What to Pay Your Dental Team in private dental practice in the UK – Without Hurting Your Cash Flow

As a private dental practice owner in 2025, you want to pay your team competitively — but not at the cost of your own income.
If you’ve ever thought, “My nurse is paid. My receptionist is paid. But where’s mine?” — you’re not failing. You’re just financially unsequenced.

I’m Shishir Khadka, FCCA, Chartered Certified Accountant and full-time Dental CFO, actively managing the cash flow of 67+ UK clinics. I’ve worked with single-surgery start-ups to £4M private groups — and I’ve seen what actually breaks an owner’s income buffer.

It’s not the size of your team.
It’s not that you’re “overpaying.”
It’s that you’re paying staff before income clears — and doing it without a cash logic model.

When I couldn’t find a solution built for how real clinics operate, I created one.
Dentpulse™ is that system:

• Backed by £21M+ in actively managed clinic cash
• Powered by proprietary PPBT™ (Personal Profit Before Tax) and CFFP™ (Cleared Funds Future Pairing) methods
• Trusted by clinic owners and featured in The Independent, FloatApp, Agicap, and Zoho

Because in dentistry, being profitable isn’t enough.
If you don’t sequence cash first, you’ll always pay the team — and starve the principal.

By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly:

• What to pay your dental support team in 2025 — based on real UK benchmarks
  
• How to protect your own drawings using PPBT™
  
• How to build a forecast model that prevents pay gaps — without cutting staff

FAST TAKEAWAY — What Most Clinics Get Wrong

Even profitable practices run out of cash because salaries hit before income clears.

• Most teams are paid on the 28th
  
• Plan income lands on the 10th of next month
  
• Stripe payments clear in 3–5 days
  
• NHS disbursements may take 6–8 weeks
  

The result?
You end up paying from an account that looks full — but hasn’t cleared enough to cover what’s leaving.

Paying from revenue is dangerous. Paying from cleared cash is essential.

TL;DR — What You Need to Know

• Target 17–20% of revenue for support team pay
• Protect owner pay using a PPBT™ baseline
• Map weekly inflows and outflows using CFFP™ logic
• Don’t approve raises unless your 6-week forecast is positive
• 2025 changes (NMW, NI, Employment Allowance) affect timing, not just cost

What Should I Pay My Dental Team in 2025?

Based on my work as a Dental CFO for 67+ UK clinics — across single-chair start-ups to £4M+ private groups — the ideal range for dental support team pay is between 17% and 20% of your annual gross revenue.
You should only exceed this range if your 6-week cash forecast shows a clear surplus buffer and protected owner drawings.

💬 Still wondering, “What’s a fair number — and how do I stop guessing?”
Let’s look at the data and real-world benchmarks we use inside Dentpulse.

Pay Benchmark Ranges for 2025 (UK Clinics)

📎 Source: GOV.UK – National Minimum Wage 2025

Dentpulse Rule: % of Revenue Beats Hourly Rate Guessing

It’s not about what you pay per hour — it’s about how much payroll consumes in relation to your income.

• Target 17–20% of revenue for total non-clinical payroll
  
• Clinics with Treatment Coordinators or large admin teams can stretch to 25%, but only if:
  

• The practice runs a 13-week CFFP™ forecast, and
  
• Owner pay is anchored first via PPBT™ logic

Case Snapshot: Surrey Clinic (Pre vs Post Dentpulse)

• Before: £615K turnover, 39.2% of revenue spent on support staff payroll
  
• After Dentpulse install: Payroll rebalanced to 32.6%, no layoffs
  
• Outcome: Owner drawings restored from £3,200 to £8,000/month — with zero drop in team morale

Key insight: Cutting payroll isn’t always the fix.
Sequencing and cash-pairing is what preserves both retention and principal income.

How Will 2025 Salary Changes Affect My Cash Flow?

From my experience managing £21M+ in active dental cash flow, salary increases don’t break your practice — cash timing mismatches do.
Even profitable clinics run into cash strain when wage increases land before income clears — especially in 2025.

Here’s why 2025 is different — and riskier.

The Real Risk: Timing, Not Just Pay

While salary increases are expected, the real threat is when those costs hit vs. when your revenue clears.

2025 Timing Mismatches to Watch

Even with £60K+ in monthly revenue, many clinics report just £4K–£8K in cleared cash when payroll is due.

What’s Changing in 2025 That Impacts Cash Flow?

1. National Minimum Wage Increase

From April 2025, the new NMW is £11.44/hour
→ Increases baseline payroll even without offering a raise.

2. Employer National Insurance Pressure

Your cost per staff member increases — regardless of salary bands.

3. Employment Allowance Doubles

Increases from £5,000 → £10,500 in April 2025
→ This softens the NI hit temporarily — but it’s not permanent relief.

Dentpulse Forecast Insight

From our internal client data:

Clinics with 7+ staff still face a net cash shortfall of £467.27/month
— even after absorbing the increased allowance

📥 Download the full Dentpulse 2025 Cash Impact Report →

Case Study: Leeds Start-Up

• Turnover (90 days): £142,380
  
• Owner Pay: £0 → £3,500/month
  
• Cash Buffer: From overdraft to £14,330 in 12 weeks

What Changed?

• Installed 13-week CFFP™ forecast
  
• Anchored drawings using PPBT™
  
• Aligned payroll to actual income timing

“We didn’t raise revenue — we just stopped guessing when it would land.”

How Can I Protect My Income While Paying My Team Fairly?

