Year End Billing Checklist for Therapists: Easy Steps

A year end billing checklist for therapists is a list of close-out tasks you finish between November and early January: clean up open claims, confirm credentials and contracts, and get your billing ready for the new plan year. It works for psychotherapists, psychiatrists and the office managers who run their billing. It sits on top of your routine, so keep using the monthly billing checklist for therapists and use this one for the annual items.

What a year end billing checklist for therapists covers

A year-end billing review is a once-a-year look at everything money-related that the monthly routine does not catch. It covers four areas: open claims and balances, credentials and contracts, January preparation, and, for prescribers, a few psychiatrist-specific items. Doing it before December 31 means you start the new year with fewer surprises.

Claims and balances in your year end billing checklist for therapists

For private practice year end billing, an end of year claims cleanup is a pass through every unpaid, denied or stalled claim so nothing ages out quietly. Start with your payer-by-payer aging report, then work the oldest items first. These rules apply to private payers; Medicare and Medicaid have their own deadlines, so check each program separately.

• Pull the aging report and sort by payer. List every claim with no payment or no response.
• List every denied claim and note the reason. Our guide to denied claim follow-up for therapists shows who should own each one.
• Check the Timely Filing window for each open claim. Windows differ by payer and contract, so read your contract or the payer’s provider manual instead of assuming. See timely filing for therapists for how to track them.
• Send corrected claims where the original had an error, and keep proof of each submission.
• Match payments to the Explanation of Benefits and look for underpayments you can appeal.

Patient balances are part of the same review. From the practice’s side, look at which statements are unpaid, whether payment plans are on track, and whether your written collection policy was followed. Your accountant can advise on how to treat balances you decide not to collect.

Credentials and contracts to confirm

A credentials check is a review of every license, registration and payer enrollment that your billing depends on. A lapse in any of them can stop claims from paying, so confirm dates now.

• License renewals: list each clinician’s state license expiration and renewal steps.
• CAQH profile: check your CAQH profile and confirm it is current. Confirm the current portal address and your attestation timing with CAQH.
• Payer contracts: note renewal dates, notice periods and any amendments. Our post on recredentialing for therapists explains how renewals work.
• Fee schedules: compare each payer’s current allowed amounts against what you were paid this year, and flag codes that changed.

January prep for the new plan year

January prep, the last part of a year end billing checklist for therapists, is the work that keeps the first claims of the year from bouncing. Many plans start a new plan year in January, but not all do, so check each payer.

• Insurance verification: re-verify active clients early in January. Use our insurance verification for therapists steps.
• Deductible resets: a new plan year can reset Deductible amounts, which changes what clients owe at the first sessions. Plan your front-desk wording for that.
• Charge templates: update your superbill and charge templates. Our therapy superbill template shows the fields to include.
• Code set updates: check for annual CPT and HCPCS updates and for changes in your payers’ policies.

For HCPCS, CMS posts the official update as a public use file each quarter (January, April, July and October). Check the CMS HCPCS quarterly update page, and your CPT reference, before you update your templates.

Psychiatrist-specific year-end items

Prescribers have a few extra items because they bill Evaluation and Management (E/M) visits and prescribe controlled substances. Treat these as additions to the list above, not a replacement.

• E/M templates: review your visit templates against current documentation and coding requirements. If you add psychotherapy to an E/M visit, read about psychiatric add-on claim denials.
• DEA registration: confirm your DEA registration is active and its expiration date. DEA sends renewal reminders by email to the address on the registration, so make sure it is current.
• EPCS: confirm with your EHR vendor that electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS) is set up and working for each prescriber.

The DEA Diversion Control Division registration page says a timely renewal lets you keep operating until DEA acts, and that an expired registration can be reinstated only for one calendar month after expiration. After that you need a new application.

What should a therapist do with billing at the end of the year?

With a year end billing checklist for therapists, you clear aging claims, confirm licenses and payer enrollments, and prepare for January. In practice that means working the aging report, checking timely filing windows, updating the CAQH profile, re-verifying insurance and refreshing charge templates. Start in November so nothing is rushed in the last week of December.

Tax and legal questions

Billing and accounting overlap at year end, but they are not the same job. Questions about taxes, write-offs, bad-debt treatment or contract terms belong with your CPA or attorney. This checklist covers operations only.

How MCM South helps with year-end billing

MCM South bills for psychotherapists and psychiatrists in ten currently served states. We help with the billing side of year-end work, such as claims follow-up and out-of-network claims. The tax, license and contract decisions stay with you and your advisors.

Where MCM South works

MCM South works with psychotherapists and psychiatrists in ten currently served states: Georgia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, New York, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina and Illinois. See insurance company contacts by state, who we serve and the state billing guides. This post is operational guidance for billing, not legal advice.

The short version: year end billing checklist for therapists

Use this year end billing checklist for therapists each year to clear aging claims, confirm credentials and contracts, and prepare for January. Add the E/M and DEA checks if you prescribe. Send tax and legal questions to your CPA or attorney. More guides are in Resources.

Sources checked (October 29, 2026)

• CMS HCPCS Quarterly Update
• DEA Diversion Control Division registration
• CAQH

Frequently asked questions