Brian Hanks Bio

Brian Hanks is an author, advisor, accountant, and certified financial planner specializing in helping dentists buy a dental practice of their own. Brian developed his dental practice acquisition framework to help dentists navigate the complex and overwhelming process.

Brian's book, How to Buy a Dental Practice: Find, Analyze, Negotiate, and Purchase the Right Dental Practice for You, details the basic pitfalls that new dentists often make and lays out a roadmap for a successful acquisition. His consultancy, Dental Buyer Advocates, provides hands-on guidance and expertise for evaluating practices, performing due diligence, negotiating with sellers, closing on a practice, financing, transitioning a practice over from the seller's management, and much more.

Prior to founding Dental Buyer Advocates, Brian served as an accountant and Certified Financial Planner™ at two different dental CPA firms. He is a featured author for Dental Economics, AGD Impact, and DentalTown, and is also a speaker for the Seattle Study Club.

Brian has a business management undergrad from BYU, a finance MBA from University of Michigan, and a CFP certification from Northwestern University. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife and four kids, and serves dentists nationwide.

Check out Brian’s 27-point practice acquisition checklist, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help with due diligence, valuation, or any other part of your acquisition journey!

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Evaluating the Cost of Dental Supplies

Running a dental office ain’t cheap. And it might be tempting to focus solely on the biggest expense on your[...]

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Evaluating Facility Costs

Q: How much should I be paying for facility costs? A: Facility costs should account for 5-10% of practice collections,[...]
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Evaluating Active Patients in Dental Practice Valuations

I’m about to tell you something that may seem counterintuitive: Active patient count is not as important as people think[...]
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Consider Accounts Payable when Valuing a Dental Practice

Dental practice valuation is a huge task. It’s easy to focus on the major factors such as overhead, profit margins,[...]
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How to Tell the Staff About Transitioning Practices

You’ve closed on a dental practice and need to transition from the previous owner’s management to your capable hands. Here’s[...]

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Negotiating with Stubborn Brokers

A buyer I’m currently working with found a good practice for sale and asked for my help with the analysis[...]
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The Most Dangerous Associateship: The TOO Comfortable One

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The Most Important Document In Your Practice
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Talk to This Many Banks for Your Dental Practice Loan

Shopping more than two or three banks almost always leads to WORSE outcomes for the buyer. Higher rates. Higher fees.[...]

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The MOST Important Number for Dentists Buying a Practice

I’ve mentioned before that the profitability of a practice has many factors. I’ve told you that one factor, such as[...]
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Tell the Seller NOT to Keep the Sale Secret

Previously we discussed what to ask the seller during your first meeting. Here’s another one to add to that list:[...]
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How Bank Pre-Approvals Work When Buying a Dental Practice

You need to stand out. And one way to stand out is to look ready to buy now. Looking ready[...]