money matters
The Embezzlement
Nightmare
by Susan Gunn
“I hate calls like these,” I thought as I hung
up the phone. My heart ached.
Another dentist discovered his long time
trusted employee had been stealing his
hard earned money from the practice. It
had been my seventh call this week.
He alternated from being angry about
the theft to heart ache for the loss of relationship.
“But, she’s worked for me for 18 years.
How could she do something like this?
I trusted her. She offered to repay me and
gave me all sorts of excuses... What do I
do now?”
Most embezzlements start with an
Opportunistic Thief, not a Brazen Thief.
An Opportunistic Thief can evolve into
a Brazen Thief, however, with their
increased success and expertise.
If just a few things are done differently, it
will prevent the opportunity for an embezzlement to occur, or at the least not make
it so easy! Cross training staff and tightening internal controls are just a couple of
suggestions but the biggest difference can
be made in strengthening the leader of the
practice.
BE THE BOSS. Having a trusted
employee steal from the practice is ulti-
26 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com
mately a wakeup call. Become involved in
the business aspect of your practice. You
own the business so oversee it.
Several years ago, I did a survey among
my newsletter database of about 2,500.
The information I gained was rich but the
consistent thread in all of the stories was
the lack of business focus and oversight by
the practice owner.
These are not business-as-usual times, so
you can not do the business of dentistry
the same way you always have and expect
positive results. If you have let the
“ownership” o