As a Dental CFO working exclusively with UK clinics since 2019, you can protect your income while paying your dental team fairly by anchoring your pay first with PPBT™, pairing payroll timing to cleared income using CFFP™, and structuring bonuses around performance — not emotion.
In working with 67+ dental practices, I’ve found that income problems rarely stem from “overpaying” staff — they come from sequencing mistakes.

Let me break down the three principles we implement for our Dentpulse clients — and how you can apply them immediately in your own practice:

a) Anchor Your Pay First with PPBT™

PPBT™ (Personal Profit Before Tax) is the first rule we install. It ensures the owner receives consistent income before any new hires, raises, or bonuses are approved.

• Set a weekly drawing target (e.g. £850)
• Run that figure through your 13-week forecast
• Only greenlight bonuses once PPBT™ and your buffer are secured

Your pay shouldn’t be what’s “left over.”
It should be a tested and protected baseline — every single week.

b) Use CFFP™ to Match Payroll with Cleared Cash

CFFP™ (Cash Flow Future Pairing) is our proprietary 13-week forecasting logic built inside Dentpulse™. It ensures future outflows — like payroll, PAYE, and loan payments — are matched to real, cleared inflows such as Stripe receipts, membership income, or NHS disbursements.

• Map all fixed outflows by calendar date
• Align each cost with bank-cleared income
• If the forecast shows a mismatch, delay raises or push non-essentials

Example – Kent Clinic:
A private practice avoided a £3,200 shortfall by delaying a Treatment Coordinator hire by five weeks — flagged in advance by their CFFP™ model.

Most practices don’t suffer from low revenue — they suffer from poor pairing of income and obligations. CFFP™ corrects that.

c) Pay for Outcomes — Not Emotions

Sustainable payroll isn’t about generosity — it’s about logic.

• Link bonuses to retention, referrals, or treatment conversions
• Only trigger pay reviews after hitting buffer KPIs
• Don’t give raises based on pressure — use cash-based decision logic

Salaries are fixed liabilities.
Performance-based pay is adaptive — and protects both your margin and morale.

Quick Recap: Protecting Your Pay in 2025

What Should I Pay My Dental Associates in 2025 — Without Hurting Cash?

Now that you’ve aligned and forecasted your support team pay, the next natural question is:

💬 “What percentage should I be paying my associates — and is it sustainable?”

From my experience as a Dental CFO working with 67+ practice owners across the UK, associate pay is often the single largest ongoing clinical expense. Unlike support staff, associates are paid based on production — not payroll logic — which makes their compensation harder to sequence and protect.

And this isn’t just theory.
💬 Associate pay structure is the #1 debate in Facebook dental groups, and one of the most common questions I’m asked by clinic owners during strategy calls.

When Payroll Pressure Comes from Timing — Not Pay Levels

If your biggest payroll strain isn’t the hourly rate or salary band, but the inconsistency of weekly income, the next skill you need is stabilising cash even when patient volume drops. How to Keep Cash Flow Stable When Patient Volume Fluctuates shows you exactly how private practices smooth their inflows using buffer logic, protected owner drawings, and week-by-week CFFP™ pairing — so payroll never lands before the money does.

And if your issue isn’t random volume swings but predictable seasonal dips — February, August, or the post-Christmas slowdown — the deeper solution lies in redesigning your cash calendar. How to Manage Cash Flow During Slow Treatment Months walks you through how to protect PPBT™, avoid overreliance on high-volume months, and stop running payroll from a half-cleared account during your weakest periods.

What’s Next to Ensure You Pay Your Dental Team in the UK in 2025 — Without Hurting Your Cash Flow?

You now know what’s fair to pay your dental team — and how to protect your income while doing it.

Now it’s time to take the next step toward implementation.

Whether you want to build it yourself or have it installed for you, here are three options I use with clinics every week:

1. Build Your First 13-Week Payroll-Protected Forecast (DIY)
Download our free CFFP™ Starter Kit — includes:

• Weekly income/outflow tracker
  
• PPBT™ calculator
  
• Timing mismatch detector
  
• Cash buffer rules

2. Join Forecast Friday (Live & On-Demand)
Every Friday, I walk through:

• Real Dentpulse™ client forecasts
  
• How we install PPBT™ and CFFP™ in real clinics
  
• Live Q&A with UK dental practice owners

👉 Register for Forecast Friday

3. Want Us to Install It For You — in 14 Days?
We’ll fully install your cash control system inside Xero, FloatApp, or Google Sheets:

• PPBT™ logic for protected owner pay
  
• 13-week rolling CFFP™ forecast
  
• Cash calendar synced to payroll, PAYE, and team raises
  

📅 Book Your Free Strategy Call →

FAQs – Managing Team Pay & Cash Flow in 2025

Q: How much should I budget for dental payroll in 2025?
You should budget between 17% and 20% of gross revenue for support staff payroll in 2025. Only exceed 25% if your 6-week cash forecast shows a surplus and your buffer is stable.

Q: Should I delay my owner pay until after my team is paid?
No — you should use the PPBT™ method (Personal Profit Before Tax) to protect your drawings first. As the business owner, your income must be structured, not left to what’s left over.

Q: What if my dental team asks for raises but I’m tight on cash?
If your team requests raises while you’re cash-tight, use your 13-week forecast to show timing mismatches. Consider phased increases, conditional bonuses, or deferring reviews until buffer thresholds are met.

Q: Do I need software to build a dental payroll forecast?
No — you don’t need paid software. Many UK practices start with Google Sheets using Dentpulse’s forecasting templates. What matters most is weekly visibility and logic, not the tool.

Q: What’s the most common mistake dental practices make with payroll?
The most common mistake is paying based on the current bank balance, not a forward-looking forecast. This leads to overdrafts, missed drawings, and unnecessary financial stress.