Why should dental practices outsource their finance function to sector specialists?

In today’s challenging dental landscape, practice owners face rising costs, increasing regulatory pressure, and growing demands on their time. According to the British Dental Association, a high percentage of NHS practices are struggling to recruit staff, while private treatment fees have increased significantly, both contributing to ongoing patient access limitations.

With understanding of dental-specific issues like UDA reporting, associate agreements, and tax efficient profit extraction, dental-focused accountants provide tailored support that might otherwise get overlooked, freeing up your time to focus on patients, performance, and long-term planning.

Why does outsourcing your finance function make sense for your practice?

By partnering with a sector-specialist accountancy firm, practices gain access to a fully managed finance team with deep industry knowledge, with economies of scale. This means accurate and timely bookkeeping, proactive tax planning, management reporting aligned to practice performance all delivered consistently, in line with the business need.

With finance outsourced, principals and practice managers can refocus on patient care, strategic growth, and managing clinical teams, rather than juggling HMRC deadlines, payroll, or associate cost allocations. The added value lies in having professionals who understand the nuances of NHS and private income, clawback treatment, UDA tracking, and succession planning, turning finance from a compliance task into a strategic tool.

Sector expertise – better insights

Working with an accountancy team that understands the dental sector means your advice is grounded in real-world experience rather than general assumptions. Sector knowledge allows for more informed decisions around UDA targets, NHS clawbacks, associate agreements, and managing mixed-income streams from private and NHS work.
Compliance with confidence

Keeping pace with changing tax, NHS, and HMRC requirements is essential. A finance team familiar with the sector can help ensure deadlines are met, compliance risks are identified early, and your practice operates within the latest regulatory frameworks.
Cost control in a rising-expense climate

With costs increasing across staffing, materials, and utilities, close financial monitoring is key. Regular tracking and benchmarking of expenditure can help identify inefficiencies, protect profitability, and support more agile decision-making.
Supporting growth and lending: financial reporting for securing lending opportunities

Whether you’re planning to acquire a second site, invest in new equipment, or refinance existing borrowings, high-quality financial reporting is critical. Lenders want to see clear, accurate, and timely management information that reflects your true practice performance, not just year-end accounts.

Outsourcing your finance function to a specialist accountancy team ensures you have access to the right financial data and insight to support these conversations. This includes regular management accounts, profit and loss trends, cash flow forecasts, and working capital analysis – all aligned to the nuances of the dental sector.

We’ve seen the difference this can make first-hand. Working closely with one of our long-standing dental clients and a sector-focused finance provider, we helped secure substantial funding to support expansion plans. By providing tailored management information packs, lender-specific performance reporting, and clear commentary on practice profitability, we gave both client and lender the clarity and confidence to move forward.

How can Price Bailey support your dental practice?

Our specialism in the dental sector means we don’t just provide accounting support, we integrate as an extension of your team. We take the time to get to know you, your team, and how your practice operates day to day. From understanding your income mix and staffing structure to the nuances of your workflows and we tailor our support accordingly. This allows us to offer timely, relevant advice and anticipate your needs before they arise. By embedding ourselves in your business, we deliver more than just numbers, we become a trusted partner in your long-term success.

We always recommend that you seek advice from a suitably qualified adviser before taking any action. The information in this article only serves as a guide and no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of this material can be accepted by the authors or the firm.

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