Record Keeping for Marijuana Businesses
Good record keeping is essential to ensuring your marijuana business runs smoothly. Not only does it allow you to track your business’ progress and stay organized, it also helps your business remain in compliance, as some records are required to be kept by law and can be subject to inspection by government officials.
In addition to maintaining financial records for accounting purposes, your business should also be keeping the following for at least 5 years:
Personnel Records
Personnel records include: applications, documentation of training, performance reviews and any disciplinary actions taken against an employee.
Taxes Paid
This includes documentation of all taxes paid to state and federal entities. You should also maintain documentation of all license fees paid to state and local jurisdictions.
Receipts
All receipts from financial transactions made by your business need to be kept, including, but not limited to: contributions, reimbursements, reasonable compensation, and expenses. Additionally, if your business sells or transfers marijuana or marijuana products, you must retain the receipts, in addition to the corresponding electronic tracking inventory reference.
Inventory Records
These records should include: dates, amounts, and testing results of all marijuana or marijuana products that is cultivated, produced, sold, or destroyed by your business. Additionally, you should always be tracking and recording the amount of marijuana that is stored at your business. Marijuana should be tracked from seed to sale with various points of information as required by regulations.
Transfer Logs
Transfer logs should include the amount of marijuana product transferred, the date of the transfer, in addition to the full name of the person(s) who is transferring and receiving the marijuana product.
Other Records
Other records that should be kept by your business include: transportation logs, maintenance/cleaning/sanitation logs, advertising approvals, packaging approvals, as well as a record of any inspections conducted at your business. You should also always maintain a visitor log, which includes the full name of the visitor, the date and time of the visit, as well as the reason for the visit.
Basically, any records relating to the marijuana or marijuana products or the operations of your business should be maintained and kept for 5 years.
Please keep in mind, this is a very basic list. A cannabis business lawyer can help you navigate the complex world of cannabis.
