Dentrix Reconciliation Best Practices: A Complete Walkthrough

Dentrix has the reports you need for reconciliation. The challenge is knowing which ones to use, when to run them, and how to interpret what they show.

Why Dentrix Reconciliation Matters

Dentrix is the most widely used practice management software in dentistry. Millions of transactions flow through Dentrix systems every day. When those transactions are not properly reconciled, revenue leaks.

The good news: Dentrix provides robust reporting for reconciliation. The challenge: knowing which reports to use and how to use them effectively.

This guide walks through Dentrix-specific reconciliation, from daily closeout to monthly verification, with the exact reports and procedures you need.

Understanding Dentrix Payment Flow

How Payments Enter Dentrix

Payments in Dentrix are recorded through several paths:

Patient payments at checkout: Staff enters payments in the Ledger or through the Payment window.

Insurance payments: Posted manually from EOBs or auto-posted from ERAs through integrated clearinghouses.

Batch payments: Multiple payments entered together, common for insurance posting.

Each path creates transaction records that should ultimately reconcile to bank deposits.

Key Dentrix Tables

Understanding Dentrix's data structure helps with reconciliation:

Ledger: The patient-level record of all transactions including charges, payments, and adjustments.

Payment Table: Stores payment transaction details including payment type, amount, and date.

Deposit Slip: Dentrix's mechanism for grouping payments into deposits.

Essential Dentrix Reports for Reconciliation

Daily Payment Report

The foundation of daily reconciliation.

How to access: Reports → Ledger → Daily Payment Report

What it shows:

• All payments entered for the selected date
• Broken down by payment type (cash, check, credit card, insurance)
• Provider and patient information
• Payment totals by category

How to use it:

• Run for the business day being closed
• Compare totals to your actual collections
• Verify each payment type matches its source

Deposit Slip Report

Groups payments into deposits for bank reconciliation.

How to access: Reports → Ledger → Deposit Slip

What it shows:

• Payments grouped by deposit
• Deposit totals
• Individual payment details within each deposit

How to use it:

• Create deposit slips as part of EOD
• Match deposit slip totals to bank deposits
• Use as documentation for reconciliation

Day Sheet

Comprehensive daily activity report.

How to access: Reports → Management → Day Sheet

What it shows:

• Production by provider
• Collections by payment type
• Adjustments
• Summary of daily activity

How to use it:

• Overall daily summary for management review
• Verify collections align with other reports
• Track production vs collection trends

Payment by Insurance Report

Insurance payment detail for ERA/EOB reconciliation.

How to access: Reports → Ledger → Payment by Insurance

What it shows:

• Insurance payments by carrier
• Claim-level detail
• Payment dates and amounts

How to use it:

• Reconcile insurance EFT deposits
• Verify ERA postings are complete
• Identify insurance payments needing investigation

Adjustment Report

Track adjustments that affect revenue.

How to access: Reports → Ledger → Adjustment Report

What it shows:

• All adjustments by type
• Adjustment amounts and reasons
• Who made the adjustment

How to use it:

• Monitor adjustment activity
• Verify adjustments are appropriate
• Identify unusual patterns

Daily Reconciliation Procedure

Step 1: Close the Day in Dentrix

Before running reports, ensure the day's work is complete.

Checklist:

• All patients checked out
• All payments entered
• All insurance payments posted
• Day-end procedures ready

Step 2: Run the Daily Payment Report

Generate the report for the current business day.

Settings:

• Date range: Today only
• Include all payment types
• Include all providers

Review:

• Total payments by type
• Individual payment accuracy
• Any obvious errors

Step 3: Reconcile Cash

Compare Dentrix cash total to physical cash.

Process:

1. Note cash total from Daily Payment Report
2. Count cash drawer
3. Compare totals
4. Investigate any variance over $5

Common cash variances:

• Payment entered as wrong type
• Payment amount entered incorrectly
• Cash not entered in Dentrix
• Cash collected but drawer short

Step 4: Reconcile Credit Cards

Compare Dentrix credit card total to merchant batch.

Process:

1. Note credit card total from Daily Payment Report
2. Settle credit card batch in terminal
3. Compare totals
4. Investigate any variance

Common credit card variances:

• Refund not recorded in Dentrix
• Payment run on terminal but not entered in Dentrix
• Declined transaction recorded as payment
• Terminal batch includes prior day

Step 5: Reconcile Checks

Verify check payments match physical checks.

Process:

1. Note check total from Daily Payment Report
2. Count and list physical checks
3. Compare totals and check numbers
4. Investigate any variance

Step 6: Create Deposit Slip

Group payments for deposit.

In Dentrix:

1. Go to Deposit Slip function
2. Select payments to include
3. Create deposit slip
4. Print or save deposit documentation

Physical deposit:

1. Prepare cash and checks per deposit slip
2. Verify deposit total matches Dentrix
3. Secure deposit per office protocol

Step 7: Document and Submit

Complete daily documentation.

