Financial planning and computer modeling in dental practice.

The financial plan describes the practice's financial strategy, projects the strategy's future effect on the practice, and establishes goals by which the practice's manager can measure subsequent performance. The act of putting together a financial plan is called the financial planning process. It is a process that consists of analyzing the practice; projecting future outcomes of decisions that have to be made regarding finances, investments, and day to day operations; deciding which alternatives to undertake; and measuring performance against goals that are established in the financial plan. Computer financial planning models can aid the practice manager in projecting future outcomes of various financial, investment, and operational decisions. These models can be created inexpensively by noncomputer programmers with the aid of computer software on the market today. The financial planning process for a hypothetical practice was summarized, and the financial model used to test out various alternatives available to the practice was described.