--- title: Preparing Your Dental Practice Books for Tax Season description: Tax season goes smoothly when your books are clean all year. Here is the 2027 filing calendar, the 1099 rules, and what your preparer needs. image: https://reciprocityaccounting.com/hubfs/blog-images/post_63.png --- [Skip to content](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-tax-season-bookkeeping#main-content) [![](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logo-horizontal-transparent.png?width=1298&height=290&name=logo-horizontal-transparent.png)Homepage](https://reciprocityaccounting.com) - [Services](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/services) - [Pricing](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/pricing) - [FAQ](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/faq) - [Blog](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog) - [About](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/about) [Book a Discovery Call](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/contact) - [Services](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/services) - [Pricing](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/pricing) - [FAQ](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/faq) - [Blog](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog) - [About](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/about) [Book a Discovery Call](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/contact) ![Reciprocity Accounting card: Books Ready for Tax Season, a How To post.](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-images/post_63.png?width=1200&height=630&name=post_63.png) How To # Preparing Your Dental Practice Books for Tax Season ![Greg Hudnall](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/49dbd5c12b604f92786349ba17b92e2c) Greg Hudnall October 8, 2026 How To  ·  6 min read Tax season is decided in the months before it. By January, either your books already answer your preparer's questions or you are paying someone to rebuild them. A tax return is a summary of twelve monthly closes. When the closes are clean, tax season is a short exchange of documents. When they are not, your preparer spends billable hours reconstructing the year, and you pay for it. Here is how to get your books ready, what the filing calendar looks like for tax year 2026, and what to hand over. ## A Clean Monthly Close Is Your Tax Prep Your bookkeeper and your tax preparer do different jobs. The bookkeeper records the year as it happens. The preparer turns the finished year into a return. Every question the preparer has to ask because the books are unclear is time you are paying for at a preparer's rate. A clean close does three things for tax season. Every bank, card and loan account is tied to an outside statement. Every transaction is coded to the same category all year, so the numbers mean the same thing in March as in June. And the schedules a return depends on, covering assets, loans, payroll and vendors, are kept as you go instead of rebuilt in January. A practice that [closes its books every month](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-books-monthly-close-deadline) is doing all three twelve times a year. Dental adds one wrinkle worth saying out loud. A practice can file its return on the cash basis and still manage the business on accrual. When it does, the books carry two views of the same year, and [that works only when someone reconciles the two](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/cash-vs-accrual-dental-practice). It fails when nobody does. ## The Filing Calendar for Tax Year 2026 These dates assume a calendar-year practice. Several fall on a weekend in 2027, and the IRS treats a due date that lands on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday as met if the filing is made [by the next business day](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p509). The IRS publishes the forms for the 2026 year late in the year, so confirm the final dates with your preparer in January. | Date | What is due | Note | | --- | --- | --- | | Fri, Jan 15, 2027 | Fourth-quarter 2026 estimated tax payment (Form 1040-ES) | The fourth payment for 2026 is a January payment, not December. | | Mon, Feb 1, 2027 | W-2s to employees and the SSA, 1099-NECs, Form 941 for the fourth quarter, and Form 940 | January 31 falls on a Sunday this year. | | Mon, Mar 15, 2027 | Form 1120-S for S corporations and Form 1065 for partnerships, with K-1s | No weekend rollover this year. | | Thu, Apr 15, 2027 | Form 1040, including Schedule C for sole proprietors | An extension gives more time to file, not more time to pay. | ## What Your Tax Preparer Needs From You Whoever prepares your return for pay needs a PTIN from the IRS, and most practices use a CPA or an enrolled agent. Either way, the goal is the same: hand over a year that does not need to be explained. | What to hand over | Why the preparer asks for it | | --- | --- | | December and full-year profit and loss and balance sheet | The return starts from them. | | Bank, card and loan statements for the whole year | They prove the books tie out, and the loan statements split interest from principal. | | Payroll summary, all four 941s, W-2s and the W-3 | Wages on the return must match what was reported to the IRS. | | Fixed-asset list with cost, purchase date and in-service date | Depreciation depends on when equipment was ready for use, not when it was paid for. | | Owner pay detail: W-2 wages and distributions, or draws | It shows whether an S corporation owner's pay was reasonable. | | 1099 vendor list and the W-9s behind it | You are the one who files these. | | Entity papers, last year's return and any IRS or state notices | Context the books cannot supply. | The owner pay row deserves a second look. The IRS says S corporations [must pay reasonable compensation to a shareholder-employee](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/s-corporation-compensation-and-medical-insurance-issues) before non-wage distributions may be made. That is why [how owner pay is booked](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-owner-compensation-bookkeeping) is a tax question and not only a bookkeeping one. Preparers ask about write-offs too. Insurance write-offs and uncollected patient balances can look like expenses on a management P&L. On a cash-basis return, an uncollected balance generally cannot be deducted because the income was never recorded, as [the IRS explains](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc453). Tell your preparer what sits in your books and why, and read [what happens to a written-off balance](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-bad-debt) before you assume it is a deduction. Keep what you hand over. The IRS says to [keep employment tax records for at least four years](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/how-long-should-i-keep-records) after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later. For income tax records, it ties retention to the period of limitations on your return, generally three years, and longer in specific cases. ## 1099s: Decide Now, File in February The reporting threshold for Form 1099-NEC is now $2,000. The 2025 tax law raised it from $600 for payments made after December 31, 2025, and [IRS Notice 2025-62](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-62.pdf) says it is adjusted for inflation starting with payments made after December 31, 2026. For the payments you made in 2026, the line is $2,000 for services performed by someone who is not your employee. Three practical points follow. Payments to a corporation generally are not reported on a 1099-NEC, with exceptions such as attorney fees. Medical and health care payments to corporations are an exception on the related 1099-MISC. Check the payee type before assuming a corporation is exempt, and let your preparer decide the close calls. The IRS says payments made by credit card or through third-party networks are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity and [are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-NEC](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec). And if you file 10 or more information returns of all types combined, the IRS requires you to file them electronically. Collect a Form W-9 from every contractor before the first payment. Without a taxpayer ID, you may be required to withhold tax at a flat 24% on payments, which the IRS calls [backup withholding](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc307). Whether a hygienist or associate belongs on a 1099 at all is a separate legal question that [multi-provider practices get wrong often](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-multi-provider-payroll). ## Estimated Tax: The Fourth Payment Is in January Estimated tax is personal to the owner, but practice cash pays it. The fourth payment for 2026 is due [January 15, 2027](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf). To avoid an underpayment penalty, the safe harbor is paying at least 90% of the tax shown on your 2026 return or 100% of the tax shown on your 2025 return. That becomes 110% if your 2025 adjusted gross income was more than $150,000. Withholding counts. The IRS treats one-fourth of your withholding as paid on each due date [unless you show otherwise](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i2210). That matters for an S corporation owner. Tax withheld from your own W-2 counts toward the total, but distributions have nothing withheld. The K-1 income above your wages is the part quarterly payments must cover. How much to pay is a question for your preparer, working from your actual year. Where the cash comes from is a practice question. Put the tax reserve in the plan before you take money out, which is [the order of the distribution waterfall](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-cash-before-distributions). ## A Five-Question Test for December If you can answer these in December, tax season will be short. First, is every bank, card and loan account reconciled through November? Second, can you name every contractor you paid $2,000 or more in 2026, with a W-9 on file for each? Third, do your payroll reports match your quarterly 941s so far? Fourth, is the fixed-asset list current, including everything bought this year? Fifth, do you know your fourth-quarter estimate and where the cash will come from? A no on any of them is a bookkeeping task for October or November, not a tax problem for March. We cover the year-end close itself, step by step, in our year-end close checklist. *P.S.* [*Reciprocity Accounting*](https://reciprocityaccounting.com) *keeps your books closed by the 10th and tax-ready all year, and either prepares your return or coordinates directly with the preparer who does, so tax season starts with answers instead of a scramble.* [*See how we can help your practice.