How Dental Clinics Calculate Doctor Commission
The formula, the deductions that matter, and worked examples in PKR.
Associate commission is the single most common source of monthly friction in a multi-doctor dental practice. Almost always the cause is the same: the doctor is given a total, not a calculation. This guide sets out the arithmetic clearly so both sides can agree on it.
The formula
Commission should be worked out on every invoice line separately, not on the invoice total. A single invoice can contain one procedure with a large lab bill and another with none, and averaging them hides that.
gross = quantity × unit price − discount
net = gross − lab cost − procedure cost
doctor = net × the doctor commission percentage
clinic = net − doctorWhat each deduction means
- Lab cost: what the dental laboratory charged you for that specific item, such as a crown or a denture. It is a real cash cost to the clinic, so it comes off before any share is calculated.
- Procedure cost: your own internal cost to perform the treatment: materials, consumables, chair time. It is taken from your procedure catalogue and can be overridden per line. It is never shown to the patient or billed to them.
- Discount: comes off the gross first, so a discount is shared proportionally rather than being absorbed entirely by the clinic.
Worked examples
Example 1: a simple filling, no lab work
A composite filling billed at PKR 9,500. No discount, no lab work. Your internal material cost is PKR 1,500. The associate is on 40%.
| Gross (1 × 9,500 − 0) | PKR 9,500 |
| Less lab cost | PKR 0 |
| Less procedure cost | PKR 1,500 |
| Net | PKR 8,000 |
| Doctor share (40% of net) | PKR 3,200 |
| Clinic share | PKR 4,800 |
Example 2: a crown with a large lab bill
A zirconia crown billed at PKR 35,000. The lab charged you PKR 12,000 and your internal cost is PKR 3,000. Same associate on 40%. This is where paying on gross would hurt.
| Gross | PKR 35,000 |
| Less lab cost | PKR 12,000 |
| Less procedure cost | PKR 3,000 |
| Net | PKR 20,000 |
| Doctor share (40% of net) | PKR 8,000 |
| Clinic share | PKR 12,000 |
Why this matters: paying 40% on the gross would hand the doctor PKR 14,000 while the clinic still owes the lab PKR 12,000 and carries PKR 3,000 of cost, leaving the clinic PKR 6,000 for a PKR 35,000 case. Deducting first keeps the case profitable for both parties.
Example 3: a discounted treatment
Scaling billed at PKR 6,000 with a PKR 1,000 goodwill discount. Procedure cost PKR 800, no lab work, doctor on 35%.
| Gross (6,000 − 1,000 discount) | PKR 5,000 |
| Less procedure cost | PKR 800 |
| Net | PKR 4,200 |
| Doctor share (35% of net) | PKR 1,470 |
| Clinic share | PKR 2,730 |
Example 4: a salaried dentist
The same filling as Example 1, but performed by a dentist on a fixed monthly salary rather than commission.
| Net | PKR 8,000 |
| Doctor share | PKR 0 |
| Clinic share | PKR 8,000 |
Salaried dentists take no share of the net. The same applies to any line where no treating doctor was recorded: that revenue stays with the clinic.
Three rules that end most disputes
- Show the arithmetic, not the total. A doctor who can see gross, lab, cost, net and their share per procedure has nothing to argue about.
- Agree the deductions in writing before the first case. Most arguments are really about whether lab cost comes off first, not about the percentage.
- Record the period every payout covers. Without it, a month eventually gets paid twice, or not at all.
jDent calculates this per invoice line, then tracks the payout.
Doctor Commission FAQs
Next: what every dental invoice should show · choosing dental software in Pakistan · writing dental clinical notes
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