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Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan
Updates (4/8/20):
Right now, the big question for small business owners is: “When should I apply for the PPP Loan?” For updates on our recommendations surrounding the timing of the PPP loan, see our blog post here: When to Apply for the PPP Loan
Emergency EIDL Grants (Section 1110)
The rumors are true. Through an SBA loan, you can be granted up to $10,000.00 if the money is used for staff costs, rent, business debt payments, or other business expenses that you can’t pay because of revenue loss. We give detailed instructions on how to apply for this loan here: https://practicefinancialgroup.com/apply-sba-economic-injury-disaster-loan-eidl/Read More
As recommended in a previous communication, we recommend applying for the EIDL loan; the first $10,000.00 will be a “grant” (free money) from the government if used for the following:
To clarify, we recommend borrowing $10,000.00 on this loan; this is free money. Any additional amount you borrow is a formal loan that you will have to pay back; we only recommend you borrow more money if you actually need it.Read More
New Guidance on Employees – updated March 27, 2020
We are not employment law or HR experts. We have never claimed to be. But if you wake up and see your neighbor’s house burning down, do you sit back and watch because you’re “not a fireman?” (maybe it depends on which neighbor ?)
This post is not intended to be a comprehensive FAQ on all employee-related issues. A few sources we have been turning to for clarifying advice, which we recommend to you, are:
Additionally, we have been reading the text of the actual bills that have been passed recently, searching for relevant guidance related to your practice.Read More
With each passing day we learn more info about this “New COVID-19 World Order” that we live in. Our hope is to be as helpful to you as we can during this time. Here are some additional thoughts to share that we hope will be helpful:
What should I do?
Financial principles don’t change; the application of those principles – the strategy you should employ – will depend upon your circumstances. Some of our clients continue to operate their practices and don’t plan – at least for now – to shut down. If you’re open for business as usual, keep going as long as you can. Even in these circumstances, we recommend caution against the day when you do get shut down.
But if your office is shut down, you’re in a completely different camp and you should employ an emergency cash strategy. The rest of this email is directed toward those whose offices are shut down, or who will eventually need to shut down.Read More
Last week we sent out some guidance regarding your investments during a panic/crisis like the one we’re currently experiencing. During this crisis, many people will panic and sell at low values. During this crisis there will be very little real, long-term wealth lost; but there will be massive amounts of wealth transferred. This wealth will transfer from weak to strong hands and from scared to brave hands.
But this note is not about investments, it’s about surviving in your practice during a time where business may stop. We are getting a lot of questions about cash flow and what to do with employee pay. Let me try to address those generally. To get specific answers, please contact your PFG advisor directly.
Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), who manages most of our clients’ money (including our own), recently released this article relating to COVID-19. I recommend you read it: The Corona Virus and Market Declines
For years I have been advising clients to do the following with regard to their investments:
When it comes to #2, I get weird looks and snickers implying that I’m joking. I’m not. Unless you’re going to market to sell, market declines are the best indicator of future returns, and they are your friend. This isn’t my opinion or some contrarian perspective. It’s math.
Since the inception of Practice Financial Group nine years ago, the overarching financial and personal philosophies for our dental and medical clients have not waivered:
As your financial advisors, our work begins after money transfers from your patient to your bank account. Collections are the lifeline of your business, and although we’re not technically responsible for how you collect money, as your financial partner we take great interest that you do collect money.
When our clients want to grow collections, a very common response is to throw more money at marketing, intending to bring more patients into the practice. Or worse, they may be tempted to bring on more insurance PPO contracts to attract new business. But oftentimes, these solutions don’t address the real issue.Read More
Embezzlement is a real concern among dental practice owners, as it should be. The statistics and reports vary, but it’s safe to assume that if you don’t take precautions, then you have at least a 50/50 chance that an employee steals from you during your career. All cases of embezzlement are sad, but some are tragic, with the doctor losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Through our research and experience, we’ve learned that there are countless ways to embezzle from a dental practice. Because of this, we agree with dental fraud expert, David Harris from Prosperident, who contends that it is virtually impossible to guarantee against embezzlement in your practice. Instead, the goal is to reduce the risk of occurrence and to minimize the magnitude of loss.
In effort to simplify a complex topic, I have organized this issue into three lists: 1) some basic principles and practices you should follow; 2) a list of what PFG does to guard against embezzlement; and 3) a checklist of things you should be doing to address this issue. This third list – the things you should do – isn’t exhaustive. We may decide in a future blog post to give you the several page list of what you could be doing. For now, we’ll start with the most important activities first.
Basic Embezzlement Principles:
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