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What Metrics Should You Focus on During Your Initial Review of a Practice Opportunity?

What metrics should you focus on during your initial review of a practice opportunity?By: Anthony Copple, JD
Transition Specialist

Reviewing an opportunity to purchase a practice outright or to buy into a practice as a partner can be an overwhelming task. You may have been presented with a mountain of data about the subject practice: tax returns, profit and loss statements, and operational reports. What does it all mean? What should you focus on? What data is important in determining a fair value for the practice?

Well…the long answer is that all of the data and information surrounding a practice is important in determining its value. After all, an orthodontic practice is a unique asset and no two are exactly alike. However, there are a few things you can focus on that will provide a reasonable snapshot of any practice. Three of the most consequential are explained further below:

Practice Overhead Rate
The overhead rate of a practice is one of the most important factors in determining a practice’s value and the benefits that practice will provide to a buyer. After all, the overhead rate ultimately determines the amount of cash the owner can reap from the business. Generally, the lower the overhead rate, the more valuable the practice. So, a practice at 55% overhead will be more valuable than a practice at 65% overhead, all else being equal. The average practice overhead rate for an orthodontic practice is 58% of collections. If operating expenses are below this level, it can drive the price of a practice up while expenses above this threshold will generally have the opposite effect.

Practice Production
Production acts as a bellwether for practice collections; it tells us where we’re headed. If the practice produces $1,500,000 this year, we can expect that the practice will collect something close to $1,500,000 next year. Knowing this, we can use practice production, practice collections and their relationship to one another to identify trends within the practice. If practice collections have grown over the past two years and production in each particular year exceeds our collections in the same year, we can be fairly confident that the practice will see continued collections growth in the following year. This can be vital to practice value because a growing practice has more potential, and less risk, than a declining practice.

Practice Contracts Receivable
The contracts receivable balance is the total amount remaining to be billed to the active patients of a practice. This can be distinguished from accounts receivable because accounts receivable have already been billed to the patient and are currently due. The contracts receivable balance gives us an indication of the stability of the expected future cash flow of the practice and an idea of the number of active patients that are paid-in-full.  We know that we can expect cash flow from the contracts receivable balance as we treat current patients of the practice regardless of the number of new starts we have. On average, a practice’s contracts receivable balance is approximately 50% of prior year production. Below that level, and the practice likely has more paid-in-full patients than the average orthodontic practice. This would add risk for a buyer expected to continue to treat those paid-in-full patients after the closing without collecting patient fees. This additional risk tends to drive the practice price down. Of course, if the contracts receivable balance is above this threshold, it can add value to the practice.

As I said above, there are dozens of factors that go into determining the value of a practice. No one point of data will tell you everything you need to know about a practice. However, analysis of the three metrics above should give you a pretty solid idea of the type of practice you are looking at and whether it is worth pursuing further.

Bentson Copple Article Featured in Orthodontic Products Magazine

Nearly every younger orthodontist the Bentson Clark & Copple team speaks with wants to eventually own or co-own a practice. As such, we often get asked the question, Is it better to start my own practice from scratch or purchase an existing practice? Doug Copple of Bentson Clark & Copple advises in weighing the financial rewards of both practice situations.

In the latest issue of Orthodontic Products Magazine, Copple explains how to determine which is the best option based on one’s personal situation and examines some of the primary advantages and disadvantages of both starting a new practice and buying an existing one.

Advantages to starting a new practice:
Advantages include the ability for the doctor to create his/her own office and establish everything exactly the way the doctor wants (rather than inheriting the selling doctor’s facility, employees, and systems).

Disadvantages to starting a new practice:
One disadvantage discussed in this article is the fact that orthodontists generally still have to go into debt to purchase equipment and build out the office space. Additional loans are likely to be required to hire and pay employees and to cover operating expenses during the first several months or years until enough income is generated to cover these costs.

Advantages of buying into an existing practice:
One of the largest advantages the purchasing doctor has is an immediate cash flow. If the purchase price is fair, the financial rewards are greater than starting a new practice, even after repaying the purchase obligation. Additionally, the purchaser immediately has a facility and operating equipment (assuming it is in decent operating shape).

