If you’re leading finance at a private equity (PE)-backed dental service organization (DSO), you’re operating in one of the most demanding environments in healthcare. While private equity ownership offers opportunities, it also entails tight deadlines, specific reporting requirements, and ambitious goals for creating value.
As CFO, you’re responsible for integrating acquisitions quickly, shortening close timelines, fixing inherited accounting issues, and delivering real-time financial visibility across multiple practices – all while keeping G&A lean. These competing priorities are why more dental groups are turning to a fractional finance team for PE-backed DSOs, a model that provides immediate expertise, operational lift, and scalable support
Financial Challenges Unique to PE-Backed DSOs
1. Post-Acquisition Integration Under Compressed Timelines
PE-backed DSOs acquire companies rapidly; however, each acquisition adds layers of complexity. Different systems, disorganized financial records, inconsistent processes, legacy reporting problems, and multiple electronic health records/practice management systems (EHR/PMS) can slow integration and delay value creation.
A fractional team can accelerate this integration by:
- Standardizing the chart of accounts
- Cleaning up financial records from acquired practices
- Implementing consistent reporting and key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Consolidating various PMS/EHR sources
- Supporting audit readiness
- This helps reduce the burden on your internal team and speeds up the time to value for each acquisition.
2. Strategic Demands vs. Operational Reality
Your PE sponsor expects strong strategic leadership, such as:
- Clear drivers of EBITDA
- Predictable and accurate financial forecasts
- Enhanced financial visibility
- Scalable financial processes
However, operational challenges that can divert your focus include:
- Month-end close delays
- Billing and collections issues
- System problems
- Staff turnover
- Manual reconciliations and error-prone workflows
Fractional teams absorb this operational load, enabling CFOs to focus on strategy, performance improvement, and value creation.
3. EBITDA Growth Without G&A Expansion
Private equity (PE) ownership demands EBITDA growth, but adding controllers, analysts, or technical accountants increases the cost structure. A fractional finance team for PE-backed dental service organizations offers:
- On-demand support
- No long-term payroll commitments
- A scalable workforce structure
- Senior-level talent at a fraction of the cost
This aligns directly with PE’s efficiency and return-focused mandate.
Why Traditional Solutions Underperform for DSOs
Traditional hiring processes in the dental finance sector can be slow and often struggle to identify qualified talent, creating operational inefficiencies. Traditional consultants can create continuity issues, resulting in inconsistent financial practices and stalled initiatives.
Meanwhile, internal teams – already stretched thin – struggle to keep up with acquisitions, compliance requirements, and evolving operational demands. This can ripple into patient experience, practice profitability, and sponsor confidence.
Benefits of a Fractional Finance Team for PE-Backed DSOs
Built for Multi-Location, High-Growth Healthcare Finance
Fractional teams bring technical accounting, M&A integration, clinic-level analytics, and healthcare-specific financial workflows, managed by experts who have experience within DSOs.
Faster Close, Better Visibility
They establish dashboards, reporting structures, and KPIs that meet PE expectations and elevate decision-making.
Stability During High Turnover
With DSOs prone to staff turnover, fractional teams preserve institutional knowledge and provide continuity through transitions.
Scales With Every New Acquisition
Whether you acquire 5 or 50 new locations, fractional support expands instantly without increasing your G&A footprint.
The New Standard for PE-Backed DSO Finance
A fractional finance team for PE-backed DSOs gives CFOs a strategic advantage – delivering cleaner data, faster integrations, stronger reporting, and EBITDA growth without unnecessary overhead.
As the DSO landscape becomes more competitive and acquisition-driven, the organizations that adopt flexible, scalable finance models will be the ones that grow efficiently – and win.
