Accepting Q2 2026 Engagements · Nationwide US

Cannabis accounting, fluent in 280 Ledger.

Specialist accounting and 280E tax strategy built for dispensaries, cultivators, processors, and vertically integrated operators.

Monthly close, METRC reconciliation, cost accounting, and cash control — tuned to the tax code you actually live under. Not restaurant accounting with a different chart of accounts.

What We Do

Eight services,
all shaped by 280E.

Cannabis accounting isn't hospitality with a weird chart of accounts. IRC Section 280E reshapes every decision — what you deduct, how you allocate COGS, how you structure entities. Every service below is built around that reality.

01 / FLAGSHIP

Full-Service Monthly Accounting

End-to-end bookkeeping with cannabis-native chart of accounts, bank reconciliation, intercompany allocations across your cultivation/processing/retail entities, and a closed-by-the-10th month-end. You get a clean GL, a board-ready P&L built to survive 280E scrutiny, and a dedicated lead accountant. This is the core engagement.

Month-End CloseMulti-Entity GLCannabis COABank Rec
SIGNATURE
02

280E Tax Positioning

The single biggest determinant of your profitability. We structure your COGS allocation, inventory absorption, and entity segregation so every deductible dollar is captured — and every aggressive position is documented. The difference between a 70% effective tax rate and a survivable one.

IRC 280ECOGS Method471(c)Cost Absorption
03

METRC & Seed-to-Sale

Your state track-and-trace system has to match the GL to the unit. We reconcile METRC (or BioTrack) inventory movements against purchase invoices, production batches, and sales tickets — every month, without exception.

METRCBioTrackInventory Tie-Out
04

Cultivation Cost Accounting

Grow operations aren't retail — they're manufacturing. We build batch-level cost tracking, direct-and-indirect labor allocation, and proper absorption costing so your cultivation entity produces inventory at real cost, not estimate.

Batch CostingLabor AllocationAbsorption
05

Remote Cash Counts

Cannabis is cash-intensive by regulatory necessity. Your vault is counted on camera by an independent accountant — every day, every shift, or whatever cadence you set. Timestamped logs, tamper-evident sign-offs, same-hour variance alerts.

Webcam VerifiedVault RecsShrinkage Control
06

State Excise & Cannabis Tax

State-level cultivation tax, excise tax, retail cannabis tax, and local jurisdiction surcharges. We track every rate change across every market you operate in, file on time, and handle nexus reviews as you expand.

ExciseCultivation TaxLocal SurchargesNexus
07

Financial Reporting & KPIs

Monthly P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, and a custom KPI dashboard built for cannabis: dollars per square foot, yield per lamp, cost per pound, effective tax rate, basket size, and inventory turn.

KPI DashboardsBoard PackagesUnit Economics
08

Systems & POS Integration

Sage Intacct builds for multi-entity groups, QuickBooks for single-license operators, chart-of-accounts design for cannabis, and data pipelines from Dutchie, Flowhub, Treez, or whatever POS you run.

Sage IntacctDutchieFlowhubTreez
Our Story

Built for the
tax code you actually live under.

280 Ledger was founded by accounting professionals with years inside cannabis operations — cultivation, processing, retail, and the vertically integrated groups that own them all.

The work began because the gap was obvious. Generalist CPAs approach cannabis like hospitality with a weird chart of accounts — and that approach has cost operators millions in over-paid tax and exposure. IRC Section 280E doesn't allow normal operating expenses to be deducted. Only cost of goods sold. For a cannabis business, the line between a deductible dollar and a non-deductible one determines whether you survive.

We built the firm we wish the industry had: fluent in 280E, precise on COGS absorption, disciplined on METRC reconciliation, and realistic about the cash-intensive reality of the business. Clients focus on operating. We make sure the books are defensible, the cash is controlled, and the tax positioning is aggressive but documented.

MISSION
Preserve capital.

Give cannabis operators the tax positioning, cost accounting, and controls that keep as many dollars as legally possible inside the business — where they can fund growth instead of fund the IRS.

APPROACH
Specialist first.

Every engagement is led by professionals whose working knowledge is cannabis-specific: 280E, 471(c), METRC, multi-entity structuring, cultivation cost accounting. No learning curve on your dime.

CLIENTS
Operators who scale.

Vertically integrated groups, multi-state operators, dispensary chains, cultivation-processing combos, and the management companies holding them together. Serious operators only.

Why We're Different

Not a general firm
that also does cannabis.

We're specialists. Everything we build is shaped around how cannabis businesses actually operate under the code they operate under.

280E Fluency

Every engagement is structured around IRC Section 280E from day one. COGS maximization, entity segregation, 471(c) elections, aggressive-but-documented tax positions.

Remote Cash Controls

Webcam-verified vault counts and timestamped reconciliations — the tightest anti-shrinkage posture available to a cash-intensive regulated business.

Full-Stack Integration

Your POS, your METRC, your bank, your payroll — all tied to a cannabis-native GL. Real data pipelines, not spreadsheet exports and manual entry.

Multi-Entity Native

Cultivation LLC, processing LLC, retail LLC, management company — we consolidate cleanly, allocate intercompany correctly, keep each entity's books audit-ready on its own.

Documentation-First

Every aggressive tax position is paper-trailed. Every COGS allocation is methodology-backed. Every inventory tie-out is documented. So when the review comes, the work is already done.

