Cannabis, hemp & botanicals
Books and taxes for cannabis delivery services.
App orders, driver cash pickups, product bought for resale, and vehicle costs that pile up fast. Your own bookkeeper keeps every route costed correctly, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
April made $11,000, with the 20th's order spike covered by a driver we brought on for the week. That extra pay stayed out of regular payroll so it is easy to see next April.
- Delivery app payoutOrder sales
- Cashless ATM payoutCashless order sales
- Product purchase for resaleProduct for resale
- Driver vehicle fuelVehicle costs
- Route insurance premiumDelivery insurance
Why your books are different
A delivery service's books have no storefront to hide behind.
There is no register to close out at night, only an app, a driver's route, and product moving between a warehouse and a customer's door. A generalist looks for a shop's numbers. A delivery service needs its cash, its cars, and its cost of goods tracked a different way.
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1
Cash carried by drivers goes unreconciled
A driver collects cash on several stops before turning it in at the end of a shift. Without a nightly count against what the app says was ordered, a shortage on one route can go unnoticed for weeks.
What we doMatches what each shift's cash turn-in against the app's order total, so a gap gets caught the same week it happens. -
2
Only product cost survives the return
A federal rule called Section 280E disallows most ordinary deductions for a plant-touching cannabis business, and delivering the product counts. Vehicle costs, driver wages, and insurance generally do not reduce the federal bill, while the product bought for resale still does.
What we doKeeps the cost of product sold tracked precisely and separate from delivery expenses, and flags it clearly for the accountant. -
3
Vehicle costs get split unevenly
One driver's car needs a transmission repair, another's just needs an oil change, and gas prices swing week to week. Lumped into one vehicle expense line, it is hard to tell if a route is actually profitable or just breaking even on repairs.
What we doKeeps fuel, repairs, and insurance tied to each vehicle, so a route that is quietly losing money on upkeep gets caught. -
4
A per-run driver looks like a contractor
A driver paid a flat rate per delivery, using the business's routes and its product, usually is not a contractor no matter how the pay is structured. Getting this wrong gets expensive once a state or federal agency looks at it.
What we doFlags drivers whose schedule and route look like employment and gets the accountant's read before it becomes a habit. -
5
A cashless fee quietly shrinks the sale
Most card networks will not process cannabis orders, so many delivery services run payment through a cashless ATM system instead. The fee it keeps before paying out can get buried in the deposit, understating both the sale and the cost.
What we doBooks the full order and the processor's fee as two separate lines, so neither number gets quietly shrunk.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a delivery service.
Set up once for how orders come in and what it takes to get product to the door. You never pick a category, he does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Order salesOrders placed through the delivery app and paid in cash on arrival.
- Cashless order salesOrders paid through a cashless ATM system in place of a card network.
- Delivery feesA separate fee charged per order, apart from the product sale itself.
- Standing account ordersRepeat customers with an account on file who order the same way each week.
Money out
- Product for resaleWhat is loaded onto each route, bought from a licensed cultivator or processor.
- Vehicle costsFuel, repairs, and insurance for each driver's car, kept apart by vehicle.
- Delivery insuranceCoverage for product and cash in transit, usually its own policy.
- Driver wagesKept apart so labor is visible against what each route brought in.
- Routing and dispatch feesThe app or software that assigns orders and tracks each route.
- Seed-to-sale tracking feesMetrc or similar reporting for every order that leaves the warehouse.
What we watch for you
- Product cost share
The share of every dollar that was the actual product cost, since it drives the federal deduction here.
- Cash turn-in gap
The difference between a driver's cash turn-in and what the app says was ordered.
- Cost per delivery
Fuel and vehicle upkeep against the average order, route by route.
- Driver pay share
Wages against order revenue, since it moves fast as routes get busier.
Ask Gus
Things delivery service owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
I flagged the gap between his turn-in and the app total for that shift so you can look into it this week instead of finding out at month end.
Delivering cannabis puts this business under the same rule dispensaries deal with. Vehicle costs generally don't reduce the federal bill, only the product cost does, so that's the number I watch closest.
Probably not if they run your routes with your product on your schedule. I flag it when a driver's setup looks like employment so the accountant can weigh in before it becomes a habit.
The tax side
The tax side of a licensed delivery service.
This business touches the product without a storefront, and the tax rules follow the product, not the building.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Section 280E applies to delivery tooA federal rule disallows most ordinary deductions for a business that delivers cannabis, the same as a dispensary or grower. Vehicle costs, driver wages, and insurance generally are not deductible, while the product sold still is.
- Vehicle expenses and mixed-use carsA driver's personal car used for routes needs mileage or actual expenses tracked carefully, and separated from any personal use, since a mixed-use vehicle only lets the business share count.
- Employee or contractor for driversA driver working the business's routes, schedule, and product is usually an employee, not a contractor, regardless of how the pay per delivery is structured.
- Contractor 1099s for seasonal driversA driver brought on temporarily and paid $2,000 or more in 2026, who is not on payroll, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31, and Gus keeps that list ready as the year runs.
Deductions cannabis delivery services miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Product bought for resale
- Required batch testing costs
- Delivery insurance premiums
- Compliant delivery packaging
- Order routing software fees
- Seed-to-sale tracking fees
- Cash pickup and security service
- Destroyed or recalled product
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A delivery year, kept every month.
Orders come in every day of the week. Your team keeps the books current the same way, not just when the return is due. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, driver classification gets reviewed, and a monthly set-aside is planned so the spring filing is not a scramble.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, right as order volume climbs toward the year's busiest week, with product cost documented the way this business needs.
- July
Halfway check
Where the business stands, what it will owe, and whether route costs are eating more of the margin than they did last summer.
- October
Before order volume peaks
Before winter order volume picks up, Gus looks at whether another vehicle or driver makes sense and anything worth doing before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for cannabis delivery services. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions delivery service owners ask first.
How does Gus handle cash our drivers collect on the road?
Each shift's cash turn-in gets matched against what the app says was ordered. A gap gets flagged the same week, so it is easy to look into while the route is still fresh instead of guessing later.
Why does a delivery service face the same tax rule as a dispensary?
Because delivering the product is still touching it under federal law. Section 280E disallows most ordinary deductions for that, so vehicle costs and wages generally do not reduce the federal bill, while product cost still does.
Can Gus track vehicle costs separately for each driver?
Yes. Fuel, repairs, and insurance get tied to each vehicle, so you can see if one route is quietly eating its margin on upkeep while another one runs clean, instead of one blended number covering for both.
We run drivers as 1099 contractors right now. Is that a problem?
It might be. A driver running your routes with your product on your schedule usually looks like an employee under the rules, no matter how the pay is set up. Gus flags it and the accountant weighs in before it turns into a bigger issue.
Does the subscription cover a state cannabis delivery license renewal?
No. Gus keeps the books ready for it and can flag when a renewal is coming, but the license application and any specialized 280E question beyond ordinary bookkeeping falls outside a flat monthly subscription.
Our books never separated driver cash from the delivery app numbers. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Send what you have, even months of mixed records. Gus sorts cash turn-ins from app totals, and most owners can see where the gaps are within a couple of weeks.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
More in cannabis, hemp & botanicals
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Cannabis cultivators
- Cannabis processors & manufacturers
- Head shops
- Hemp farms
- Hemp-derived THC shops
- Hydroponic & grow supply shops
- Kratom & botanical shops
- Cannabis dispensaries
- Functional mushroom brands
- Hemp & CBD brands
What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever