How to Prepare Your Dental Practice for CPA Review

Your quarterly CPA meeting is next week. Are you going to spend the time on tax strategy or on explaining why your numbers do not make sense?

The Value of Being Prepared

The time you spend with your CPA is expensive. Between their hourly rate and your time away from patients, a typical quarterly meeting might cost $500 to $1,000 or more in direct and opportunity costs.

That time can be spent two ways:

Reactive mode: Your accountant digs through messy records, asks basic questions about transactions, and tries to piece together what happened. You spend the meeting explaining and apologizing. Little strategic value is created.

Strategic mode: You arrive with clean, organized records. Your accountant quickly verifies the numbers, then spends the majority of time on tax planning, financial strategy, and proactive advice. You leave with actionable insights.

The difference is preparation. Practice owners who prepare for CPA meetings get more value and often pay lower fees because their accountant spends less time on cleanup.

What Your CPA Needs

Understanding what your accountant needs helps you prepare effectively.

Financial Data

Your CPA needs accurate numbers to work with:

Bank statements: Complete statements for all business accounts for the period being reviewed.

Credit card statements: Business credit card activity for the period.

Loan statements: Current balances and activity for any business loans or lines of credit.

Merchant statements: Credit card processing statements showing deposits and fees.

Practice Management Data

Dental-specific data from your PMS:

Production reports: Total production by month, ideally broken down by provider and procedure category.

Collection reports: Total collections by month and by payment type (insurance, patient, financing).

Adjustment reports: Adjustments and write-offs with reason codes.

Accounts receivable: Current AR aging report showing balances by age bucket.

Reconciliation Status

Evidence that your records are accurate:

Bank reconciliation: Documentation that bank accounts have been reconciled through the period being reviewed.

Unidentified deposits: List of any deposits that have not been matched to specific revenue, with investigation status.

Credit balances: Report of patient credit balances with aging.

Supporting Documentation

Backup for unusual items or significant transactions:

Large deposits: Explanation for any unusually large deposits.

New loans or credit lines: Documentation for any new financing.

Major expenses: Invoices or documentation for significant purchases.

Owner draws and contributions: Record of any money taken out or put into the practice.

The Preparation Checklist

Complete this checklist before your CPA meeting.

Two Weeks Before

Reconcile all bank accounts:

• Operating account reconciled through month-end
• Any additional accounts reconciled
• Unidentified deposits listed and investigated

Gather bank and merchant statements:

• Bank statements downloaded or obtained
• Credit card statements gathered
• Merchant processing statements pulled

Run PMS reports:

• Production report by month
• Collection report by month and type
• Adjustment report with reason codes
• AR aging report
• Credit balance report

One Week Before

Review for obvious issues:

• Do collection totals roughly match bank deposits?
• Are there large unidentified deposits to explain?
• Are adjustment totals reasonable?
• Any unusual transactions to note?

Prepare explanations:

• Document any unusual deposits or transactions
• Note any significant changes from prior periods
• List questions you have for your CPA

Gather supporting documents:

• Invoices for major purchases
• Loan or credit line documentation
• Owner draw records
• Any other relevant backup

Day Before

Organize everything:

• Create a folder (physical or digital) with all documents
• Order documents logically
• Include a summary or cover sheet listing what is included

Confirm the meeting:

• Verify meeting time and format (in-person, video, phone)
• Ensure you have necessary technology working
• Block adequate time in your schedule

What to Bring to the Meeting

The Core Package

• Bank statements for the period
• Bank reconciliation documentation
• PMS summary reports (production, collections, adjustments, AR)
• Merchant statements
• Credit balance report
• Unidentified deposit list with notes

Supporting Items

• Loan statements and documentation
• Major expense invoices
• Owner transaction records
• Any documents your CPA specifically requested

Your Questions

Come prepared with questions:

• Tax planning opportunities
• Entity structure considerations
• Retirement plan options
• Concerns about specific financial trends
• Industry benchmarking questions

Having an agenda ensures you get strategic value, not just compliance work.

