Marijuana is a Growing Industry
we’re proud to service:
Growers (cultivators) | Laboratory Testing | Manufacturing | Retailers (medicinal, adult-use dispensaries) | Distribution
Growers (cultivators) | Laboratory Testing | Manufacturing | Retailers (medicinal, adult-use dispensaries) | Distribution
Tax issues surrounding cannabis are complicated and are subject to constant change. The IRS has only ever made one statement on the cannabis industry; besides this, we have to piece together acceptable tax strategies through tax court rulings. With no prior guidance to rely and no public accounting industry leader willing to tackle the industry, there is genuine confusion among cannabis accountants about how to file a tax return correctly. Secondly, with the combination of the 280e designation on the federal return and high state and local tax, tax liability can eat through a hefty profit very quickly. Unlike in many other industries, filing tax returns correctly could potentially make or break your business model in the short term. Third is the unique business climate under which many cannabis clients currently operate on. This includes shoddy records, informal business deals and lack of internal controls. These types of issues can lead to an especially long, painful and ultimately costly audits with federal or state authorities.
Dealing with the dreaded IRS is no picnic. Federal tax code for businesses is complicated enough as is and gets doubly so when your organization is involved in a Schedule 1 substance. Nevertheless, filing a federal return correctly as a cannabis company is possible – it just takes a little more patience and a lot of industry knowledge. Working with our team at Totals You, your CPA will be exclusively focused on the cannabis industry so you’ll be able to utilize our extensive tax knowledge to your full advantage.
Marijuana sales in legal cannabis states are booming and the states/local municipalities want their taste. Filing these taxes correctly is crucial to any cannabis organization as proper state compliance is likely a key to keeping your license. There are many complexities to state and local taxes such as sales tax rates, excise tax, harvesting tax, retail versus commercial sales etc. Let the industry expert accountants help you apply the code for your business case correctly.
The federal government has not made it easy for us – with hemp legal, cannabis and THC illegal, CBD now made legal and vaping teetering on the edge, it becomes increasingly difficult to tax plan in today’s environment. One very effective way of reducing tax liability is correctly separating your business activity between cannabis and non cannabis divisions. The reason this is important is because Section 280e is the primary driver behind large effective tax rates – but it only applies to businesses dealing with illegal drugs. Each Totals You client is going to have a unique situation in terms of determining cannabis and non cannabis. Determining cost of goods sold in cannabis is truly an organization wide initiative. At Totals You, we have a responsibility to advise to keep this number within the confines of what we believe the IRS will accept. This involves looking at Cost of Goods Sold correctly from a tax law perspective, while still maximizing the value for the client.
While running a business that the federal government classifies as “drug trafficking” you’re bound to run into some serious financial and tax questions. The demands of turning your operation into a legal, tax-paying business may seem intimidating and mistakes made at this stage can be costly, but we can help. High Knowledge Accountants & Consultants will guide you through the changing landscape of state and federal tax regulations and show you how to start a business that’s set up to keep growing. Our CPAs and accountants work with all types of cannabis industry organizations to create profitable businesses including marijuana growers, distributors, and retailers. From integrating a tax-efficient business structure and setting up your accounting software to best practices for handling cash and direction on how to allocate costs, we’ve got you covered. As your business advisor, we’ll also create a comprehensive strategy for optimizing deductions and minimizing tax problems. Keeping a clean set of books is a requirement in the modern day cannabis industry. Cannabis businesses that do not have a solid tax and accounting understanding of concepts such as section 280e and cost accounting are sure to be less profitable compared to those that do. Cannabis companies have specific accounting and tax questions that many accounting firms are struggling to answer. Working with Totals You, which offers accounting services exclusively to the cannabis space is a huge advantage for many of our clients. Ultimately, keeping a clean set of books is the key to good tax planning and securing funding. Make no mistake about it, well kept accounting records will save you cash and headaches; both short and long term. Why not let the professionals do it? Cannabis businesses are in a unique situation from an accounting perspective. On the one hand they are very complex organizations. They perform many business transactions each with their own challenges. On the other hand, the cannabis industry has received no guidance from accounting authorities on how to properly record these transactions. In addition, many seasoned accounting professionals are choosing to stay away from the industry for the time being. The mixture of lack of experience and lack of guidance has lead to lack of good accounting. Many small businesses (as well as large) operating in the cannabis space simply don’t have the time or expertise to change this. Having an accountant compile your financial statements will improve financial reporting significantly. More accurate financial statements can lead to more accurate tax returns, potentially lower income tax and more effective tax planning saving the company a lot of money.
Maintaining a “big picture” perspective of operational performance helps ensure that your short-term actions are in line with the long-term goals of your business. We can help you turn those dreams into reality. You know what they say… “Cash is King!” Let us help you get a handle on your cash and develop you a cash flow projection.
Budget analysis reports help organizations allocate financial resources. We develop, analyze, and execute budgets, as well as estimate future financial needs for private businesses, and nonprofit organizations.
Setting financial goals for an organization in the cannabis industry is an interesting topic. With the constant changing regulation and lack of good cash management controls many companies struggle to even have a set of reliable books. Establishing a budget and feedback loop how your company is doing against that budget is going to help you immensely in running your organization. With how quickly things change in this industry, its entirely possible to have different goals for product sales on a quarterly basis. How are you going to allocate your funds properly? Which product is going to result in the most sales? The most profit? Is your business prepared to scale?
A budget is a scientific approach to setting financial goals, typically for a fiscal year. Totals You Accounting experts will work closely with you to examine prior year’s revenue and expense data and get an understanding where you want to take the company. Depending on the size of your organization setting a budget can be a huge task or a relatively small one. Either way, a budget is typically “set it and forget it”. Once a fiscal year’s budget has been finalized, it is typically set in stone and not revised. All financial results for the year are compared against the budget.
We get it – things change. The fiscal year outlook in July may be a completely different animal than what it looked like in January. Goals change too – almost too often, in fact, in this industry due to the changes in regulation. Typically large public companies will re-forecast their financial goals every quarter. For those in the legal marijuana markets who don’t have that luxury, we find that 1-2 months as a forecast period makes sense. At end of the year, comparing your re-forecasting efforts to your original budget.
The question every business owner should be asking themselves is: “Are we trending towards hitting our targets?”. Clearly, a big step in the forecasting process is setting the targets in a logical, thought-out process. It only makes sense, then, to regularly track progress towards those targets and make business adjustments over time to meet those targets. Totals You is happy to be a part of your day-to-day life. As part of our Forecasting & Budget service, we provide live planning analytics and tools to give your company an idea of how you are trending towards your goals.
Working with Totals You Accounting means that you will have a firm at your side entirely dedicated to cannabis. We stay painstakingly up to date on the latest tax laws surrounding cannabis, hemp, CBD and THC. If you choose to skimp on the quality of your accounting, you are sure to run into problems at some point. Consequences include paying way more in taxes then you should have, going through painful audits with IRS and state governments, as well as fundamentally misunderstanding the profitability of your business. Being exclusively focused on the cannabis industry gives our client’s an edge that many accounting firms simply can’t offer. It pays to do it right.
The first step is to make the call and talk with a professional. This will be a brief and informal conversation to discuss your current situation, any concerns you might have, and to explore possible options. The discussion will last no more than 20 to 30 minutes.
1065 Gause Blvd W.
Slidell, LA 70460
Phone: 985-318-9503
Email: [email protected]
Monday – Friday | 9 AM – 7 PM
Saturday | 9 AM – 5 PM