Learn how to get started in cannabis accounting today!
Join us to discover how you can grow your practice and confidently serve thousands of newly-emerging businesses in the fastest growing industry in America! Become a cannabis accounting expert. Deliver world-class service to your clients with our accelerated online program and community of over 1,100 accounting professionals!
Andrew Hunzicker, CPA and Naomi Granger, MBA, CPA Are Nationally Sought-After Speakers In The Cannabis Accounting Niche
"I have purchased many different programs over the course of my career and the support I am getting from Naomi Granger and Andrew Hunzicker is invaluable. Andrew even joined me on my 1st client call today to help me ask the appropriate questions. I am beyond impressed and grateful!"
Aidelis Duran Leon
AD Virtual Services
"I am 3/4 done with the program and feel like the investment was one of the BEST I have ever made. The materials, calls and group are phenomenal!"
Erin R., MBA
Alice and Fran, LLC
"I wanted to share a HUGE victory! A new client signed on today for a full Accounting and Finance solution. I am so thankful for this program. My mindset and confidence has improved tremendously since I joined!
Thank you, Andrew and Naomi!"
Lola Welborn
Colorado’s Cannabis Accountants
"I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Andrew and Naomi for continuing to provide additional opportunities for professional education! This was an incredible program and I learned so much. My investment in the program is paying back tenfold and I am psyched to be a part of this community!"
Meganne Fabrega
Owner at Emerald Sky Financial
"For me, the cost of this program was not a factor because it brought back my PASSION for accounting! I have been doing accounting for over 25 years and honestly was getting burnt out on the same old thing. But cannabis is something new, exciting and unexplored! And for once, I have the chance to teach and lead those who really want to help clients do things right and not just collect money. I am slowing gaining confidence and did a cold call the other day and felt great afterwards because of the training from Andrew and Naomi. I could talk intelligently about costing, allowable deductions and more. I could not have done this without this program!"
Jo-ell "Jo" Flitter
Accounting Professional
"I am a 50% shareholder in a tax and accounting firm in Texas. I have been wanting to get into cannabis accounting for 2-3 years, but figured I couldn't because let's face it...this state is going to be the LAST to legalize on a wide-scale. I saw this program and all of a sudden, I knew I could get into this industry. I want to concentrate on the cannabis niche. It's a complex industry with many challenges and I find it fascinating! I was getting bored in my career and this was the lift I needed. I have never been so excited to work in an industry and such an exceptional group of professionals!"
Summer McFarlen Wilkinson
Owner and Founder of Leaf Book CFO Services
"Thank you for referring us to Crystal! After working with her for just a few weeks, it became clear to me that all of our other bookkeepers (we had 4 in 2 years!) had done the bare minimum amount of work and never had our books up-to-date. Crystal identified some errors and I feel much better knowing someone QUALIFIED is looking out for us."
Nick Centonze
Precision Alchemy
"Andrew, the article I shared earlier is my client! I can't thank you enough for leading my down this path. I was laid off from my full time job (last day Friday) but I have landed a new client that will double my previous monthly salary. I will forever be grateful to you and DOPE CFO."
Tammy Little
Accountant
The Cannabis Industry Is Booming!
Cannabis revenue is growing faster than the plant itself!
There's a demand for accounting professionals to help manage it.
Cannabis CEOs are looking for leaders like you!
# of States (and growing!) where Cannabis is Legal
# of Legal Cannabis Licenses
$70 Billion Dollar
Economic Impact By 2021
The Problem
Legally-licensed cannabis companies are being shut down and/or are facing outrageous penalties and fines, after having invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, due to poor accounting practices.
Cannabis companies require complex, accurate accounting in order to remain compliant and audit ready.
With your current expertise, coupled with our specialized training, we can help cannabis businesses thrive!
The Opportunity
There is a HUGE need and a demand for trusted, competent accounting professionals who can provide specialized services. Keeping companies both compliant and profitable, so that cannabis CEOs can sleep easier at night, with less anxiety and preoccupation with potential audits, fines and fees. In exchange, we get paid high fees. We only work remote. We work on our time. We have freedom and flexibility. We get to make a difference...all while having fun serving this exciting niche!