Common Preparation Failures

Incomplete Bank Reconciliation

The single most common failure. Your CPA cannot trust any numbers if bank accounts are not reconciled.

Fix it: Reconcile completely before the meeting. Resolve or document every variance. Do not hope your CPA will not notice.

Unexplained Large Deposits

Large deposits without explanation raise questions and waste meeting time.

Fix it: For any deposit over $5,000 that is not obviously routine, prepare a brief explanation: what it was, where it came from, how it was recorded.

Missing Reports

Showing up without the reports your CPA needs means they cannot do their job.

Fix it: Ask your CPA what reports they need. Run them in advance. Bring both printed copies and digital files.

No Reconciliation of PMS to Bank

If your PMS shows $95,000 in collections and your bank shows $91,000 in deposits, that discrepancy needs explanation.

Fix it: Compare totals before the meeting. Investigate and document variances. Come prepared to discuss.

Disorganized Documents

A shoebox of papers wastes everyone's time.

Fix it: Organize documents logically. Label folders. Create a summary sheet. Make it easy for your CPA to find what they need.

Questions to Answer Before Your CPA Asks

Anticipate what your CPA will want to know and have answers ready.

Revenue Questions

• Why did collections change from prior period?
• What are these large deposits?
• Why is there a variance between PMS and bank?
• What are these unidentified deposits?

Expense Questions

• What were major purchases this period?
• Any new ongoing expenses?
• Changes in staffing or payroll?
• Unusual vendor payments?

Balance Sheet Questions

• Any new loans or credit lines?
• Owner draws or contributions?
• Equipment purchases?
• Changes in AR or credit balances?

Operational Questions

• Any significant changes in the practice?
• New providers or services?
• Changes in payer mix?
• Plans that affect finances?

Making the Most of Meeting Time

Start With the Summary

Begin by giving your CPA a quick overview:

• Overall period was strong/weak/normal
• Key changes from prior period
• Specific items to discuss
• Questions you have

This frames the conversation and ensures important topics get covered.

Address Issues Directly

If there are problems, acknowledge them upfront:

• "We have $8,000 in unidentified deposits I need help with"
• "Our collection rate dropped and I am not sure why"
• "There is a variance between PMS and bank I cannot explain"

Your CPA will find issues anyway. Acknowledging them shows you are paying attention and want to fix them.

Ask Strategic Questions

Do not let the meeting become only about historical numbers. Push for forward-looking advice:

• What should I be doing differently for taxes?
• How do my numbers compare to similar practices?
• What trends should I be watching?
• What would you do if this were your practice?

Take Notes

Document recommendations and action items. After the meeting:

• Summarize key takeaways
• List action items with deadlines
• Note questions for follow-up
• Schedule any needed subsequent meetings

Building a Better Ongoing Process

The best CPA meetings happen when preparation is built into your regular routine.

Monthly Habits

• Reconcile bank accounts
• Review PMS-to-bank variance
• Address unidentified deposits
• Clear aged credit balances

Quarterly Habits

• Compile reports for CPA
• Review financial trends
• Prepare questions and topics
• Organize documentation

Annual Habits

• Year-end financial review
• Tax planning before December
• Entity and structure review
• Long-term financial planning

Consistent monthly habits make quarterly preparation easy. Easy preparation makes CPA meetings valuable.

The Payoff

Practices that prepare well for CPA meetings:

Pay lower fees. Accountants bill for their time. Less cleanup time means lower bills.

Get better advice. Time saved on basics is time available for strategy.

Make better decisions. Understanding your numbers enables informed choices.

Avoid surprises. Proactive review catches issues before they become problems.

Build a stronger relationship. Your CPA becomes a trusted advisor, not just a compliance provider.

The investment in preparation pays returns far exceeding the time required.

Want to show up to your CPA meeting with clean books every time? Zeldent reconciles your bank deposits to your PMS daily, resolves discrepancies as they occur, and generates the reports your accountant needs. For practice owners who value their time and their CPA relationship, automated reconciliation is the foundation of effortless preparation. Schedule a demo to see stress-free accounting.