings, its bank deposits and its entries in the books | A payment posted but never deposited, or deposited but never posted |
| Legal entity | Every location under it, its bank accounts and its books | A deposit that landed in another entity’s bank account |
| Group | Every entity together, with due to and due from netting to $0.00 | One side of an entry between entities booked without the other |
When the payer’s remittance, the posting, the bank deposit and the books entry all agree for a payment, that is four-way reconciliation. Proving the books side is GL reconciliation.
Every kind of deposit, and where it is booked
| Deposit | Match it to | How to book it |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance EFT | The ERA with the same trace number, then each claim posted in that location’s PMS | In the entity whose account received it, split by location when one EFT pays several |
| Insurance check | The paper EOB that came with it, then each claim posted in that location’s PMS | One entry per bank deposit, even when it holds several checks |
| Virtual card payment | Its EOB and the processor deposit | The full payment, with the card fee on its own line as an expense |
| Patient card payout | Every patient payment inside it, each posted to the right patient | The full payments, with processing fees on their own line, by location |
| Recoupment | The earlier claim the payer is taking back | Its own negative line on the deposit it was taken from |
Insurance EFTs match by trace number only when the payer sends both the EFT and the ERA; see EFT and ERA enrollment. For checks and paper EOBs, including a lockbox, see posting paper EOBs and checks.
How a group reconciles, step by step
Pull every bank account, every day
Start from the bank lines for every account the group has: every credit that landed, with its date, amount, payer name and trace or check number.
A bank feed in NetSuite or Sage Intacct shows each deposit as one line with a total. The claims and patients inside it are in the remittances and in each location’s practice management system.
Match each deposit to what explains it
Use the strongest proof first: the trace or check number on the bank line equal to the one on the remittance or payout.
If there is no trace or check number, an amount, date and payer that match only one bank line count as a strong match. Anything looser, such as a payer alias or a small difference, is a proposal for a person to accept, not a match.
Confirm the posting at the right location
Check that each claim on the remittance and each payment in the payout is posted in that location’s practice management system, to the right patient.
Locations in a group often run different practice systems, especially after an acquisition, so this check has to work on each of them.
Book it to the right entity and location
Record each bank deposit once, at the amount the bank shows, in the entity that owns the account, tagged with the location the money belongs to.
Book virtual card and card processing fees as an expense and recoupments as their own negative line, so collections stay true to what the payer and the patient paid.
Book what one entity owes another
When money for one entity lands in another entity’s account, book both sides at the same time, for the same amount.
Management fees and settlements between entities are booked the same way, on both sides.
Name every difference
A deposit with no remittance, or a remittance with no deposit, gets an owner and a date.
Money nobody can identify is held as an unidentified credit until someone names the sender. Never spread it across patients to make a number agree.
Money in the wrong entity’s account
Payers do not always pay into the account the money belongs to. Take a payment for Practice B’s patients that landed in Practice A’s bank account. Moving it in the books, not netting it away, keeps both entities right:
| Entity | What it books | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Practice A | The cash, and a due to Practice B | It holds money that belongs to Practice B |
| Practice B | The payment, and a due from Practice A | The payment was for its patients |
| The group | The due to and due from cancel out | Nets to $0.00 across the group |
Flag the deposit the day it lands, not at month end, and before you close, check that every due to has a matching due from. See due to and due from.
Closing the month for every entity
Each location closes, then each entity, then the group. When the matching runs every day, month end becomes a review of the open items instead of a search. Before you close, check:
- Every bank credit, in every account, 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 that location’s practice system.
- Fees, virtual card fees and recoupments are booked on their own lines.
- Each deposit is booked to the entity that owns the account and the location it belongs to.
- Every due to has a matching due from, and the group nets to $0.00.
- Unidentified credits are held in suspense, never spread across patients.
- A preparer, a reviewer and an approver, three different people, sign each close.
Remittances that arrive after a month is approved are recorded as changes against the approved numbers, never as edits to them. See month-end close.
How ScoutIQ handles it
ScoutIQ matches every EFT, check, virtual card and card payout to the ERA or EOB behind it and to the posting in that location’s practice system, every day as deposits land, across 59 practice management systems. Each match shows its proof, and anything looser than a matching trace or check number, or a single clear match, waits for a person to accept it. Unidentified credits are held, never spread.
Deposits, card and virtual card fees and recoupments are booked in NetSuite or Sage Intacct, each to its own location and entity, so the books agree with the bank. A deposit that lands in another entity’s bank account is flagged, and what one entity owes another is booked on both sides as due to and due from, netting to $0.00 across the group. Journal entries are drafted from the open items and post only after approval.
Each close needs three different people to prepare, review and approve it, and every step is kept in a hash-chained record your auditor can check. 95% of insurance payments match with no human review, and ScoutIQ is live in 48 hours, one location or several. For groups on QuickBooks, see reconciling dental deposits in QuickBooks. With Xero, ScoutIQ reads the books and reconciles against them, and never books entries there.
ScoutIQ product
Insurance Billing Automation
Sources
Insurance Billing Automation
ERAs and EOBs read; EFT, check and card payments reconciled.
See Insurance Billing Automation