Required documentation:

• Daily Payment Report (saved or printed)
• Deposit Slip
• Cash count verification
• Credit card batch report
• Any variance explanations

Insurance Payment Reconciliation

Posting from ERAs

If using electronic remittance:

Process:

1. Download ERAs from clearinghouse
2. Import or auto-post to Dentrix
3. Verify posting accuracy
4. Match ERA totals to bank EFT deposits

Verification:

• Run Payment by Insurance report
• Compare to ERA totals
• Investigate discrepancies

Posting from Paper EOBs

If posting manually:

Process:

1. Gather EOBs received
2. Post each payment to correct patient/claim
3. Enter adjustments as shown on EOB
4. Track EOBs against bank deposits

Best practice: Batch all EOBs for an insurance check together and verify batch total matches check amount.

Matching to Bank Deposits

Insurance EFTs need matching to ERAs.

Process:

1. Identify insurance EFT in bank
2. Find corresponding ERA(s)
3. Verify Dentrix postings match ERA
4. Confirm posted total equals bank deposit

Common issues:

• Multiple ERAs in one EFT
• ERA posted but EFT not yet received
• EFT received but ERA not downloaded

Monthly Reconciliation

Bank-to-Dentrix Reconciliation

Verify monthly collections match bank deposits.

Process:

1. Run Daily Payment Report for entire month
2. Sum bank deposits for the month
3. Compare totals
4. Investigate variance

Expected variance sources:

• Timing differences (deposits in transit)
• Credit card processing fees (if netted)
• Non-revenue deposits in bank

AR Reconciliation

Verify AR balance is accurate.

Reports:

• Aging Report: Shows AR by age bucket
• Insurance Aging: Insurance AR detail

Review:

• Total AR is reasonable
• No unexpected large balances
• Aging distribution is appropriate

Adjustment Analysis

Review monthly adjustment activity.

Process:

1. Run Adjustment Report for month
2. Calculate adjustment percentage of production
3. Review large adjustments
4. Verify all adjustments are documented

Common Dentrix Reconciliation Issues

Payment Type Mismatches

Payment entered as wrong type (e.g., cash entered as check).

Symptoms:

• Cash drawer does not balance
• Check total does not match checks
• Credit card total does not match batch

Fix:

• Identify the misclassified payment
• Void or edit the incorrect entry
• Re-enter with correct payment type

Duplicate Payments

Same payment entered twice.

Symptoms:

• Collection totals higher than actual
• Patient has credit balance
• Bank deposit does not match Dentrix

Fix:

• Identify the duplicate entry
• Void the duplicate
• Adjust patient balance if needed

Missing Payments

Payment collected but not entered.

Symptoms:

• Cash drawer over
• Deposit higher than Dentrix shows
• Patient balance shows amount due

Fix:

• Identify the missing payment
• Enter with correct date and details
• Verify patient balance is correct

Insurance Posting Errors

ERA posted incorrectly or incompletely.

Symptoms:

• Insurance EFT does not match posted payments
• Claims show wrong payment amounts
• Patient portions incorrect

Fix:

• Compare ERA detail to Dentrix posting
• Correct individual claim postings
• Repost if necessary

Date Entry Errors

Payment entered with wrong date.

Symptoms:

• Day does not balance but week/month does
• Timing variances that resolve themselves

Fix:

• Identify payments with wrong dates
• Correct the payment date
• Rerun reports for affected days

Dentrix Settings for Better Reconciliation

Payment Type Setup

Configure payment types to match your needs.

Recommendations:

• Separate types for cash, check, credit card
• Separate insurance payment types by carrier or type if needed
• Clear naming for easy identification

User Permissions

Control who can enter and modify payments.

Recommendations:

• Limit payment entry to authorized staff
• Restrict payment modification/deletion
• Audit trail for all changes

Deposit Slip Configuration

Set up deposit slips for your workflow.

Recommendations:

• Configure to match your bank's requirements
• Include all necessary detail
• Enable for all payment types

Report Defaults

Set default parameters for commonly used reports.

Recommendations:

• Daily Payment Report defaults to current day
• Include all payment types by default
• Save custom report configurations

Integrating with Automated Reconciliation

Dentrix Data Export

Automated reconciliation tools need Dentrix data.

Export options:

• Direct database integration (requires technical setup)
• Report exports (CSV or similar)
• API connections (where available)

Bank Feed Integration

Connect bank data for automated matching.

Requirements:

• Secure bank feed connection
• Daily data refresh
• Proper account mapping

Exception Management

Automated systems flag issues for human review.

Workflow:

1. Automated matching runs daily
2. Exceptions flagged for review
3. Staff investigates and resolves
4. System learns from resolutions

Using Dentrix and want automated reconciliation? Zeldent integrates with Dentrix to automatically match your payments to bank deposits, flagging exceptions that need attention. Stop spending hours on manual verification and let automation do the matching. Schedule a demo to see Dentrix reconciliation simplified.