Close the year strong: 3 ways cleaning up dental A/R boosts 2026 success

As the year winds down, dental offices everywhere are feeling the crunch—there’s pressure to get a revenue boost before January 1 to end the year strong. Amid all the year-end activity in the office and at home, there’s one crucial task many practices forget: cleaning up their accounts receivable (A/R). But a tidy A/R is key to a stronger dental practice at the end of this year and throughout the next. 

Of course you want to end the year strong—we’re right there with you! And a happy ending to your year could be closer than you think.

Since 2012, we’ve seen that a lot of dental teams don’t realize how much earned revenue is just sitting on their A/R report, waiting to be collected.

We’ve seen A/R balances in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and multi-millions. No matter how big the balance, every dental practice needs just two things to collect all that they’ve earned: the time and expertise to get it—and we’re here to offer you both. 

A proactive year-end accounts receivable (A/R) cleanup strengthens your cash flow and also gives your practice a cleaner financial slate for the new year. 

At DCS, we have an entire department dedicated to projects like this: Our A/R Special Projects services focus solely on cleaning up your A/R, finding lost revenue, and ensuring your systems are in place to move forward efficiently with your dental insurance billing.

With this in mind, let’s go over 3 ways cleaning up your A/R will set you up for success in the new year.

Key takeaways when exploring an A/R clean up:

• Boost year-end cash flow by uncovering and collecting insurance claims hiding in your A/R
• Start 2026 organized with clean reports, clearer numbers, and a smoother workflow to help your team thrive
• Strengthen your systems by identifying the patterns behind claim denials and payment delays—when you fix issues at the source, you can prevent repeat problems

1. You’ll improve year-end cash flow and recover lost and at-risk revenue

Overdue patient balances and aged dental insurance claims pile up week after week and month after month until there’s a large stack at the end of the year. You’re so busy with the day-to-day operations of the practice, you may not realize just how much money has been left uncollected.

Whether that revenue is collected or uncollected can make the difference between a strong start to 2026 or a sluggish one.

If you or your dental admin team:

• Don’t follow up on unpaid claims from the aging report at least twice a month
• Have not looked at your aging report in the past 3 months or
• Can’t find time to manage aging claims…

…then DCS Special Projects might be the perfect solution for you.

Our team of experts specializes in A/R cleanups designed to find and recover revenue that has gone unnoticed and is at risk of timely filing deadlines. The service is completely tailored to what your dental business needs, as a short-term project or a long-term engagement. 

The DCS Special Projects team will: 

• Identify and collect aged and at-risk insurance claims
• Recover lost revenue that’s been waiting in your system—possibly for months
• Jumpstart cash flow as the year ends, improving your overall liquidity as claim reimbursements arrive

This is the easiest way to make sure the money your practice has already earned actually lands in your bank account before it’s lost to timely filing or too late to elevate your numbers this year.

Our client, Jimmy Nielsen, shares his satisfaction with DCS Special Projects services: 

“Huge thanks to DCS and their incredible team—especially Jeff and Oliver—for doing an outstanding job on our aging reports. Highly recommend their services!” ~Jimmy Nielsen

2. You’ll start 2026 with a clean slate instead of confusion

You know when you clean the kitchen right before you go to bed, then wake up the next morning to sparkling countertops and sink—and you’re even surprised because you forgot you did it? What a wonderful feeling!

Imagine that feeling of relief on a larger scale—and you didn’t have to do the work. That’s what it feels like to get an A/R cleanup before the end of the year.

When your current A/R issues roll over into January, they don’t just clutter your financial books, they also add to the confusion of whatever the new year brings. The burden of “old business” slows your team down, distorts your financial planning, and puts you behind for the new year’s goals.

But a clean A/R by the end of this year could bring you: 

• Accurate end-of-year reporting
• Smarter budgeting for the new year
• Wiser decision-making and planning
• More effective operations for your front office staff

Your team will thank you, and so will your patients. A practice that’s financially organized creates smoother patient experiences and projects confidence in every interaction with your office. And yes, patients do notice if your office is disorganized and your staff is stressed out.

Read more: Get more cash flow: 3 signs your dental practice needs an A/R clean up

3. You’ll strengthen your financial systems and team efficiency

A year-end A/R cleanup by DCS does more than resolve your current collections problem. We also gather an  understanding about what caused or allowed those uncollected balances to accumulate—what’s the why that is undermining your practice’s efficiency? 

Reviewing and analyzing your accounts helps you identify patterns such as:

• Recurring claim denials from the same insurance companies
• Recurring claim denials for the same procedure(s)
• Missed patient balance follow-ups
• Training gaps in your billing or front-office processes

When you understand what’s causing reimbursement delays or claim denials, you can address the problems at their source, setting your team up for a smoother, more efficient year ahead.

Once these issues are identified and discussed with your team, they can provide context on each pattern and help you understand where changes need to be made, so you can avoid those problematic patterns in the future.

Here’s more from client Jimmy Nielsen about how the DCS team handled his practice’s Special Project: 

“Jeff and Oliver were especially responsive and thorough, making the entire process smooth and efficient. Their professionalism, attention to detail, and commitment to delivering accurate, timely insights have made a real difference in how we manage and understand our data.” ~Jimmy Nielsen

Can you imagine starting the new year with all the old business behind you? With your entire team moving forward with a clean aging report, more efficient systems, and a deeper understanding of your numbers? It’s all possible with a DCS Special Project.

Make this year-end count when you use DCS Special Projects Services

To recap, here are 3 ways A/R (accounts receivable or aging report) cleanups will boost your success for the end of this year and throughout the next:

1. You’ll improve year-end cash flow and recover lost and at-risk revenue.
2. You’ll start 2026 with reports that are a clean slate instead of confusion.
3. You’ll strengthen your financial systems and team efficiency.

It’s never too late. Take advantage of this window to recover the revenue you’ve already earned. Call on DCS for your A/R cleanup, and it will pay off in reimbursements arriving by December 31 and fewer headaches waiting for you in January.

Get started with your A/R cleanup ASAP when you book a 30-minute consultation with DCS today.