Disadvantages of buying into an existing practice:
Disadvantages are similar to the advantages for starting a new practice – ie, the buyer inherits the selling doctor’s facility, employees, and systems. If these assets are not satisfactory to the buying doctor, it can be difficult and time-consuming to make significant changes to the practice.

Financial Reward
The financial reward of acquiring an existing practice is usually much greater than starting a new practice from scratch, particularly in the first few years of ownership. But, undoubtedly, there are many other factors to consider that may make a start-up more attractive than purchasing an existing practice. Within the article, Copple provides example cash flows for both a start-up and the purchase of an existing practice. These examples compare the two opportunities to provide an illustration of the financial rewards of both investments during the initial years of an orthodontist’s career.

Click here to read the entire article.

Orthodontic Practice Lease Considerations – Part 2

We previously discussed some of the issues regarding an office lease that need to be considered when buying an orthodontic practice and the selling doctor owns the office. In this article, we will discuss lease issues to be considered when the office is leased from a third party.

The first item to consider is when you can contact the landlord about lease terms once you purchase the practice. Quite often, the selling orthodontist wants the sale of the practice to remain confidential as long as possible. The seller may not want the landlord to know that he/she is selling the practice until many of the other sale and financing terms are agreed to by the buyer and seller. Thus, the buyer’s conversations with the landlord may not begin until later in the negotiation process.

Just like when the selling orthodontist owns the real estate, the lease terms must be considered. The buyer generally has to get at least a 5 year lease term, inclusive of renewal options, in order for a bank to provide financing for the transaction (the bank wants assurance that the buyer will have an office to treat patients and earn income for a reasonable amount of time in order to repay the purchase loan). The landlord generally prefers a longer lease term, and the buyer has to consider how long he/she plans to stay in the office and whether another office or location in the city is better for the practice. If the buyer’s plans are to relocate the practice soon, he/she should try to negotiate a shorter initial lease term with options to extend the lease for one year periods (to satisfy the lender’s requirement).

The lease rate also needs to be considered as we have seen some instances where the seller has been in a tenant in the office for a number of years without a rate increase, or without a formal lease agreement, and has a very good relationship with the landlord. When the seller is no longer the tenant, the landlord may see this as an opportunity to increase the rental rate to fair market rates, which has an impact on the practice’s profitability. Similar to when the seller owns the office and the fair market lease rates should be considered when the practice valuation is prepared, if it is fairly certain that the lease rate will be increased in the future, the practice valuation should take this into account and the buyer should be made aware of this early in the process.

Finally, one of the biggest issues we often face is the landlord’s reluctance to release the selling orthodontist from personal liability related to the lease (particularly when the lease is assigned to the buyer). The individual doctor often personally guarantees that his/her professional corporation will pay the lease.  The selling doctor usually has been a tenant in the building for a number of years, is financially well established, and may have a great relationship with the landlord. With the sale of the practice, the buyer will be required to personally guarantee the lease payments, but the buyer usually doesn’t have substantial personal assets as does the seller. More than likely, the buyer has minimal liquid assets, a lot of student debt, and very little or no experience running a practice. Understandably, this makes the landlord nervous and the landlord may refuse to release the selling doctor from his/her personal guarantee of the lease. This is an issue for the seller, which may require additional negotiations with the Landlord as to how long the seller will remain a guarantor.

There are many items to consider when selling and transitioning an orthodontic practice, and the lease agreement is just one of those items. However, the lease can often turn in to a multi-faceted negotiation process that can take longer than the parties anticipate.

Orthodontic Practice Lease Considerations – Part 1

Whenever dealing with a practice sale or transition, the buying and selling orthodontists have a lot to consider throughout the process, such as purchase price, length of the doctors working together before and after the sale, staffing issues, etc. However, we often see that one of the most important issues takes a back seat in the transition negotiations – the office lease! Whether the office is owned by the selling doctor or by an unrelated third party, we have seen numerous transactions be delayed due to lease issues not being resolved timely.

