Cannabis Payroll Solutions

Times are changing quickly in the cannabis industry. Banks are beginning to open their doors to the industry a little more. An amendment was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee recently with the intention of preventing the Treasury Department from punishing banks that choose to provide services for marijuana related businesses. A band-aid for now, but definitely a step in the right direction none-the-less. If you’re not already, it’s time to start running your business by the books.  One of the things you need to decide is if you want to handle the tasks of payroll by yourself, or would it be better to leave it to a professional? Payroll processing, if you choose to do it yourself, is one of those tasks that takes you away from other more pertinent revenue producing activities. Taking care of employee related administrative paperwork can eat up about 25% of your time. Time that is better well spent on the parts of your business that you love and why you do it in the first place.

Every paycheck you prepare requires several tax deductions for most states, plus employer taxes such as federal and state unemployment taxes. and voluntary deductions or even garnishments such as child support or tax levies. While payroll calculations aren’t necessarily difficult the responsibilities for record keeping, filing and making payments are significant. Payroll records are essential and there is a lot to keep track of. There are about 18 different forms to complete for every employee you hire plus the legal requirements for creating and maintaining employment and payroll records. Many government agencies have the right to view and audit payroll records.  In the absence of records, agencies have the authority to estimate taxes due, plus assess penalties for failure to keep records. Taking time to learn everything you need to know to meet all your requirements and keep up with the changes only increases the chance for errors and takes you away from concentrating on building your business.

On the other hand, a payroll service provider shoulders both the workload and the liability of the payroll processing. They already understand all the payroll requirements and make it their priority to keep up with any changes in the law. They make sure they are keeping track of all the records that must be created and stored for you. You will be able to go about your business worry free knowing that they are taking care of all of the reporting and deposits for the IRS, State, and Local taxes.

Sure you could just keep paying your employees in cash. You’ve been dealing in cash yourself for years. They can figure it out.  But, a cannabis employee should be confident that they can go to work, make their living and go about business just like anyone else. Having payroll for your employees is safer, limits your risk and legitimizes the business and their job.

Having proper payroll allows you to collect and keep more accurate track of payroll taxes for your employees and enables them participate in the benefits of modern society.  Isn’t that what everyone wants?

It allows your employees the benefits of having  their income properly verified. Being able to verify their income easily enables them to do normal things like get a credit card or a car loan…maybe even buy a house someday.  It is very difficult to prove your income to these entities when you work largely for cash, just ask any bartender.

There are very few payroll companies who will work with the industry and of the ones who do, many are endangering their employees bank accounts. Having the knowledge out there of where they work and where they are technically deriving their money from has gotten some employees into hot water. When a bank sees where the paycheck is coming from it can raise red flags causing them to get their accounts closed by the bank.

To ensure the continued success of not only your business but your employees you will want to find a service that is not only very competitively priced but is arranged in such a way as to ensure that employee bank accounts are safe.

Finding a cannabis payroll service you trust eliminates the burden of customizing, updating and maintaining your own payroll system–no more data entry, no more researching updates or new laws, no more worries.

Guardian Data Systems has established a unique partnership with a reputable cannabis friendly payroll company.  Then we took it a step further and integrated their services into our Cannabis ERP and Cannabis POS systems so that you can track your employees hours, execute payroll, and enter all the data into your financial software with the push of a single button!  Talk about a time saver!  Give Guardian Data Systems a call and get your Free Demo today.