This is the first step in our comprehensive Engage Ownership Program. We meet you (the buyer/s) and learn about your life and career goals. We then take a high-level review of your financials and negotiate terms for the letter of intent (LOI). We work with your banker or, can help you obtain one, and seek financial pre-approval. In this phase, we also start working with your attorney and commercial real estate broker for lease representation. If you do not have an attorney or commercial real estate broker, we can help you find one. Thanks to our experience with dentists transitioning to owners, we have a large network of trusted professionals and can make recommendations to represent you.
Engage Advisors is more than a CPA firm, we look after our dentist clients professionally and personally. This phase is about preparing you to become an owner and understand our Profit First mentality. We also work with you to ensure that your life and disability insurance is adequate as well as your financial treatment plans. Too often, we see dental practice owners that are not adequately insured or do not have a plan for managing debt, systematically saving for goals, and understanding their money. Our clients have clear goals, and we guide them achieve them!
Securing funding often requires preparation that includes clean financials. It also requires a partner to help the buyer understand the technical language and nuances of the loan they are seeking. Engage Advisors works directly with you and your banker to ensure clarity and fairness
In this phase, Engage Advisors reviews the draft purchase agreement with you as well as all items that are to be included and excluded in the sale. Our role is to review the accuracy and completeness of all items to make sure there are no surprises later that could cost you thousands. This phase also includes liaising with the Seller and attorney/s to review the building purchase and/or lease agreement, post-closing employment or professional services agreement as well as the state tax clearance letter. Engage Advisors keeps track of these crucial items and keeps everyone moving forward.
Every phase of your Engage Ownership Program is important, but the due diligence phase is arguably the most important to avoid surprises. This phase is broken into two parts: in-person due diligence and financial due diligence. Some of the in-person due diligence includes reviewing patient charts, IT infrastructure for gaps and needs, HR matters, taking inventory of all equipment and testing to ensure it is in good working order and more. The financial due diligence includes verifying tax returns against P&Ls and paystubs, reviewing tax return transcripts, A/R aging debtors and patient credit reports, professional license and business entity searches and much more.
This phase is about setting you up to run your business legally and efficiently. Your Engage Advisors team will provide you with the pros and cons of each business entity type (C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC, etc.) so that you have the best balance of tax benefits and legal protection. This phase also includes obtaining multiple state and federal numbers and licenses, including your federal EIN#, state tax IDs, and business licenses to name a few.
Understanding and managing your PPOs effectively can make or break your profitability. The national average write-off is 40%, meaning that each dollar discounted comes from your profit. In this phase, we work with you to determine if you’d like professional help with credentialing and fee schedule negotiations or if you’d like to spend dozens of hours and do it yourself.
Setting your business up correctly on day one is imperative. This phase includes several critical items such as insurance, ongoing accounting and business support services, setting up business banking accounts and credit card accounts as well as payroll, employee benefits, QuickBooks online, and merchant account processing so that you can receive credit card payments from patients. New and experienced business owners can be overwhelmed by this phase, but with Engage Advisors, you have a seasoned partner at your side.
Successful dental practice ownership includes a great team to care for your patients. Communicating your new ownership, answering their questions and ensuring that their pay and employment contracts are accurate is vital. Engage Advisors works with you to make sure that your team is looked after from a legal compliance perspective and beyond.
Prior to day one of ownership, there is a long admin ‘to do’ list that needs to be completed. Engage Advisors has a comprehensive overview to help make sure nothing is forgotten. Some of the items include changing all provider numbers in your patient management program, setting up lab accounts, obtaining and reviewing HIPPA and OSHA manuals and much more. Working with our team helps you keep track of the countless admin setup tasks that you can’t afford to get wrong.
Dental practice owners may choose to update their marketing foundations or have an aggressive marketing plan. Whatever you choose as an owner, getting your marketing basics setup or updated needs to happen first. This may include transferring your URL or website hosting, updating your logo, stationary, email signatures, signage, website and local online search to name a few. Rest assured, Engage Advisors helps to makes sure that your dental practice marketing basics are in order.
Congratulations, you are a dental practice owner! Engage Advisors knows what it takes to run a profitable dental practice. If you’d like to engage with us to manage your practice’s financial details, we’ll help you run a financially healthy dental practice. We look forward to a long and successful relationship!