How To Increase Collections Before Putting Your Dental Practice On The Market

Your practice may have strong production, but buyers will also look closely at what you actually collect. Before putting your dental practice on the market, improving your collections can strengthen your financial presentation and give you cleaner numbers to support your valuation.

The key is to improve collections through better processes, not by creating short-term numbers that won’t continue after the sale.

Review Your Accounts Receivable

Start with your aging report. Look for outstanding balances by age and identify where your practice is consistently losing revenue.

Pay particular attention to:

• Older patient balances
• Unworked insurance claims
• Claims that have been denied or delayed
• Unbilled procedures
• Credit balances that need resolution
• Accounts with missing or incorrect information

Your billing team should have a clear process for following up on outstanding claims and patient balances.

Tighten Your Insurance Process

Small administrative problems can create significant collection delays.

Review whether your team is consistently:

• Verifying insurance eligibility
• Confirming patient benefits
• Submitting claims promptly
• Attaching required documentation
• Following up on unpaid claims
• Posting insurance payments accurately

Your goal should be consistent collections that reflect the practice's normal operations.

Monitor Your Collection Percentage

Look at your collection percentage alongside production. If production is increasing while collections remain flat, investigate why. You should also review your numbers monthly rather than waiting until you decide to sell. Clean, consistent financial records make it easier to evaluate the practice and prepare it for the market.

Start Before You Go To Market

Avoid making major changes immediately before a sale. Buyers want to see sustainable financial performance, not a temporary improvement.

Give yourself several months to identify collection problems, correct billing processes, and document the results.

Before listing your practice, review your collections with your CPA, billing team, and dental transition advisor. Then you can take the practice to market with financial records that clearly show how the business is performing.

Thinking About Selling?

Call 678-482-7305 to schedule a consultation with US Dental Transitions in Suwanee, GA 30024.