Assemble your team

• Assemble your professional team, including but not limited to an attorney, accountant and practice management consultant, to help you research and plan your practice. They will help you determine the best existing practice to purchase or area(s) to start a new practice depending on your situation.
• Visit CDA’s Endorsed Program, Bank of America, for financing options.
• Identify the practice you want to purchase and, with an attorney’s assistance, make an offer.

Review your documents

• Review, with an attorney’s assistance, and execute the offer/letter of intent/deposit agreement.
• Work with an accountant or an experienced consultant on valuing the practice and performing due diligence.
• Submit loan paperwork
• Choose the financial institution for your practice bank account.
• Establish legal structure for a dental corporation (C-corp, S-corp) or partnership, if applicable. Limited liability corporations and limited liability partnerships for dentists are not allowed in California. Read “Dental corporations – What you need to know” on Practice Support. The legal name for a dental corporation must utilize the name or names of current or past owner(s).
• Submit financial documents required by landlord to obtain a new lease or lease assignment of the existing lease and obtain landlord’s consent for a new lease or lease assignment.
• Have an attorney review documents related to practice purchase, buy-in, lease agreement or practice construction, if applicable.
• Hire an accountant as advisor for tax planning and business systems assessment and to complete tax filings.

Get familiar with IRS requirements

• Determine if you will use your Social Security number or your Employer Identification Number as your Taxpayer Identification Number on IRS forms.
• Know how to create and to interpret a cash flow statement. Establish accounts payable and receivables systems. Your practice management software with have accounts payable and receivable systems in place and training should be available by the software company. Go to this IRS website for more information.
• Obtain an Employer Identification Number from the IRS.
• If using an Employer Identification Number as your Taxpayer Identification Number, register the Tax Payer Identification number with NPPES for a Type-2 business NPI that will be required to submit on claim forms an through dental-plan contracting.