*](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/contact) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### When should I start getting my books ready for tax season? Now. The work that matters happens before year-end: reconciliations through November, a current asset list, a vendor list with W-9s, and a payroll tie-out. Doing it in October and November leaves the December close to confirm it, not create it. ### Do I need to send a 1099 to my dental lab? It depends on who the lab is and what you bought. Form 1099-NEC covers services performed by someone who is not your employee, and payments to a corporation generally do not require one. Collect a W-9 from every lab either way, and let your preparer decide. ### Is my fourth estimated tax payment due in December? No. For a calendar-year taxpayer, the fourth payment for 2026 is due Friday, January 15, 2027. ### Can my bookkeeper file my return? Generally, the person who prepares a return for pay must have a PTIN from the IRS, and the credentialed professionals who sign returns and represent you before the IRS are typically CPAs and enrolled agents. ### What if my S corporation misses the March 15 deadline? Form 7004 gives an automatic extension of generally six months to file, and it has to be filed by the original due date. The IRS is clear that it does not extend the time to pay any tax due. **Related reading:** - [Dental Bookkeeper vs. Dental CPA: What's the Difference?](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-bookkeeper-vs-dental-cpa) - [S-Corp vs. LLC for Dental Practices: What Your CPA Should Be Telling You](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-s-corp-vs-llc) - [What Financial Reports Should Your Dental Practice Review Every Month?](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-monthly-financial-reports) ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Freciprocityaccounting.com%2Fblog%2Fdental-practice-tax-season-bookkeeping](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Freciprocityaccounting.com%2Fblog%2Fdental-practice-tax-season-bookkeeping) ## Keep reading ### [![Reciprocity Accounting card: What Your Dashboard Should Show, a How To post.](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-images/post_62.png?width=1200&height=630&name=post_62.png) How To What Your Dental Practice Dashboard Should Look Like](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-financial-dashboard) ### [![Reciprocity Accounting card: How the 16 KPIs Connect, a How To post.](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-images/post_61.png?width=1200&height=630&name=post_61.png) How To How the 16 Dental KPIs Connect: A Visual Guide](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-kpis-visual-guide) | ![Reciprocity Accounting](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/hubfs/logo_horizontal_dark_transparent.png) Accounting built for dental practices. Books closed by the 10th. **Guaranteed**. Reciprocity Accounting LLC 6809 Main St #37, Cincinnati, OH 45244 [(833) 538-5551](tel:+18335385551)  ·  [info@reciprocityaccounting.com](mailto:info@reciprocityaccounting.com) | | Resources [Services](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/services) [Pricing](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/pricing) [FAQ](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/faq) [Dashboard](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/dashboard) [Benchmark Scorecard](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/benchmark-scorecard) | Company [About](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/about) [Blog](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog) [Contact](https://reciprocityaccounting.com/contact) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | © 2026 Reciprocity Accounting. 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Tax services, when applicable, are provided by licensed third-party professionals. | | | | ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Greg Hudnall", "url" : "https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/author/greg-hudnall" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-08T13:00:00.377Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-08T13:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Preparing Your Dental Practice Books for Tax Season", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://reciprocityaccounting.com/blog/dental-practice-tax-season-bookkeeping", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://reciprocityaccounting.com/hubfs/logo-horizontal-transparent.png" }, "name" : "Reciprocity Accounting" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://reciprocityaccounting.com/#organization", "@type" : [ "Organization", "AccountingService" ], "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "US", "addressLocality" : "Cincinnati", "addressRegion" : "OH", "postalCode" : "45244", "streetAddress" : "6809 Main St #37" }, "areaServed" : [ { "@type" : "State", "name" : "Ohio" }, { "@type" : "Country", "name" : "United States" } ], "description" : "Dental-specific bookkeeping and tax for dental practice owners. 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The work that matters happens before year-end: reconciliations through November, a current asset list, a vendor list with W-9s, and a payroll tie-out. Doing it in October and November leaves the December close to confirm it, not create it." }, "name" : "When should I start getting my books ready for tax season?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "It depends on who the lab is and what you bought. Form 1099-NEC covers services performed by someone who is not your employee, and payments to a corporation generally do not require one. 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The IRS is clear that it does not extend the time to pay any tax due." }, "name" : "What if my S corporation misses the March 15 deadline?" } ] } ```