Starting business. Mustachian Accounting and bus system recs

[wearfannypacks]

Hey Mustachians

I need some recs on good scheduling, accounting, and billing systems for my new business. I'm starting a low volume, fee for service dental practice. I'm specializing in one procedure. I don't expect to see more than 4-6 patients a week. I'll be renting out space 1-2 mornings a week out of another healthcare but non-dentist office.

I'd love for this practice to have great business systems, but not spending a ton every month on software or business "solutions" I"m shooting for under $150 a month for these business things.

Do I have to get quickbooks? What other accounting software would you recommend?
Track basic expenses (supplies, rent, professional dues, etc)
Show when someone paid me for services
Make a 1099 to pay one Independent Contractor of an employee

Billing and payment software
Send invoices
Ability to accept payments online with reasonable credit card fees
Accept payments in person

Scheduling software
Allow people to book own appointments with a deposit
Some mechanism to have patient information paperwork sent, so they can fill out ahead of time
integrate on a website

Do these even exist? Any other tips or recommendations would be extremely helpful. I'm practicing 1 or 2 mornings a week. I"m looking to make this as paperless and streamlined as possible.

Thanks fellow Mustachians. I realize this isn't a typical dental practice. I love MMM because he thinks outside the box to get results. I'd love to use your optimism guns on how to make this work.

[Fuzz]

I'm a big fan of freshbooks + stripe for an idiot proof way to credit card. You can send an email with a link to a payment gateway. Quickbooks is $179 (get the PC version even if you use a mac). That's not terrible--the online options like xero are SAAS model ($30-40 mo) and not mustachian IMO.

Sounds like you've got a nice business opportunity. Maybe Ruby Receptionist and google calendar for booking? Not sure what's out there.

[tganewbie]

Hi,

For invoices, knowing when someone paid you etc I would use www.xero.com. ($30 per month)
For payments, Paypal (3.7% of revenue I believe)
For bookings, try www.eventbrite.com ($2 per booking)

This should cover everything part from "Make a 1099 to pay one Independent Contractor of an employee"

Especially in the booking space there should be tons of Software as a Service applications available that are on a per booking basis.

Hope this helps.

[Trudie]

I think Quickbooks would do all that you need it to for a reasonable fee.  It's a common and supported platform as well -- in case you encounter any snafus.

I'm not sure if you're a member or not, but I'd suggest checking into business services offered by Costco which include -- among other things -- decent deals on Quickbooks and on credit card transaction processing.  I've never had a reason to compare, but it might be a turnkey option.

They also offer decent deals on other business services; you might find additional value there.  (I do not work for Costco.  Just a "fan.")  If you go to their website they have a special section on business services.

Bottom line -- look for stuff that's turnkey and supported.  Even though you may not need additional support, just knowing it's there if/when you need it is worthwhile.  Better for you to spend your time doing what you're good at (dental procedure) and maximizing revenue than de-bugging software (non-productive.)

Good luck with your practice!

[keepitsimple]

I would think Quickbooks would meet all your needs for a very reasonable cost (around $175). You can use it to:

track expenses/income
create and e-mail invoices that have a button to click and pay online ( I think they just charge a .50/transaction fee)
create and print invoices that customers can later pay in person
create customer statements
run reports showing outstanding A/R
create 1099's (this is an extra fee when you do it, but they make it so easy that it's worth the small charge, our run cost $42)

I believe this covers everything you wanted.  As far as the scheduling and pre-visit paperwork, I don't have any experience with that so will leave it to someone else.

[Icecreamarsenal]

I've decided to go with square.
There is a 2.75% charge for CC per swipe, with 1-2 day turnaround and deposit.
There is a 3.5% charge for CC non-swipe, with that same 1-2 day turnaround.

Using their all in one POS, which includes cash register, stand, ipad, ticket printer for the kitchen, and receipt printer, should be a thrifty alternative to a monthly POS.
It also gives the ability to analyze sales.

For accounting services, I've decided to go with an accountant and send square files to him :).  I hope and think it will work well.

I'm not married to any particular service, but square, for now, seems to be the most convenient, streamlined, and cost-effective.  Good luck, hope business is doing well.

[Stashy McStasherton]

When I opened my business, I used Quickbooks. I found it to be too complicated and have since switched to using excel spreadsheets.

Microsoft office has great templates for invoices and receipts.

Square is awesome and my clients love signing their name with their finger on a tablet. Looks really high-tech and fancypants. All the bookkeeping for your transactions (cc, check, cash) can tracked with sqaure.

All of this can be yours for the one time cost of a computer/tablet and the fees for sqaure. Sounds to me like quickbooks is more than you will need for 4-6 patients a week.

Oh- and check schedulicity.com for booking software. $19.99/ month and you can require payment at the time of booking.

[Lis]

With only 4-6 patients and two days a week, I'd forgo any paid scheduling service and just use a free service like Google Calendar (or go old school and use an actual calendar!). I use Google calendar for everything... personal, my side business, my dinner schedule.

My professor in college had us sign up for office hours via Google calendar... I'll have to look into exactly how she did it. She created blocks of time that we selected and filled in. We may have done that on the honor system, which probably won't work with customers.. still, a free calendar system may be the way to go.

[wearfannypacks]

Thank for all the replies. I'm now in business and wanted to share what I'm doing.

Do I have to get quickbooks? What other accounting software would you recommend?
Track basic expenses (supplies, rent, professional dues, etc)
Show when someone paid me for services
Make a 1099 to pay one Independent Contractor of an employee

Wave Accounting - Free!
- payroll is and additional 14 a month - turns out my employees will be w-2s
-CPA looked over my books, said it's incredible similiar to qb doesn't anticipate any problems doing taxes.

Wave also hooks up with Stripe 2.9% fee - I invoice patients through that.
Savings ~ $46

Billing and payment software
Send invoices
Ability to accept payments online with reasonable credit card fees
Accept payments in person

See above, just connected with Stripe

Scheduling software
Allow people to book own appointments with a deposit
Some mechanism to have patient information paperwork sent, so they can fill out ahead of time
integrate on a website

I did find a good appoitnment scheduler Checkappointments.com ~$30 a month. I tried it for 2 months, but since my patient volume is so low it didn't really justify the costs. Now, I have a public calendar where I show open appointments. When I have a patient who wants to schedule they know when I'm available ahead of time and tell me. Google calendar -free!

Savings $76 month or 912 per year. With a small business an extra 912 in overhead reduction is great!

Thank you for all your responses. As a new business owner it hard to even know what is out there!