The Solution
The DOPE CFO Program
Join Us For A Webinar Showing Accounting Professionals How To Specialize And Become An Expert In The Cannabis Niche!
What You Will Get In The
DOPE CFO Program
Our program is a 3-part system that is an accelerated, plug and play, short-cut to serving the cannabis niche. In this program, we give you EVERYTHING you will need. The EXACT steps, tools and templates, from start to finish, that we use in our own successful firm daily to find and serve cannabis clients, while building our expertise.
Find Motivated Clients
Our proven system is a simple, automated process that includes email templates, call script (No selling on call!) and offer letters you can use to land your first cannabis client!
Become a V.I.P.
We teach you how to be exclusive quickly: Valuable Cannabis Expert, Instructor, and Participant. No need to wait years, we can get you there in under 3 months!
World-Class System
You will get every single instruction, process, framework, plan, workpaper, chart of accounts, tools, tax information, and strategies to launch your cannabis accounting firm IMMEDIATELY. We include every single document, file, workpaper and process we use in our firm.
Our Story
A Day In The Life Of....
Andrew Hunzicker, CPA and Naomi Granger, MBA, CPA
World Class System
Providing you with the knowledge, skills, templates and tools to become one of a FEW experts in this rapidly-growing industry, yet underserved industry.
Cannabis Specific
Chart of Accounts
Quickbooks and Excel-ready chart of accounts specifically tailored to the unique needs of various cannabis business entities:
grow/farms, chemical/extract, dispensary/retail, and entities with multiple business types.
Detailed Month-End
Close Workpapers
Create a perpetual data room with our highly detailed template file that reconciles and ties out every balance sheet account and significant P&L account.
Cannabis Tailored Cost Accounting Work Papers
State and IRS rules require complex cost accounting and adherence to 280e tax rules. Our training provides detailed instructions, templates, examples, and videos that will help do cost accounting correctly, even without accounting experience.
Tax Return Cost Allocation Work Papers
Easily transition from GAAP to tax accounts, including allocations between cannabis and non-cannabis divisions, which ties directly to tax return COGS.
Client Value-Add Documents
Empower your clients with critical dashboards and reports that will allow them to make better decisions and manage the financial health of their company.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is controversy swirling around the media daily, as this industry emerges. We know you have questions and want to operate legally, with the RIGHT team of advisors on your side. Here are the things we are asked most often by accounting professionals as they consider this opportunity.
At this point there aren't any service providers in the US who have served a state legal cannabis company; including accountants, bookkeepers, attorneys, marketers, plumbers, realtors, electricians, etc, and have faced any legal reprocussions for simply providing service to a state legal cannabis company (and there are likely hundreds of thousands of service providers out there and growing quickly). That said, find and follow your state laws, your state accountancy board, and also review the sites below:
https://www.aicpa.org/advocacy/state/marijuana.html
Also this link and site provides timely updates around tax and cannabis:
IRS site on 230 and tax advice:
https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/circular-230-tax-professionals
Several things make good accounting valuable to a Cannabis CEO:
- First, it allows them to maximize tax deductions for Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), and thereby save in tax payments. Tax is a significant expense for cannabis companies because under IRC 280e, COGS is the only allowable offset to cannabis income. To maximize this under IRC 471-11, GAAP accounting (including cost/absorption accounting) is required. (Probably 80% or more of cannabis companies are not following this, thereby losing thousands of dollars)
- Cannabis companies are required by most state laws to have strong accounting/financials, and again many are lacking in this area.
- Proper accounting allows CEOs’ better access and communications with lenders and investors, which is a big issue in the cannabis space.
- Good accounting lets CEOs better manage operations and cash flow and gives them a competitive advantage over those who don’t have good accounting procedures. In this industry, it can be the difference between staying in business or losing your license and being shut down.
