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Welcome to the first installment of our newest series, April’s Advice. Here you’ll find insights, information, and in-depth Ora expertise from our founder and fearless leader––all dedicated to making your Ora experience even easier!
Today, April shares why line-item accounting is superior to its invoiced-based counterpart, and how invoicing by line-item improves revenue tracking accuracy for dental practices!
Why line-item accounting beats invoice-based accounting every time
When it comes to running your practice, how you track and manage finances isn't just an operational detail—it’s a strategic advantage. While invoice-based accounting has long been the norm, there's a smarter, more precise way forward: line-item accounting.
At Ora, we built our platform around this modern approach because we’ve seen firsthand the difference it makes for practices like yours. If you're still managing payments and charges at the invoice level, here's why it's time to rethink your process
See your practice in greater detail
Line-item accounting tracks each individual procedure, service, and code, so you always know exactly where your revenue is coming from. This granular view makes it easier to spot your most profitable services and identify trends that help you make smarter decisions. It also gives you hard data to support payer negotiations and improve your fee schedules.
Improve accuracy across the board
When adjustments are made at the procedure level, errors are easier to catch—and easier to fix. That means cleaner reports, better internal transparency, and fewer headaches for your team. It also ensures that EOBs match up correctly with what’s posted in your system, which keeps things clear for both your staff and your patients.
Take control of your cash flow
Managing collections at the line-item level gives you real-time insight into payments, balances, and reserve credits. You can even post payments to scheduled codes that haven’t been charged out yet. This helps you stay ahead of revenue and improves how you track prepayments, retainers, or other future charges.
Breeze through audits
With detailed records tied to every procedure, line-item accounting makes audits far more straightforward. You’ll have complete transparency into what was charged, when, and why, making it easier to address discrepancies and ensure financial compliance.
Create better patient experiences
Patients appreciate clarity, especially when it comes to their bills. With line-item accounting, you can generate clean, easy-to-understand statements that show a full breakdown of services rendered. That kind of transparency not only builds trust, it helps reduce payment confusion and delays.
Unlock smarter reporting
Whether you’re analyzing procedure-level profitability or diving into insurance payout trends, line-item accounting opens the door to more dynamic reporting. With the right platform in place (hint: it’s Ora), you can surface the insights that matter most and make informed decisions that drive growth.
Bottom line: If you're serious about optimizing your operations and financial performance, line-item accounting is a must. And with Ora, it’s built right in.
Want to see how it works? Schedule a demo and let’s explore how Ora can simplify your accounting—and so much more.
About April Lowry
In the summer of 2014, in the humble setting of April Lowry’s basement, the vision for Ora Dental was born. Fueled by a desire to modernize dental practice management, April began sketching ideas that would eventually lay the foundation for a fully integrated, cloud-based platform. Her goal was ambitious yet straightforward: to help dental practices attract and engage patients, deliver exceptional clinical care, and accelerate revenue cycle performance—all within a single, seamless system.
