Open Dental Software

Payment

There have been several enhancements to payments in 17.3. We recommend updating to the latest stable version.

Payments collected in the Account Module from patients are always divided into one or more Payment Splits (paysplits). Paysplits allow you to allocate income to providers and procedures, or mark a payment as unallocated (e.g. for prepayments, other unearned types).

By default, Open Dental will automatically suggest paysplits allocated first to the adjustments, then to procedures. This means they are allocated to the oldest adjustment (and its treating provider), then the treating provider of the oldest completed procedure with a balance remaining (patient portion due). We recommend this method of allocation so that reports and patient accounts are as robust and accurate as possible.

Enforce Valid Paysplit = Auto-Split only
Auto-split payments preferring = Adjustments

Paysplit Allocation Options

Patient income can be divided into one or more paysplits with varying levels of allocation. Below is a description of allocation options.

Allocate Paysplits by Procedure (recommended): This will also allocate the split to the procedure's treating provider.

Track production and income by procedure and provider.
Use reports to determine pay for providers based on production and/or income. See Production and Income Reports.
Easily determine patient portion by procedure on patient accounts.
Use the Patient Portion Uncollected Report to determine outstanding patient portion amounts due by procedure.
Create custom reports based on procedure income, provider income and patient portion remaining.
Easily associate accurate procedures and credits to payment plan charges (Payment Plan Types).

You can allocate more than one paysplit to the same procedure, as long as there is a patient portion remaining. Paysplits allocated to a procedure can even come from different payments.

Allocate to Providers Only (old behavior): If you've been using Open Dental for a while, this may be the way you are used to making paysplits. Now that we have made allocating to procedures easier, this method is only useful for small, single provider practices that do not track production or income.

Track income by provider only.
Some reports may not be accurate since income by procedure won't be included.
If you decide to track/allocate later, using this method will cause problems.

Unearned / Unallocated Income: Unallocated income is any paysplit that has an unearned type other than none (e.g. prepayments, overpayments). Usually the income will allocated at a later time (e.g. when treatment is complete or as a refund). Each family's total unearned income amount shows in the Account module, Aging area.

Track prepayments, overpayments, or other unearned types.
Create custom reports based on unearned income types.

See Unearned / Unallocated Income for more details.

Clinic Allocation: When using Clinics, payments will be allocated to the clinic set for Patient Payments Use in Account Module Preferences.

Technical Details

When you have accounts where you have not directly (explicitly) allocated outstanding charges to payments in the past, Open Dental still implicitly associates outstanding charges and payments based on patient, provider, and clinic.