|
|  |
|
|
Watching Your Money Closely
by Greg Sneyd
 Greg Sneyd, Director of DentalSuccess Financial, talks about ... In your dental practice you handle significant amounts of cash everyday. And as you strive to move your practice towards being insurance-free, you will probably handle even more amounts of cash. As such, you must make sure that you have the proper procedures in place to eliminate the possibility or the temptation of your team members to decide that your cash is better suited for their personal needs rather than yours.
While I was at Dental Boot Kamp in Nashville I ran into Crown Council member, Gary Griffin who related a story to me about a situation in his practice that resulted in a major learning experience. Gary thought he had a top-notch team. He thought that everyone on his team was honest, trustworthy and respected everyone else on the team. They were all part of the family.
One afternoon, Gary just happened to be looking through the production and accounting records and he noticed that there were two deposit slips for the previous day’s deposit. One deposit slip reflected cash collections as part of the deposit. The other deposit slip did not. Immediately, Gary knew something was fishy.
At the team huddle the next morning Gary asked his team member who had responsibility for the accounting if she knew anything about this. She was speechless, surprised and said she would look into it. As Gary later learned she had been keeping the cash for herself. One deposit slip, which was kept with the accounting records, reflected the total receipts for the day including the cash receipts. The second deposit slip reflected the actual deposit that she deposited in the bank that day. Normally she would hold on to the actual receipt, but that particular day she accidentally placed both deposit slips in the accounting records. A big mistake and fortunately for Gary he had just happened to look at the accounting records that day.
As it turned out she had embezzled $36,000 over an 8-month period. Gary went to the police the next day but had an uphill battle trying to get anyone to take interest in prosecution of the case. Apparently, they all had better things to do with their time than prosecute a case like this. Eventually with a little bit of luck and help from a friend Gary was able to find someone to prosecute.
To make a long story short, she was convicted of 62 felony accounts of theft, had to pay back the $36,000, had to turn custody of her children over to her ex-husband, and was subject to home incarceration for 6 months during which she had to where an electronic locator bracelet. We hope she has learned her lesson and won’t do this again to any other dentists.
It was not an easy or enjoyable process but Gary felt that he had to go all the way to ensure that she did not do this to anyone else. Let’s face it, many dentists are probably the perfect target for this type of criminal behavior. Many dentists trust their team members and rely on them to be honest and trustworthy.
In fact many of you may have had a similar experience. Last week I was talking to Dr. Scott Kiser in Salt Lake City about Gary’s experience and he said that he had a similar experience a few years ago, although not to the same magnitude as Gary. Maybe this situation sounds all too familiar to you, too?
So what do you do to prevent this from happening to you? Well, don’t think that you are exempt from this kind of criminal behavior. Even your most trusted team members might be tempted if the opportunity presents itself. Gary’s team member was considered to be part of the family and this type of behavior from his trusted team member didn’t even enter his mind.
Here are a few procedures that Gary and Scott recommend. One of your team members should record all of the daily receipts in your accounting records. A different team member should prepare the daily bank deposit slip. Then someone different from the team member who prepared the deposit should make the actual deposit at the bank. You, personally, may even want to compare the accounting record of production to the actual bank deposit everyday, or at least on a random basis.
Scott also has a daily record sheet for any patient account adjustments or credits issued. Once every quarter his external accountant runs a report, that is included with their practice management software, which shows all adjustments and credits issued. This enables Scott to monitor whom and how much is being written off or adjusted on all patient accounts.
These are some very simple procedures that help to keep everyone honest. If you’re not doing this every day, start today. And don’t think that you don’t need to do this because you trust your team member as you would trust any member of your family. Don’t let trust be the only element in the equation where cash is involved.
For more information on Dental Boot Kamp or the Crown Council send an email to gregs@dentalsuccess.net or call Greg Sneyd at 800-460-3838 x106.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Post Your Comments About This Article
|
|
There are no letters for this article. To post your own letter, click Post Letter.
|
|
[POST LETTER]
|
|
|
|
Profit-Building Links
|
Walter Hailey says "What I wish someone had told me a long time ago about becoming financially independent..." Click Here
|
|
Steve Anderson's Exclusive Member Offer - Teach your entire team how to build your practice with ESP.Click Here
|
|
Greg Sneyd says save $$$ for your practice & patients with our NEW patient financing program.Click Here
|
|
Jason Halfyard says save time & $$$- Make your website drive business to your practice.Click Here
|
|
Greg Sneyd says save $$$ with our NEW credit card processing program.Click Here
|
|
Special Dental Report- Ten things I'd never put up with if I were a dentist.Click Here
|
|
Herman Schulze talks about Eagle University- Give your kids a 7 year jump-start on their career.Click Here
|
|
Walter & Steve talk about Dental Boot Kamp- Learn how to work less and make more!Click Here
|
|
Greg Anderson talks about the Crown Council- The leaders in dental health, wellness & prevention.Click Here
|
|
|
