The four numbers every DPC owner should know

Most DPC owners check the bank balance and stop there. Four numbers tell you more, and you read them in minutes.

You don't need a finance degree to run a healthy practice. You need a short list of numbers, current and correct, and the habit of looking each month. Here are the four.

1. Active members

Your practice runs on members. Count the active ones, and track the change from last month. New sign-ups minus cancellations gives your net change.

A practice adding members each month has room to invest. A practice losing members has a problem to fix before anything else. This number tells you which one you are.

2. Monthly recurring revenue

Add up the membership revenue you expect every month. Annual plans count as one twelfth per month, not a lump on the day of payment.

This number is your baseline. You build payroll, rent, and your own pay on top of it. A wrong number here throws off every plan you make.

3. Cost to serve one member

Take your monthly operating costs and divide by your active members. Now you know what one member costs you to serve.

Compare the result to your membership price. The gap between the two is your margin per member. Watch it over time. A rising cost to serve, or a price held flat for years, shrinks that margin until the practice stops paying you.

4. Months of cash on hand

Take your cash balance and divide by your average monthly spend. The result is how many months you operate with no new revenue.

Three months gives you time to react. One month is a warning. You want to know this number before a slow stretch, not during one.

Put them on one page

Pull these four every month. Put them on a single page. Read them in five minutes.

Owners who watch these numbers make calm decisions. Owners who skip them react late, after the bank balance forces a move. The numbers are simple. The habit is what pays you back.