Sierra Dental Reduces Both Cost and Hours required for Bookkeeping
Sierra Dental is a multi-location dental practice located in Calgary, AB. With 5 existing locations and two more to come, the offices offer a number of services including family dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, and dental emergencies, as well as specialized services like Orthodontics, Periodontics, Prosthodontics, and Endodontics.
While you might not expect it, dentistry has become an extremely competitive facet of privatized healthcare. Overall, Canadians are more concerned about oral hygiene and are visiting the dentist more often. An aging population, increased interest in cosmetic dentistry, and an increase in incidences of dental disease are just a few of the reasons why demand is on the rise. According to MarketWatch, the dental practice market is expected to reach triple-million digits by 2024.
One notable trend is the emergence of dental group partnerships. A generation ago, over 90% of dentists operated as solo practices. Today, however, less than 60% of dentists desire to practice alone. Not only do dental partnerships afford practitioners a better work-life balance, but economies of scale are more easily achieved.
Dmitry Uduman is the CFO at Sierra Dental. He started out majoring in Cell Biology and Genetics at UBC, but soon pivoted to Accounting. After five years working at one of the largest accounting firms in Canada, Dmitry was encouraged by an old college friend to join Sierra Dental as their accountant where he’s been for the last 8 years and now serves as their CFO.
The Challenge
With multiple locations and over 100 staff (including 20+ dentists), bookkeeping and other back office functions were outpacing the in-house administrative staff who did not have formal accounting backgrounds. When a key staff member overseeing these functions left the business, it proved difficult to find qualified talent to replace them. Training and re-training folks was a daunting task when there was so much higher-level strategic work required of the CFO to ensure financial efficiencies that would help the practice reach its goals and growth plans.
Dmitry found himself in a situation where the long term bookkeeper and assistant left the business. In an effort to replace her, they posted ads, asked friends and peers, but despite everything, were unable to find a suitable in-house candidate. Part of the difficulty in finding a replacement was finding the time to properly interview a flood of applicants.
Finding someone with a solid understanding of accounting concepts proved even more difficult. Not only did the business need basic bookkeeping, but Dmitry wanted someone to help with other back office functions like payroll, data analysis, and more.
The Solution
After seeing Sierra Dental’s ad for a bookkeeper, the Enkel team reached out to see if they could be of service. Once Dmitry was introduced to Enkel’s services, processes, and overall operating model, he was ready to give it a try. The idea that turnover would become a thing of the past, along with hiring, training, and never ending reviews, made the outsourced model that much more appealing.
In January, of 2020, Enkel started to manage the bookkeeping for Sierra Dental.
Sierra Dental now gets consistent, reliable bookkeeping services at a far lower cost than hiring an in-house team. Dmitry knows that any time issues arise, they will be quickly resolved with little to no intervention from him. The systems and processes ensure that Enkel delivers quality reporting and bookkeeping every month.
According to Dmitry, “While things weren’t smooth sailing every step of the way, Enkel has always taken ownership and worked to improve and optimize processes.” The Enkel team welcomed and implemented feedback and suggestions, which has ultimately enabled Dmitry to be more hands-off than ever before. He is now able to troubleshoot without getting into the middle of things, saving him time to focus on more important things like growing the business.
The Results
Today, Sierra Dental is focused on growing the business and Dmitry doesn’t have to worry about the bookkeeping. The cost of bookkeeping is lower than before, and what used to require a commitment of 3-4 days a month from him, is now down to less than half a day. Dmitry has more time in his day to focus on the bigger picture while Enkel continues to improve the services they offer. According to Dmitry, everytime he asks Enkel for help, the answer is always “Yes”.
Looking for a reliable bookkeeping solution?
We can help! Whether it’s bookkeeping, payroll, or other accounting back office services, we have the industry expertise and knowledge to manage it all. You can trust our team to keep your books up to date and provide you with accurate financial statements every month.
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