No, you don’t need to be a CPA to serve in cannabis. In fact, many CPA’s have chosen to not serve in this industry meaning most cannabis companies have bookkeepers doing the day to day books. There is a huge need for qualified (meaning educated in cannabis accounting procedures) accountants and bookkeepers to serve this industry
Our course is designed to be a short cut into serving the cannabis niche for an accountant or bookkeeper who has a firm or wants to launch one without having to figure everything out by trial and error. Without understanding of the rules, and proper tools including;
- Cannabis specific chart of accounts
- Cost accounting workpapers
- The complexity of 280e, 471a, and other state and federal tax rules
- The issues of farm, chemical manufacture, food production, and retail accounting
- Multi-entity, consolidations, intercompany issues
- ...and much more.
The stakes are high for cannabis CEOs, and the fate of their business rests of having an accounting team that understands what is necssary in order to keep their business compliant so that they aren't penalized or shut down. Our goal is to provide tools and guidance to accounting professionals so that cannabis businesses are being properly serviced and can thrive.
Really, it comes down to two things.
1) Are you looking to get your first cannabis accounting client? If so, we have modules that you can jump right into that will guide you through the process of finding and landing your first cannabis accounting client.
2) Ready to service your cannabis accounting client? Great! We help you understand how to provide world-class service. Everything from properly on-boarding your cannabis client, setting up a perpetual data room, month-end tie-outs, day-to-day bookkeeping, etc. This program is meant to be DIY so you can go through the different modules at your own pace. Our hope is that you'll be proficient in providing cannabis accounting services within 90-days, which is totally possible if you invest at an average of at least an hour a day into learning and implementing the materials.
Yes, you are able to provide services to cannabis companies remotely and most important part is following the regulations in the links above, as well as the state laws where the cannabis company resides.
Cannabis is still Federally illegal due to it's schedule 1 drug classification, which creates some major issues for cannabis business owners. From banking to transportation of goods; from seed to sale; from payroll to paying bills, there are challenges that most businesses do not have to deal with that hinder day-to-day operations. Cannabis accounting professionals need to be aware of these challenges and must be able to help their clients navigate and find solutions so that they can properly operate their business.
Larger accounting firms at this point in time are not heavily involved in cannabis, meaning these multi-million dollar operations must find smaller firms that are willing to help them with their accounting.
Accounting in and of itself is a challenge because software is truly lacking and doesn't cater to the specific needs of cannabis businesses. Quickbooks and other accounting software do no have a chart of accounts tailored to cannabis entities for example. There are four sub-industries in cannabis: farming, food production, chemical manufacture, and retail, and many cannabis companies involve all 4 of these. Additionally, most set up complex multi-entity structures, use cost and consolidated accounting, and have complex inter-company transactions.
To serve them well, a bookkeeper or accountant needs to understand these industries, cannabis, the state/federal issues, and have a good work papers. In addition, there are even more industry issues such as lack of banking, complex software, state seed to sale tracking, cash management issues, investor reporting, GAAP accounting and inventory management.
It turns out this is a very difficult question to answer, most cultivation CEOs’ have no idea the answer to this, and knowing the answer to this provides better tax deductions as well as competitive advantage over most CEOs who don’t know this cost.
Cost of inventory includes Raw Materials, Work in Process (WIP), and Finished Goods (FG). In cannabis, you start with a raw material which is a seed or a clone, and the cost of this raw material is often 0 or very little. From there, many have a process that is 4-6 months to get this seed to actual sale including growing, replanting, watering, light issues, harvesting, drying, curing, lab testing, and finally ready for sale. Over this 180-day period, significant costs get added to this plant including direct and indirect labor, nutrients, soil, water, electricity, security, and much more. And each strain produces a different yield per plant, so each reporting period, you need to know for every plant: % complete, estimated yield, costs to allocate, and how much is in finished goods. Getting this “cost per pound” is a complex issue, and most have no idea how to do it correctly. Our program has a cannabis tailored chart of accounts, as well as simple cost accounting work papers that can do this correctly and provide big value to the CEO.
There are several ways to get more information:
- Click Here to read our course outline and summary of value
- Click Here to schedule a call with one of our leaders
- Click Here to see news and press about our firm
- Click Here to join our Facebook Group DOPE CFO that has more useful information, articles, and links.
