Can I record and track subsidy payments when patients pay on finance?
If your practice offers patients 0% finance, sometimes known as no interest/buy now pay later, you will need to ensure that the practitioner only receives the amount you actually receive for the work, while also ensuring the patient's balance is accurate.
For example, if you charge £1,000 for a treatment, and this is invoiced to the patient, their invoice will indicate that they have £1,000 owed to the practice. This will be covered by the finance company in this instance, but if the finance company's fee is £200, the practitioner assigned to the treatment should only receive £800.
If you wish for finance subsidy to be recorded and allocated within Dentally, you will need to follow certain steps to ensure that the entire £1,000 invoice is marked as paid, while ensuring the practitioner will only be allocated £800.
💡 Top tip: The steps below have been broken down so that you can follow them in any order, depending on when the finance accepted and when the treatment is charged - it is fine if you don't follow them in the exact order outlined below. Ensure you include every step, regardless of the order. Allocating may vary depending on whether it has happened automatically according to your settings and the order you do it in.
To follow this process:
First, create and charge your treatment as normal, to generate an invoice for the total charge (in the example above, this would be £1,000).
In the patient's 'Account' tab, click the 'Payment' button.
In the 'To Pay' field, enter the amount your practice will receive (this is the patient's total invoice charge, minus the finance company's fee. In the example above, the amount the practice would receive is £800.
Ensure the 'Payment Method' field is set to 'Finance'.
When you're ready, click 'Record payment'.
This will immediately allocate to the invoice - in this example, the £1,000 invoice will now show £800 has been paid.
Next you'll need to create a treatment for the subsidy amount, so that you can make the adjustment. If you don't already have a treatment code for subsidies/fees:
Navigate to your settings and click 'Treatment & Plans'.
Create a new code and name it something like 'Finance fee adjustment'.
Save when you're ready.
In the 'Chart' tab of the patient's record, create a new treatment plan by clicking the + button below the chart.
Ensure your treatment list on the left is set to 'All', then use the search bar below it to search for your opening balance treatment item (eg. if you called it 'Finance fee adjustment', type this here).
Double click the treatment item - it will be added to the treatment plan you have started.
Set the price on the right of the treatment item to a minus amount, at the value of the finance company's fee. In the example above, this would be -£200. Ensure it is a negative number.
Ensure the treatment is assigned to the correct practitioner.
Charge and complete the treatment plan.
This will now show in the account as a credit.
Now go back to the 'Account' tab.
Click the 'Payment' button.
In the 'To Pay' field, enter 0 as the amount.
Ensure the 'Payment Method' field is set to 'Finance'.
When you're ready, click 'Record payment'.
In this patient's record, you would now have two invoices (in this example, you would have one at £1,000 and one at -£200), and two payments (in this example, you would have one for £800 and one for £0).
You now need to allocate both payments.
In the 'Payments' tab, find the 0 payment and click the three dot menu, then select 'Allocate to invoice'.
In the 'Amount to allocate' field, enter the finance company's subsidy as a minus number - in the example above, you would enter -£200.
In the dropdown, select the negative invoice (not the positive invoice). In this instance, it would be the invoice for £200, not the invoice for -£200.
Click 'Allocate to payment'.
Then go back to the same payment, click the three dot menu again and select 'Allocate to invoice' once more.
This time, leave the amount as it is (it should now display as a positive amount equal to the finance company's fee - so in this example it would be £200).
Now select the positive invoice - in this example it would be the £200 invoice.
Click 'Allocate to payment'.
Now, when you view the original invoice and expand it, you will see an allocation for the amount due to the practitioner, and the remaining amount which equates to the finance company's fee. In this example, the £1,000 invoice would show a payment of £200 and a payment of £800. Only the £800 payment will go to the practitioner.
This ensures that the practitioner is paid the correct amount, while allowing your allocation reporting to reflect the subsidy as well as the payment.