Buyer Beware – Practice Prices Based on Rules of Thumb

We’ve recently seen an uptick in practice purchase/sale transactions involving specialists such as endo, oral surgery, perio, and prostho. Obviously, the vast majority of practice purchase sales we see are general dentistry because the vast majority of practices out there are general dentistry.

A common problem we’re seeing when reading through reports prepared by brokers for these specialty practices to determine selling price is using general dentistry rules of thumb to determine that price.

Here’s what I mean:

One very common rule of thumb as it relates to the selling price for a general dentistry practice is that statistically, the “typical” general dentistry practice will sell for between 60-75% of the practice collections. I know, some will use 80-85% as the top end of the range and even bump the bottom number to 65-70% when using this as a valuation method, at the end of the day it’s still a statistic, a rule of thumb, NOT a valuation method.

The problem we see in some of the reports used to establish the price for these specialty practices is that they’re using the general dentistry statistics of 60-75% to determine the asking price for these practices, and these are NOT general dentistry practices.

You see, most specialty practices are uniquely different than general dentistry practices in that their revenue is derived AND dependent on referral sources from other professionals. Rarely will a specialty practice’s location, name, signage, telephone number or website be the driving force behind their revenue like you’ll see in many general dentistry practices.

Practices, where revenues are driven by referral sources, present a higher degree of risk to any buyer of these practices since these referrals rely mainly on personal relationships with the selling doctor, especially when the practice has only ONE doctor/owner or a part time associate. IF it’s a group practice where the buyer is buying in to an interest of less than 100%, some of that risk is mitigated since there are other doctors/owners who are still working and can retain those referrals and assist in transitioning those referrals to the buyer.

Because there is a higher risk with retaining these referrals and transitioning the personal relationships from seller to buyer, the capitalization rates used to value profits are generally higher than you’ll see for general dentistry practices. Or said another way, the multiples of profits are generally lower for specialty practices compared to general dentistry practices.

Therefore, using general dentistry statistics or rules of thumb to determine the asking price of a specialty practice that depends on referrals will almost certainly provide a false or misleading number in terms of the value of the practice.

So for those specialist buyers out there looking to purchase a practice, just beware of this and make sure you do your own assessment of the practice financials to determine if the asking price is reasonable.

Written by Tim Lott, CPA, CVA. For more information on our services, please feel free to contact one of the members of the Dental CPA team by calling 844-DENT CPA or emailing info@dentalcpas.com.

What Percentage of the Purchase Price should be Allocated to Goodwill?

I see this question frequently, and occasionally I get asked this question from potential buyers. I see claims made by sellers’ advisors that goodwill should be at least 80% of the total purchase price or worse, they suggest that anything lower than 80% will draw the attention of the IRS. This is just plain FALSE!

I hate to break the news to all the folks who believe that there are “standard” percentages that should be used, there aren’t! In fact, I often define goodwill for my buyers as “the difference”. That’s right; goodwill = the difference. Here’s what I mean by that.

Let’s assume you have two practices, each 4 Ops with nearly identical equipment and it’s valued at $150,000. Let’s also assume they’ll have the same allocation to the covenants of $5,000 and the only other remaining assets that need to be allocated are dental supplies and goodwill. Practice A has revenue of $1.5 mil and is selling for $1mil while practice B has revenue of $750k and is selling for $500k. Here’s the proper way to go about allocating the purchase price:

                                                            Practice A                      Practice B

Furniture and equipment                  $150,000 (15%)                  $150,000 (30%)

Dental Supplies                                     20,000                                  10,000

Covenants                                                5,000                                   5,000

Goodwill (the difference)                 825,000 (82.5%)                   335,000 (67%)

You’ll note that goodwill is listed last as it should be the last item that is assigned a value. That’s because every other asset above it should be relatively easy to value and after you’ve agreed upon the values of them, the difference goes to goodwill. Furniture and equipment can be appraised, and dental supplies can be estimated based on practice revenues. You might even see allocations for other items like net contract receivables, consulting agreements, leasehold improvements, patient charts, etc. in every case, a value should be assigned to those assets FIRST then the remainder of the purchase price is allocated to goodwill, LAST!

Technically you’ll see the definition of goodwill, an intangible asset, as the excess amount paid for a business over & above its tangible and other asset values. In my world that’s the same as saying “the difference,” it’s that simple. Statistically speaking I would agree that with the “typical” dental practice sale, 75-80% of the allocated purchase price is usually goodwill, but it’s just a statistic, that’s it.

So don’t get sucked into someone else’s world when they tell you “goodwill should be at least 80% of the purchase price of a dental practice” and any other allocation will draw the attention of the IRS. If you hear a seller’s advisor say that then you know they’re NOT being truthful with you and you have to begin to wonder what other statements they’ve made that aren’t truthful.

Written by Tim Lott, CPA, CVA. For more information on our services, please feel free to contact Tim or one of the members of the Dental CPA team by calling 844-DENT CPA or emailing info@dentalcpas.com.