Dental Practice Cash Flow Forecast Template

What’s inside

• 13-week weekly forecast linked to a 12-month monthly view and 3-year outlook
• Cash in lines ready to use: Patient payments, Insurance claims, Financing partner payouts, Membership plans
• Cash out lines ready to use: Hygienist and staff payroll, Lab fees, Dental supplies, Equipment finance
• Best, expected and worst case scenarios with one switch
• Actual vs forecast tracker with variance highlighting
• Dashboard: lowest balance, runway, buffer alerts and charts
• Loan, tax and one-off payment schedules
• Start-here tab with a filled-in Dental Practice example
• Excel (.xlsx) and Google Sheets versions

Who it’s for

For dental practices managing insurance claims, patient financing payouts and lab fees. The template is built for owners, managers and bookkeepers of dental practice businesses who want a forecast that already speaks their language, rather than a generic spreadsheet they have to rebuild.

What’s inside

• Start Here: setup steps, colour key and a guide to every tab.
• Dashboard: cash today, the lowest balance in the next 13 weeks and 12 months, weeks below your buffer, runway, actual vs forecast and two charts.
• Settings: start date, bank balance, minimum buffer, currency, the expected / best / worst case switch and 3-year growth rates.
• Insurance Claims: insurance claims submitted each month and how quickly they are paid.
• Lab Fees: lab fees as a share of production collected.
• 13-Week: weekly receipts and payments for the next quarter, with automatic week dates and buffer warnings.
• 12-Month: the monthly forecast for the year, with a check row that compares it with the 13-week view.
• 3-Year: an annual outlook built from the 12-month forecast and your growth rates.
• Actuals: what really happened each month, typed in from your bank statement or accounts.
• Variance: actual minus forecast for every line, in green and red, with year-to-date totals.

How the Insurance Claims tab works

The Insurance Claims tab turns what you invoice into cash actually collected for “Insurance claims”. The example assumes 15% is paid in the month invoiced, 60% the following month and 20% two months later. Invoices sent before the start date are entered separately so the first months are right, and anything never collected shows as bad debt, so you can see what slow payers cost you.

The Lab Fees tab calculates lab fees at 8% of patient payments and insurance claims. Change a percentage once and every month of the forecast updates, so costs rise and fall with the sales that drive them.

Green numbers on the 12-Month tab come from these calculations. You can change the assumptions on the tab, or type over a green cell if you’d rather enter a figure yourself.

Cash lines already in place

Cash in: patient payments, insurance claims, financing partner payouts and membership plans. Cash out: hygienist and staff payroll, lab fees, dental supplies, equipment finance, rent, practice software and marketing. Rename any line, or insert a row inside a section and the totals include it.

Set up in about 20 minutes

1. On Settings, enter the start date, today’s bank balance and your minimum cash buffer.
2. On the Insurance Claims tab, replace the example assumptions with your own.
3. Enter the remaining cash in and cash out lines on the 12-Month and 13-Week tabs, in the period each amount actually moves.
4. Check the Dashboard for your lowest balance and any red weeks or months.
5. At each month end, type actual figures on the Actuals tab and review the Variance tab.

Excel, Google Sheets and delivery

The workbook is a standard .xlsx file with no macros or external links, tested in Excel and Google Sheets. After payment you get an instant download link on screen and by email, plus a quick-start PDF. For background on the method, read the Dental Practice cash flow guide or how to make a cash flow forecast.