Open with clean books.
Close Month 1 on time.

Most cannabis accounting problems start before the first sale. A new operator without a properly structured chart of accounts will spend thousands correcting structural issues later — or face an IRS examination with no defensible COGS documentation. We set up your accounting infrastructure before you open: chart of accounts built for §280E, POS integration with our platform, payroll setup, METRC workflow, and a first close that actually closes.

Pre-opening setup §280E from day one POS integration METRC workflow
What's included

Everything in your new license setup.

New license setup covers everything from chart of accounts to your first closed month — so your compliance infrastructure is correct from transaction one.

01 · COA

Cannabis chart of accounts.

We build your chart of accounts from scratch for §280E compliance — correctly separating COGS, plant-touching operating costs, and non-plant-touching expenses. This structure is the foundation everything else runs on. Get it wrong at the start and every month after is an audit liability.

02 · PLATFORM

POS integration and platform setup.

We integrate your POS system (Dutchie, Flowhub, Treez, and others) into our platform. POS data flows into your monthly reconciliation automatically — no manual exports, no mismatches. Your first close runs the same workflow as your hundredth.

03 · §280E

§280E strategy, your license type.

Before you sell a single unit, we walk through your business model and establish your §280E strategy. What activities are plant-touching? Where is your COGS? How should shared costs be allocated? These decisions affect your tax liability for as long as you operate.

04 · METRC

METRC integration and reconciliation workflow.

We establish your seed-to-sale reconciliation workflow so your METRC data and financial records stay in sync from the first transfer tag. Reconciliation discipline from day one prevents METRC-to-financial discrepancies that create regulatory exposure later.

05 · CLOSE

First month close, done right.

We close your first month of operations. Every transaction categorized correctly. Every account reconciled. Your books correct from month one — not after months of cleanup. You get the same deliverables on day 20 of month one as you will on day 20 of month twelve.

06 · TAX

Tax registration and compliance setup.

State excise tax account registration, employer payroll account setup, and regulatory fee schedules — compliance infrastructure in place before your first filing deadline. No scrambling for account numbers at quarter-end.

Who this is for

Every operator opening or expanding a license.

Whether it's your first dispensary or your fifteenth state license, accounting setup done wrong at the start compounds every month after.

Newly licensed dispensaries

Retail is where the highest §280E exposure lives. Getting your dispensary's books structured correctly before the first sale is the single highest-ROI decision a new operator can make.

Cultivators getting first crop to market

Cultivation COGS is complex. Labor, inputs, overhead — all of it needs to be tracked from the first planting cycle to support your §280E position at harvest and sale.

Processors adding a new license

A new processing license often means a new entity, a new chart of accounts, and new compliance requirements. We onboard the new license into a properly structured accounting system from the start.

Operators expanding into a new state

Adding a state to your MSO means a new regulatory body, new excise tax structure, and new bookkeeping requirements. We onboard your new state entity into your existing accounting infrastructure correctly.

FAQ

Common questions about new license setup.

When should I set up accounting for a new cannabis license?

Before you make your first sale. Most cannabis accounting problems — incorrect chart of accounts, missing COGS documentation, unsupported §280E positions — originate before the business opens. A dispensary that starts selling without a properly structured chart of accounts will spend thousands correcting structural problems later, or face an IRS examination with no defensible documentation. We establish your accounting infrastructure before your first transaction.

What is a cannabis chart of accounts and why does it matter?

A chart of accounts is the classification system for every financial transaction in your business. For a cannabis company, the chart of accounts must separate Cost of Goods Sold from plant-touching operating expenses from non-plant-touching operating expenses — because these three categories are treated completely differently under IRC §280E. A standard chart of accounts doesn't make these distinctions. We build a cannabis-specific COA from day one, structured to support your §280E compliance from the first transaction.

Does 420Ledger work with cannabis businesses before their first sale?

Yes — and this is when the engagement is most valuable. Before your first sale, we establish your chart of accounts, integrate your POS into our platform, set up your METRC reconciliation workflow, register your tax accounts, and walk through your §280E strategy for your specific license type. The cost of getting this right before opening is far lower than the cost of reconstructing it after a year of disorganized books.

What POS systems do you integrate with?

We integrate with most major cannabis POS systems including Dutchie, Flowhub, Treez, and others. POS data is pulled into our platform monthly for reconciliation against your METRC records and bank data. We handle the integration setup as part of new license onboarding — you don't need to do any technical configuration.

How does getting the books right from day one affect §280E compliance?

Every month of correctly categorized transactions is a month of documented COGS that supports your annual §280E return. An operator with 12 months of clean, §280E-aware books enters tax season with a defensible position already built. An operator who spends the first year with a misconfigured chart of accounts enters tax season needing a retroactive reconstruction — which is expensive, imprecise, and creates audit exposure. The ROI on correct setup from day one compounds every month.

Pricing

Flat monthly rates. No hourly roulette.

All tiers include chart of accounts setup, POS integration, §280E consultation, and ongoing monthly bookkeeping. Pricing scales with entity count and complexity.

Ledger
$1,500 – $2,500/mo

Single-license new operator. Chart of accounts setup, POS integration, §280E consultation, and ongoing monthly bookkeeping.

Fractional CFO
$4,000 – $7,500+/mo

MSOs launching new state entities. Full new-license onboarding integrated into your existing MSO accounting structure.

Start onboarding

Start your cannabis business with books that work from day one.

The first 90 days of a cannabis license set the pattern for every filing after it. Talk to us before you open — not after your books need reconstructing.

Start working together →