In the case where the selling doctor owns the real estate, the selling doctor often does not know what the fair market rental rate of the property is. The selling orthodontist often sets the lease rate he/she pays to himself/herself based on tax considerations or mortgage payments, which may be significantly higher or lower than fair market rental rates. We often have sellers tell us during the valuation process or transition negotiations that the rental rate should be $XX per square without really knowing the market, getting advice from a real estate expert, or understanding if this is a gross or net lease rate (“gross” meaning that the landlord pays most or all expenses, such as real estate taxes, insurances, maintenance, and “net” meaning that the tenant pays such expenses). The buyer, often inexperienced in these types of transactions, is generally advised to get the opinion of a local real estate expert to help evaluate the lease rate. The problems arise when the buyer’s expert says the rental rate should be significantly lower than the seller’s expectations. After much more time and research by the seller, it may be discovered that the rental rate he/she can receive from an actual tenant is much less than what he/she initially thought would be paid (or, often worse, if the seller realizes that the lease rate should be increased, which, if requested by the seller, creates other trust issues for the buyer). This situation can create a stumbling block in the transition negotiations and delay the closing of the transition.

The seller doctor, acting as the landlord of the property, has to understand that most buyers will do some research on what the fair market rental rate should be for similar spaces in the area. So, ultimately, the seller has to be reasonable and agree to lease the office at (or very close to) fair market rental rates. Otherwise, it may mean that the seller has to go through negotiations with multiple buyers to either: (1) find the buyer willing to pay a higher than reasonable rental rate, or (2) eventually understand that qualified buyers demand a reasonable rental rate and the rent must be set at market rates. Unfortunately, the latter often occurs after one or more qualified buyers have walked away.

Our advice to selling orthodontists that own the real estate is to do some research on the fair market rental rate for their office spaces when they first begin to consider selling their practices. The sooner these rates are established and supported by actual market research, the smoother and quicker the transition negotiations will go. It also helps in the valuation of the practice because the practice’s value is largely dependent on the income/profit accruing to the owner. If the income/profit used in the valuation is not correct (due to incorrect lease rates), the buyers may also challenge the valuation.

In our next blog post, we will review lease issues that can arise when the office is owned by a third party rather than the selling orthodontist.

Buying a Practice Should Be Smooth Sailing

After residency, orthodontists are faced with a major decision: where to practice their trade. When a location is identified, the next big decision is whether to work as an employee, start-up, or buy an orthodontic practice.

Compared to starting a practice from scratch, a pre-existing practice typically offers an established patient and referral base, which increases the chances of success and provides credibility with patients. Pre-existing practices also provide residents with a mentor to work with during their first years as a professional orthodontist.

Bentson Clark & Copple, LLC work to match each orthodontic buyer with the right office for sale through their practice location services. Their valuation and transition work across the U.S. provides the firm a wide range of opportunities to present to the orthodontic community. Bentson Clark & Copple’s orthodontic practice location services are free to doctors seeking a practice opportunity.

Whether choosing to buy a practice or join as a partner, Chris Bentson, president of Bentson Clark & Copple and the Bentson Clark reSource, an orthodontic newsletter, suggests that purchasing equity is often the fastest track to paying off educational debt and building personal wealth.

Transitioning into an orthodontic practice can be summed up in five steps:

1. Once a practice has been identified, review the potential practice’s financial information and their orthodontic practice valuation. The seller of the practice will request you sign a non-disclosure agreement before releasing this information.

2. Review the seller’s practice valuation report with your advisor and discuss the purchase price. If the practice does not have a valuation report, urge them to have one completed, as it will spell out the value of the practice and critical practice operational information.

3. While searching for buying an orthodontic practice, maintain contact with any interested selling doctors and keep your eyes open for other options.

4. Once the buyer, seller and their respective advisers have established a transition plan, projections of future cash flows and financing schedules should be reviewed. A letter of intent will be prepared to outline future definitive legal documents after each party is comfortable with the financial impact the transition will have.

5. An attorney will create binding legal documents for the seller and buyer to review with their advisors. The buy-in/buy-out can begin once both parties have agreed to price, terms and conditions.

Keep in mind finding the right practice, going through paperwork and finalizing a sale takes at least several months, so start the process as early as possible in your residency, says Bentson.

It’s important that you make sure your goals are flexible and negotiable enough to achieve them, and all details are in writing before you enter the practice, if possible, he says.

These preparatory steps will help ensure any major problems are tackled early on so the transition process goes as smoothly as possible for the buyer and seller.

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