Understanding Transaction Questions in Your Client Portal

How to answer transaction questions on your client portal, and why we ask certain questions.

Updated at May 29th, 2025

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Table of Contents

Overview Standard Transaction Questions & How to Answer Them Unknown Classification Please upload an invoice/receipt for this transaction Meals - Personal, Business, Staff Events, or Advertising? Supplies or Equipment? Attach invoice if new Equipment > $2,500 Unknown Deposit Unknown Insurance Type Unknown Medical Expense? Travel expense over $250, please confirm business or personal? Clothing - scrubs, branded/embroidered, or something else? First time categorizing this vendor in your books, please confirm use case for your business Handling Checks & Best Practices

Overview

One key feature of the client portal is the "Transaction Questions" page.

We understand that some of the questions we ask within the portal might be unclear. So, this guide explains the purpose of these questions and how to respond, making the process more efficient for you.

Why Do We Ask These Questions?

We ask these questions for two main reasons:

To confirm whether a transaction is for a business or personal expense.
To ensure proper classification for tax and financial planning purposes, particularly for expenses like meals and large purchases.

Your Responsibility: As the business owner, you are the expert on the purpose of each transaction. Providing accurate responses ensures your MLW compliance agreement and proper financial reporting.

Standard Transaction Questions & How to Answer Them

If you have any additional questions regarding transaction questions, please contact your MLW Advisor.

Unknown Classification

Reason: We couldn't determine what this transaction was for and need clarification if business or personal.
Response: Clearly state the business purpose or confirm if it’s a "personal charge" or “shareholder distribution”.

Please upload an invoice/receipt for this transaction

Reason: We noticed large transactions that may involve potential asset(s) that we can capitalize on and will need the proper classification in order to do so.
Response: Upload the itemized invoice. If unavailable, contact the vendor to obtain one.
- Please note: A receipt showing the payment total is not sufficient, as we need to see each line item adding up to that total

Meals - Personal, Business, Staff Events, or Advertising?

Reason: Meal expenses have different tax treatments based on their purpose.
Response: Specify the meal’s purpose and attendees (e.g., “staff birthday lunch", “staff meeting lunch - in office”, "doctor meal with referring dentist").
- Note: Meals with family or a spouse generally do not qualify as a business expense for small business owners, even if referred to as a "shareholder meeting." This applies even if the spouse is a dentist referring patients, assuming your taxes are filed jointly as you are the owner of the business.

Supplies or Equipment? Attach invoice if new Equipment > $2,500

Reason: We need to verify whether a transaction from a dental supplies exceeding $1,000 is for supplies or equipment. Equipment over $2,500 may be capitalized as an asset.
- Note: Financed equipment payments can sometimes fall within this range, which is why we ask for this clarification.
Response: State whether it’s for supplies (dental, ortho, implant, etc.) or equipment if over $2,500 and provide an itemized invoice.
- Note: If total cost of the equipment is less than $2,500, provide the name of the equipment (no invoice is needed)

Unknown Deposit

Reason: We are not able to determine the source of the deposit based upon the available information we have. In order to accurately assess your business's financial health, we need to classify the deposits correctly.
Response: Explain the source of the deposit. (e.g., “patient income”, "contract work" “personal contribution”, “ “Transfer between ___ and ___”, “Other-please specify”).

Unknown Insurance Type

Reason: We have not seen this new insurance policy payment within the books and need to ensure that we are accurately assigning the new insurance classification as this can potentially affect your return and wages.
Response: Identify the policy type and provide related documents if available.

Unknown Medical Expense?

Reason: We need to determine who the medical expense was for as this affects if is business deductible or not. (These are typically to Urgent Care facilities)
- Note: As the business owner, your medical expenses are not a deductible business expenses. Your non-family employees' or patients' emergency care visits can be deductible business expenses.
Response: State who the expense was for as well as the purpose/reason. If personal, respond with "personal expense."

Travel expense over $250, please confirm business or personal?

Reason: Business trips must be more than 50% work-related in order to qualify for deductions.
- In order to eliminate an excess of questions, we set a $250 threshold for inquiring about the business purpose of the trip. Charges below this amount are assumed to be business related, so if you have a personal travel charge below $250 please notify your MLW planning team.
Response: Confirm if the trip was more than 50% business related or personal and include additional details (e.g location, attendees, dates).

Clothing - scrubs, branded/embroidered, or something else?

Reason: We must identify the intended recipient of the clothing and whether it is branded or embroidered to assess its deductibility.
Response: Indicate if the clothing is for staff or personal/family as well as if it’s branded/embroidered. If personal, state "personal expense."
- Examples of clothing meeting guidelines:
  - Scrubs
  - Shirts - Branded/embroidered shirts with your practice logo or “Dr. Jane Smith, DDS"
  - White coat - Branded/embroidered shirts with your practice logo or “Dr. Jane Smith, DDS"
  - All in which are for non-family employees, unless clothing/shoes meet the uniform guidelines set by IRS for you or family member
- Example of clothing NOT meeting guidelines:
  - Slacks
  - Dress shirts
  - Socks
  - Suit jackets
  - Professional dresses
  - Any type of shoes, etc.
  - All in which are not branded/embroidered with the practice logo or your name and full title/credentials.
- Note: If the clothing is not branded/embroidered, then this is a personal expense and not business deductible.

First time categorizing this vendor in your books, please confirm use case for your business

Reason: We ask this question when a transaction appears on your records for the first time. Since some vendors can be used for both business and personal purposes, we need clarification on its intended use.
Response: State whether this vendor is used for business or personal purposes.
- If business - provide the specific purpose
- If personal - respond “ personal expense”

Handling Checks & Best Practices

If we ask about a check, it's usually due to missing details. To minimize inquiries:

Write clearly on handwritten checks.
Always include a memo detailing the purpose.
- If patient refund: Specify "patient refund" in check memos to avoid confusion.
- If medical contractor: Include the service details.
- If employee reimbursement: Include detail memo and ensure its processed through Gusto.
  - For further questions: Reach out to your Client Service Specialist for assistance.
- If employee payroll and bonus payments: Run this through Gusto to ensure proper tax handling for the NET amount.
  - Note: Ensure direct deposit is not setup in order to avoid duplicate payments.
    - For further questions: Reach out to your Client Service Specialist for assistance.

responding transaction inquiries

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