Cannabis, hemp & botanicals
Books and taxes for cannabis dispensaries.
Register sales, cashless ATM payouts, excise tax collected at the counter, and wholesale product bought for resale. Your own bookkeeper sorts it all month to month, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one honest number.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
April made $13,000. The excise tax collected at the register stayed in its own line all month, so it never got counted as money you kept.
- Dutchie payoutRegister sales
- CanPay payoutCashless ATM sales
- Wholesale flower orderProduct for resale
- State excise remittanceExcise tax owed
- Metrc monthly feeCompliance software
Why your books are different
A dispensary's books carry a rule most retailers never see.
A dispensary looks like any other counter business, a register, a card reader, a back room of inventory. It is not taxed like one. Federal law still treats what is sold here as a controlled substance, and that changes what the return can and cannot show.
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1
Rent and marketing don't reduce the bill
A federal rule called Section 280E disallows most ordinary business deductions for a plant-touching cannabis business. Rent, marketing, and most wages still get paid, but they generally do not lower what the dispensary owes the federal government the way they would for almost any other retailer.
What we doKeeps cost of goods sold tracked precisely and separate from every other cost, since that is the one line that still matters most here, and flags it for the accountant before the return is filed. -
2
Register cash and deposits drift apart
A busy Friday night close means a drawer count, a safe drop, and a deposit slip that do not always match. Left unreconciled for a few weeks, nobody can say whether the gap is a counting mistake or something walking out the door.
What we doMatches nightly close totals against what actually lands in the bank and flags a gap the same week it shows up. -
3
Cashless ATM fees hide inside a sale
Most card networks will not process cannabis sales, so a lot of dispensaries run payments through a cashless ATM system instead. The fee it keeps before paying out can get buried in the deposit, understating both the real sale and the real cost.
What we doBooks the full sale amount and keeps the processor's fee as its own cost line, so neither number gets quietly shrunk. -
4
Loyalty points look like full-price sales
A regular customer pays for part of a basket with rewards points earned on past visits. Rung up at the full sticker price, the sale looks bigger than the cash that came in, and the inventory that left the shelf does not match either number.
What we doBooks point redemptions as a discount against the sale, not as extra revenue, so the register total and the shelf both tell the same story. -
5
A second storefront hides in the first
An owner running two locations deposits both registers into one account and reads one number every month. A slow afternoon at the second store gets covered by a strong evening at the first, and nobody notices until the lease renewal.
What we doKeeps each storefront's sales and product cost in its own set of books, so it is clear which location is actually paying its way.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a dispensary.
Set up once for how the counter takes payment and what actually leaves the shelf. You never pick a category, he does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Register salesFlower, pre-rolls, edibles, and concentrates rung up at the counter.
- Cashless ATM salesCanPay and similar debit workarounds used in place of card networks.
- Straight cash salesBills counted at close and dropped in the safe before the deposit run.
- Curbside and online order pickupOrders placed ahead through the dispensary's own site or menu app.
Money out
- Product for resaleFlower, edibles, and concentrates bought from a licensed cultivator or processor.
- Excise tax owedWhat was collected at the register, held until it is remitted to the state.
- Seed-to-sale software feesMetrc and similar tracking systems that log every unit sold.
- Lab retest feesWhen a batch needs a second look before it can go back on the shelf.
- Security and monitoringCameras, alarm monitoring, and a guard on busy nights.
- Budtender wagesCounter staff, kept apart so labor is visible against what the store sold.
- Point of sale and cashless ATM feesWhat Dutchie, Flowhub, or the cashless network kept before the payout.
What we watch for you
- Product cost share
The share of every dollar that was the actual product cost, since it is nearly the whole federal deduction here.
- Cash-to-bank gap
The difference between what the drawer counted and what the deposit shows.
- Excise tax owed
What has been collected and is sitting as a liability until it gets remitted.
- Average basket size
What a typical sale rings up at, and whether it is climbing or sliding.
Ask Gus
Things dispensary 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.
Federal rules treat this business differently. Cost of goods sold is the deduction that survives, so that is the number I keep the sharpest. Your accountant handles the rest of the return with that in mind.
Usually, yes. The cashless network keeps a small fee before it pays out. I booked the full sale and the fee separately so neither number is quietly shrunk.
I keep the books built around it all year, cost of goods sold tracked cleanly and separate from everything else. For a complicated 280E question, your accountant may bring in added cannabis tax expertise beyond what the subscription covers.
The tax side
The tax side of running a dispensary.
Almost everything here comes down to one rule. Get the product cost right, and the rest of the return follows.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Section 280E and cost of goods soldA federal rule disallows most ordinary deductions for a plant-touching cannabis business, leaving cost of goods sold as the deduction that survives. What counts toward that cost takes a careful, consistent count, which is why Gus tracks it all year instead of guessing in April.
- Employee or contractor at the counterA budtender who works the schedule the store sets and uses the store's register is an employee, not a contractor, no matter how the shifts get arranged.
- Contractor 1099s for outside helpAnyone not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 for compliance consulting, security work, or other outside help gets a 1099-NEC by January 31, and Gus keeps that list current all year.
- The pass-through deduction after 280EAn owner-operator taking up to 20 percent of qualified business income off their taxable income needs that income figured correctly first, which means cost of goods sold has to be right before this deduction can be.
Deductions cannabis dispensaries miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Flower and pre-roll inventory
- Edibles and concentrate inventory
- Freight from a licensed supplier
- Exit and compliance packaging
- Batch retesting before resale
- Destroyed product write-offs
- Inventory shrink from theft
- Packaging that ships with 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 dispensary year, kept every month.
A busy Friday night and a slow Tuesday afternoon both land in the same books. Your team stays on them every month, 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, the 1099 list for outside help is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned so the spring filing is not a scramble.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with cost of goods sold documented the way this business needs, right as foot traffic starts climbing toward the year's biggest weekend.
- July
Halfway check
Where the store stands, what it will owe, and whether the spring rush changed the number the accountant is watching.
- October
Before winter gifting
Before winter gifting season, Gus looks at any equipment the store is considering and anything worth doing before December closes out the year.
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 dispensaries. 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 dispensary owners ask first.
Why does my dispensary pay more federal tax than a shop selling the same square footage of shoes?
Federal law still treats cannabis as a controlled substance, and a rule called Section 280E disallows most ordinary deductions for a business that sells it. Only cost of goods sold reduces the federal bill, which is why Gus tracks that number so closely all year.
Can Gus keep books for two dispensary locations under one owner?
Yes. Each storefront gets kept in its own set of books, sales and product cost together, so you can see which location is actually carrying its weight instead of one number covering for the other.
Our sales run mostly through a cashless ATM system. Does that change anything?
It changes what Gus books, not what you do at the counter. The full sale and the network's fee get kept as two separate lines, so your real revenue and your real cost both stay visible.
What happens with the excise tax we collect at the register?
It gets kept apart from sales as money the state is owed, not money you made. When the filing is due, you already know the number instead of digging for it.
My books are a mess from the last bookkeeper. Can you start mid-year?
Yes. Send what you have, even if it is incomplete. Gus sorts it, the accountant checks it, and most owners know where they actually stand within a week or two.
Does the $197 subscription cover a 280E audit or a cannabis tax attorney?
No. The subscription keeps your books and cost of goods sold accurate all year and gets your return filed by an accountant. A 280E audit or a complicated dispute usually calls for added, specialized cannabis tax help beyond what a monthly subscription covers.
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.
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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