Dental Office Build Out Expenses

Construction Costs. Now that we’ve covered the gist of land acquisition, we need to also consider constructing the office itself. According to the Dental Clinic Manual, it estimates a cost of $100 to $200 per square foot just for construction —this doesn’t account for equipment or supplies. With that “typical” 2,400 square footage 6-operatory office, you’re looking anywhere between $240,000 to $480,000.

Save Money: Rent an Existing Dental Office Building
If you get yourself into enough debt, you may become one of “those” dentists who recommends PFMs as the standard treatment for all their patients; needed or not. Don’t put yourself into that situation!

I was unemployed and had limited funds when I started my first office, so I really needed to keep my building expense in check. JCPenney Kiosk Login

Fortunately, I found a small dental space in a strip mall that was about to be vacated. Don’t be afraid to start with a smaller office to save money.

@Rjai-   You cannot expense leasehold improvements as construction costs as @Billy25 mentioned.  You should record all of the costs as leasehold improvements (fixed asset account) and they are then subject to depreciation.  As far as the depreciation schedule for leasehold improvements, this is where you need your CPA to guide you.  Depreciation for leasehold improvements has changed a lot.  It used to be you had to depreciate them over 39 years!  Now, you have some options and there is no one right answer because it depends on the nature of the improvements.  Make sure your CPA has a good understanding of leasehold improvement depreciation - not all of them do.   

@Rainflurry Thank you!! That’s what I suspected and appreciate your response. 

@Rainflurry Thank you!! That’s what I suspected but was not sure. I appreciate your response. 

Thank you!!