Resource guide
Cannabis bookkeeping is ordinary double-entry accounting performed under unusual constraints: heavy cash, a parallel regulatory inventory system, and a tax code that punishes weak cost data. The remedy is structure applied consistently, not heroics at year end.
The chart of accounts is the single highest-leverage decision in a cannabis engagement. Production and non-production activity must be separated at the account level, by department and by location, so that cost of goods sold builds itself as transactions are coded rather than being derived by journal entry each quarter.
A defensible close runs on a fixed calendar: bank and cash reconciliations, inventory roll-forward tied to the seed-to-sale system, sales tax accrual, payroll allocation between production and administrative functions, accruals and prepaids, then review of margin by category against prior periods.
QuickBooks Online handles cannabis accounting well when it is configured for it — class or location tracking, an inventory subledger that reconciles to the regulatory system, and disciplined coding. What fails is using point-of-sale summaries as a general ledger substitute.
Questions specific to your license? Contact our Maryland cannabis CPA team or read the Maryland cannabis accounting FAQ.
Every engagement starts with a working conversation about your license type, your systems, and where your reporting currently breaks down.