This article provides an explanation of the various options available in the Dentrix Billing Statements window, detailing what each setting controls. These options allow you to customize how and to whom billing statements are generated.
To access the Billing Statement options in Dentrix:
Open Office Manager.
From the Reports menu, click Billing.
Below is an explanation of each option found in the Billing Statements window:
Statement Date: This date serves as the cut-off for the statements. All calculations (e.g., balances, aging) will be based on the information as of this date.
Balance Forward Date: A 'Balance Forward' line will appear at the top of the statement, showing the total amount owed by the patient up to and including this specified date. Note: If the 'Include Procs With Claim Pending' option is checked, procedures attached to pending claims may be itemized separately rather than being included in this Balance Forward amount.
Minimum Balance to Bill: Only statements for accounts with a balance equal to or greater than this amount will be printed. The default is 0.01. Setting it to zero would print statements for all accounts, regardless of balance. Consider the costs (postage, materials, time) when setting this value.
Include Credit Balances: If checked, statements will be generated for accounts that have a credit balance, indicating that the practice owes the patient money. To get a list of accounts with credit balances without printing statements, run an Aging Report with the 'credit balances' option selected.
Skip Accounts With Claims Pending: When this option is checked, statements for accounts with outstanding (pending) insurance claims will be skipped IF the estimated patient portion is less than the amount entered in the ‘…if patient portion less than’ field. The higher the amount entered here, the more accounts will be skipped.
Example: A patient has procedures mostly covered by insurance, and their estimated portion is small. With this option checked and a low amount in the field, their account might be skipped for this billing cycle. They would receive a statement once the insurance payment is posted, assuming no other filters exclude them.
Accounts will NOT be skipped if the insurance estimate is 0.
Unless Claim is Partially Paid: If this sub-option is also checked, an account that would normally be skipped (due to the main 'Skip Accounts With Claims Pending' option) WILL receive a statement IF ALL of its pending claims have been flagged as 'partially paid.' A partially paid claim is still considered a pending claim.
Simplified Logic:
If 'Skip Accounts With Claim Pending' is checked (and 'Unless Claim is Partially Paid' is NOT checked): Accounts with any pending claims (that meet the patient portion criteria) are skipped, regardless of partial payments.
If BOTH options are checked: Accounts with pending claims (meeting patient portion criteria) are skipped UNLESS all of those pending claims are marked as partially paid. In that specific scenario, the account is NOT skipped and will receive a statement.
Include Procs With Claim Pending (Include Procedures with Claim Pending): This option itemizes procedures linked to pending insurance claims, rather than grouping them into the Balance Forward amount.
If ON: Procedures associated with pending claims will appear on the statement, often marked with an asterisk (*) and a note like "*Indicates that Dental Insurance has been billed." This informs the patient that these procedures are still awaiting insurance payment.
The asterisk (*) can be disabled via Office Manager > Practice Setup > Preferences > Print Options > check 'No Insurance Flag (*) on Statements'. This might be useful if patients pay in full upfront and are reimbursed by insurance later.
Procedures related to a claim will continue to appear on statements until the Balance Forward Date is later than the date the first insurance payment for that claim was received. (click HEREto look at ways to troubleshoot further why this may be displaying undesired procedures from history; however, if you do not want to use this feature simply turn it off and save as default).
If OFF: The statement will not itemize procedures pending insurance that occurred before the Balance Forward Date.
Print Ins Estimate: If checked, an estimate of the amount expected from insurance will be printed at the bottom of the statement.
Print Agreed Payment: The statement will include a box labeled 'Please Pay This Amount.' This amount will be either the estimated patient portion of the account balance or the agreed-upon payment for an established Payment Plan, whichever is applicable.
Exclude Outstanding to Insurance: This option is only available if 'Print Agreed Payment' is selected. It subtracts the entire amount of procedures with outstanding claims (both estimated insurance and patient portions) from the account balance shown in the 'Please Pay This Amount' box. This is useful when a patient has some procedures paid but others still pending, ensuring the 'Please Pay' amount reflects only what is clearly the guarantor's current responsibility.
Print Due Date on Statements: Adds a 'Due Date' to the statement. This can be configured in two ways:
Only for accounts with a Payment Agreement (due date based on agreement terms).
For all patients: A due date calculated as a selected number of days (default is 15) after the Statement Date.
Print Practice Information: Prints the practice's name, address, and phone number (from Practice Resource Setup) on the statements. This may be automatically selected depending on the chosen Billing Statement Form.
Print Account Aging: Prints aging brackets (e.g., Current, Over 30 Days, Over 60 Days, Over 90 Days, Total Balance) at the bottom of the statement.
Allow Credit Card Payment: Prints credit card payment options on the statement form.
If Not Billed Since: A statement will NOT be printed for an account if it has already received a statement since the date specified here. This defaults to one month before the current system date.
Only Bill Accounts Aging: Only accounts with an outstanding balance in the specified aging bracket (e.g., Over 30 days, Over 60 days) or older will receive a statement.
Save As Default: Saves the currently selected options as the default for future billing statement runs and for statements printed directly from the Account module. Note: This does NOT save the Statement Date or Balance Forward Date as defaults.
Additional Information:
Form Compatibility: Some options are primarily designed for full form download statements. If using pre-printed forms, certain options might be automatically disabled or not applicable.
Workstation Specific Settings: Most of these Billing Statement options are workstation-specific. Settings chosen on one computer will not automatically apply to others. However, the custom message at the bottom of the billing statement is a universal setting.
Automated Billing (G6.5+): For information on scheduling billing statements to run automatically in Dentrix G6.5 and later, refer to Knowledge Base article 86271.
Troubleshooting Missing Statements: If an account did not receive a statement when expected, refer to relevant Dentrix troubleshooting guides (or search the Knowledge Base for "account did not receive statement").
