The Blog

Notes on numbers, taxes, and getting ready to sell.

SMB Numbers gives endodontists clean books, clear benchmarks, and smart tax strategy, so you always know where you stand and keep more of what you earn. Every post points back to one free step: your endodontic benchmark.

What a Hire Costs You Beyond the Salary in Virginia, Maryland, and DC

Owners budget the salary and get surprised by everything stacked on top of it. Here is the arithmetic on employer payroll taxes in all three DMV jurisdictions, using published 2026 rates, and the costs that land after that.

Maryland's 3% Tech Tax Is on Your Software Bill Now. Here Is What It Costs.

Maryland started taxing software and IT services on July 1, 2025. There is no business exemption, the rate depends on how you use the software, and the same subscription costs something different in Virginia and DC.

Six Questions Owners Ask Before They Book a Call, Answered Straight

Most owners sit on the idea of getting real accounting help for months. The hesitation comes down to six questions nobody answers plainly. Here are the straight answers.

What Is My Endodontic Practice Worth? How to Estimate the Number

You do not need a buyer to find out what your practice is worth. Here is the plain math owners use to estimate the number, and what moves it up or down.

How Much Should Endodontist Overhead Be? A Line-by-Line Benchmark

General-dentistry overhead numbers do not fit endodontics. Here is what each line should cost in a well-run endodontic practice, as a percent of collections.

Should You Take a DSO Offer? A Decision Guide for Endodontists

A DSO offer is not a yes-or-no question, it is a set of trade-offs. Here is how to decide whether the deal in front of you is right for where you want to go.

The Collections Ratio: The Endodontic KPI That Hides in Plain Sight

Production tells you how hard your practice worked. Collections tells you how much of that work turned into money. The gap between them is one of the quietest leaks in an endodontic practice.

Your Endodontic P&L Says You Made Money. Your Bank Account Disagrees.

If the practice is profitable, where is the cash? For endodontic practices the answer is almost always one of four things, and none of them mean you are doing badly.

Maryland's New 2% Capital Gains Surtax: What It Costs a Business Owner in 2025

Maryland just added a 2 percent surtax on capital gains and two new income tax brackets for high earners. If you own a practice in Maryland, here is how it hits your numbers, especially the year you sell.

The Tax Strategies Most Specialty Practice Owners Never Get Offered

A general accountant keeps you compliant. That is not the same as keeping your tax bill as low as the code allows. Here are the strategies high-income practice owners routinely miss.

Why You Need a Valuation Before a Buyer Ever Calls

The owner who knows their number walks into a sale as a negotiator. The owner who does not walks in as a guesser. Here is what buyers actually look at, and why getting ahead of it changes the outcome.

The Retirement Plan That Shelters Up to $290K a Year (and Almost No One Offers It)

A Solo 401k caps out around $70,000. A cash balance plan can shelter three to four times that. For a high-income endodontist, this is the single largest tax lever available.

The S-Corp Salary Question Every Endodontist Gets Wrong in Both Directions

Set your owner salary too high and you overpay payroll tax. Set it too low and you invite scrutiny. There is a defensible range, and it moves as you grow.

What Should Staff Actually Cost in an Endodontic Practice?

Staff is the largest line in your overhead and the easiest to misread. Here is the benchmark and how to tell whether yours is a problem or just a season.

A DSO Just Called. Here Is How to Read the Offer Before You Answer.

DSO offers are structured to sound bigger than they are. The headline number is rarely the number you keep. Here is what to look at first.

EBITDA: The Number a Buyer Uses That You Probably Never Track

You run your practice on production and collections. A buyer values it on EBITDA. Learning to see your practice through that number changes what it is worth.

Supply Costs Creep. Here Is the Benchmark and the Fix.

Clinical supplies are a small percentage of collections, which is exactly why nobody watches them. That is how the number quietly drifts.

If Three Referrers Send Most of Your Cases, You Have a Valuation Problem

Referral concentration feels like a strength when the relationships are good. To a buyer, it reads as risk, and risk lowers your multiple.

Bringing on an Associate: The Comp Model Decides Whether It Pays Off

An associate can expand capacity or quietly erode margin. The difference is almost entirely in how you structure the compensation.

The 20-Minute Monthly Financial Review Every Endodontist Should Do

You do not need to become an accountant. Your practice needs four numbers, once a month, and the discipline to actually look at them.

How to Tell If Your Endodontic Practice Overhead Is Too High

Most endodontists have never seen a benchmark built for endodontics. Here is what a well-run practice's overhead should look like, and how to check your own.

Virginia, DC, or Maryland: What State Lines Cost a DMV Endodontist

Practicing across the DMV feels like one market. Your tax bill knows it is three. The differences are large enough to plan around.

Buying a Microscope or CBCT? The Timing Changes the Tax Bill.

A major equipment purchase is both a clinical decision and a tax decision. Buying in the right year, with the right election, can shift tens of thousands in tax.

When To Revisit Your Business Structure

The setup that fit at $300K in profit often stops fitting at $700K. Serving endodontists in Virginia, DC, and Maryland.

The Handful Of Numbers That Actually Matter

You do not need a hundred metrics. You need a few, watched often. Serving endodontists in Virginia, DC, and Maryland.

Opening Your Own Endodontic Practice: The Numbers to Get Right on Day One

The habits and structure you set at startup are far harder to change later. Here is what to lock in before the drift begins.

Fee-for-Service vs Insurance: What the Mix Does to Profit and Sale Price

Your payer mix shapes both your margin today and your multiple at sale. Understanding the tradeoff is worth more than chasing volume.

The Three-Year Runway: Getting an Endodontic Practice Sale-Ready

The best sale outcomes are built years before the deal. Here is what to work on, and when, if a sale is anywhere on your horizon.

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