Discretion as Discipline

NDA-first engagements. No client names published anywhere. Segmented access, vetted team, monthly close delivered on schedule — every month, without the chase.

Who We Serve

Four kinds of operators.
One tax code.

Every service is built for operators working inside IRC 280E — whether you run a single dispensary, a full vertical, or a multi-state platform.

Type 01

Dispensary Operators

Single and multi-location retail operators who need tight COGS methodology, nightly cash control, and sales/excise tax filings kept current.

  • Daily sales & cash reconciliation
  • POS-to-GL integration (Dutchie, Flowhub, Treez)
  • 280E COGS optimization for retail
  • State excise & local cannabis tax filings
Type 02

Cultivators & Growers

Licensed cultivation operators running batch production who need real manufacturing-style cost accounting to maximize COGS absorption under 280E.

  • Batch-level cost tracking
  • Direct & indirect labor allocation
  • METRC inventory reconciliation
  • 471(c) elections where applicable
Type 03

Manufacturers & Processors

Extract, edible, and infused-product operators with complex inputs, BOMs, and yield calculations — where cost accuracy determines margin.

  • Bill-of-materials cost accounting
  • Yield & waste variance tracking
  • Work-in-process valuation
  • Batch profitability reporting
Type 04

Vertically Integrated Groups

Operators running cultivation + processing + retail under one ownership structure who need consolidated reporting and strategic entity separation for 280E positioning.

  • Multi-entity consolidated reporting
  • Intercompany transfer pricing
  • Holding company & management co structure
  • Fractional CFO advisory
Engagement

Flat monthly retainer.
No surprises.

Three engagement tiers built around license count and entity complexity. Every tier includes a named lead accountant, month-end close, and direct access — no ticket systems, no junior associates you've never met.

Single License
1 entity · 1 license
$3,450 / month
Starting. 12-month engagement; 30-day notice.
  • Monthly close by the 10th
  • Cannabis-native chart of accounts
  • Bank & credit card reconciliation
  • P&L, balance sheet, cash flow
  • METRC monthly tie-out
  • State excise & cannabis tax filings
  • Year-end books packaged for your CPA
  • Quarterly strategy call
Schedule a Call
Platform
5+ entities · multi-state
Custom scoped
Priced to engagement. Typical range $12K–$30K+.
  • Everything in Operator, plus:
  • Fractional CFO hours
  • Board-ready financial packages
  • Multi-state excise & nexus management
  • M&A and transaction support
  • CPA liaison for federal/state tax prep
  • Custom Sage Intacct build
  • Dedicated client portal · Weekly call
Scope With Us
Behind on books? We do catch-up and cleanup engagements on a project basis.
Questions

The ones
you're going to
ask anyway.

If it's not here, ask us directly.

Almost entirely. We also work with hemp/CBD operators where the business structure and accounting challenges overlap. We don't take on unrelated industries — focus is the whole point.
IRC Section 280E disallows federal deductions for any business trafficking in a Schedule I or II controlled substance — which, federally, still includes cannabis. Only cost of goods sold is deductible. The practical effect: cannabis operators face effective federal tax rates often exceeding 70% if their books aren't structured correctly. Proper COGS allocation, inventory absorption, and entity segregation are the difference between thriving and going under.
No. 280 Ledger focuses on monthly accounting, 280E positioning, cost accounting, cash control, and state cannabis/excise tax filings. For federal and state income tax returns, we partner with specialist cannabis CPAs we trust and refer you to. They get fully structured, 280E-optimized books from us; you get expert tax prep. It's a better model than bundling.
Sage Intacct is our preferred system for multi-entity operators — it handles intercompany allocations, consolidated reporting, and cost center accounting cleanly. For single-license operators, QuickBooks Online or Enterprise works well. We integrate with Dutchie, Flowhub, Treez, and most cannabis POS systems. If your current setup needs changing, we'll say so and handle the migration.
METRC (or BioTrack, depending on state) has to match your GL — purchases, production batches, transfers, sales, adjustments, and waste. Every month, we pull METRC data, tie it to POS sales and purchase invoices, and reconcile unit movements to dollar movements. Discrepancies get investigated and documented the same month, not at year-end.
We're an accounting and advisory firm led by senior professionals with cannabis-specific experience — not a public CPA practice. We handle bookkeeping, controller work, 280E positioning, cost accounting, cash control, and state excise tax. For federal/state income tax returns, we coordinate with specialist cannabis CPAs so nothing falls between the cracks.
A clean engagement with organized historical books takes 2–4 weeks. A cleanup engagement — which is common in cannabis — takes 30–90 days depending on volume and condition. Cleanup is quoted separately before ongoing work starts. First close is slowest; every close after is on schedule.
Every engagement begins with a signed NDA. Client files are segmented, access is role-based, and we never publish client names or logos — not on this site, not in marketing, not in pitch decks. References are provided on request with client permission only.
Schedule a Consultation

Let's talk
about your books.

A free, 30-minute consultation. We'll review your current structure, identify the 280E gaps costing you money, and tell you straight whether we're the right firm — or who is.

Hours
Mon–Fri, 9 AM–6 PM PT
Response SLA: 48 hours

CONFIDENTIAL. Everything here is held under NDA. We never publish client names, logos, or engagement details.