EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is the most commonly used valuation metric for healthcare practice acquisitions because it measures the operating cash flow the practice generates before financing and tax decisions, which vary by buyer.
Multi-doctor veterinary practices face tax planning complexity that solo practices do not. When more than one veterinarian owns and operates the practice, decisions about entity structure, compensation allocation, retirement plan design, and profit distribution have different implications for each owner.
The most effective way to build dental practice value is to improve EBITDA margin, reduce owner dependency, and develop clean financial infrastructure, and the best time to do all three is years before a sale, not months.