Dental Practice Financial Model Template

Once your assumptions are set, work through the Expense Forecast sheet. Review the pre-populated staff roles and either confirm or adjust the salary figures to match your team. Clinical supply costs and lab fees are already set as percentages of production — most practices keep these as-is unless they have specific cost targets. Fixed overhead items like rent and software subscriptions pull from the Assumptions sheet but can be overridden directly if your actual figures differ. After expenses are set, the P&L and Cash Flow sheets build themselves from your inputs.

The cost structure of a dental practice is also more layered than most industries. Clinical staff costs — hygienists and associate dentists — scale with production because they're often paid on a percentage of what they generate. Lab fees move with restorative volume. Dental supplies track production at the chairside level. But rent, software subscriptions, and administrative staff are largely fixed regardless of how many patients come through the door. A financial model that doesn't separate these cost behaviors will fail to show the operating leverage available when you grow production — or the margin squeeze that happens when patient volume drops while fixed costs stay constant.