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Accounting for practice owners

You know your patients' numbers to the decimal. You deserve the same clarity on your practice's. Full compliance plus quarterly insight, benchmarked against dentistry — not generic small business.

The principal's package

Compliance handled. Insight included.

Accounts & tax

Practice accounts, corporation or partnership tax, your personal returns and VAT where relevant — all filed early.

Payroll & pensions

Full team payroll with auto-enrolment, plus correct handling of associates, therapists and self-employed hygienists.

Quarterly benchmarking

Staff %, lab %, UDA delivery, private/plan mix and profit per surgery — against practices like yours.

NHS pension

Principal and practice superannuation reconciled; annual allowance watched before it bites.

Structure & planning

Incorporation reviews, profit extraction, spouse planning and property decisions — modelled in pounds, not opinions.

Growth advisory

Adding a surgery, an associate or a second site? We model the payback before you sign anything.

Benchmarked, not guessed

Is your practice performing — or just busy?

A full appointment book can hide a mediocre practice. The tell-tales are in the ratios: staff costs creeping past dental norms, lab fees out of line with your private mix, chairs sitting empty on the days that matter.

Every quarter we put your numbers next to dental benchmarks and last year's figures, highlight the two or three things worth acting on, and get on a call to agree what happens next. Twenty minutes a quarter; it's usually the highest-value meeting in the practice diary.

Most principals we meet are drawing less than their practice could support — or paying more tax than their structure should allow.

Book a free practice review

Principal FAQs

What practice owners ask us most

Which numbers should a practice owner actually watch?

Beyond profit: staff costs as a percentage of fee income, lab and materials percentages, chair utilisation, UDA delivery against contract, private and plan mix, and profit per surgery. We report these quarterly with dental benchmarks so you know whether 'fine' is actually fine.

Can you run payroll for my team?

Yes — nurses, receptionists, practice managers, therapists and hygienists on payroll, plus correct treatment of self-employed hygienist and associate arrangements. Pensions auto-enrolment is handled as part of the same service.

Should my practice be a limited company?

Many practices benefit from incorporation, but NHS contracts, goodwill, property and the partners' pension positions all complicate the picture. We model it properly — including NHS pension implications and the mechanics of moving an NHS contract — before you commit.

We're a mixed practice — does that change the accounting?

It changes the analysis. NHS, private fee-per-item and plan income behave differently: different margins, different risks, different growth levers. Your accounts should show the split clearly enough that you can steer the mix deliberately, not discover it at year-end.

Ready when you are

Run the practice on numbers you trust.

Book a free practice review: we'll look at your last accounts, your ratios against dental benchmarks and your structure — and show you exactly where the value is hiding.

Book a free practice review Why only dentists

The monthly dental numbers email

One short email a month: deadlines coming up, rule changes that affect dentists, and one number worth checking in your practice. No spam, unsubscribe any time.