Why a platform-powered accounting firm.
Most cannabis operators have accountants who aren't cannabis-specialized. A general bookkeeper working with a standard chart of accounts doesn't understand §280E. They'll miscategorize expenses, leave deductible COGS on the table, and produce financials that can't survive IRS scrutiny. The result: operators overpaying federal tax by $40–80K per year — quietly, consistently, with no obvious way to know it's happening.
Cannabis is not a general business category with a few unusual line items. §280E disallows the deductions every other business takes for granted — salaries, rent, utilities, marketing. The only path to a defensible tax position is a correctly structured chart of accounts, precise COGS allocation, and documentation that survives IRS review. None of that comes from retrofitting a generic accounting workflow.
So we built the infrastructure from scratch. A purpose-built accounting platform with §280E compliance, multi-state cannabis excise logic, MSO consolidations, and payroll integration native to the architecture. Then we built a firm around it. No legacy general-practice processes. No software retrofitted with a cannabis add-on. Every workflow, every category, every report format was designed specifically for plant-touching businesses.
We are headquartered in New Jersey — one of the most complex cannabis regulatory environments in the country — with deep expertise in NJ CRC compliance, quarterly SEEF filings, and NJ CBT treatment of §280E disallowance. We serve operators in 27 states, including multi-state operators whose books span multiple regulatory regimes simultaneously.
420Ledger is not a CPA firm. We are a PTIN-registered, EFIN-authorized tax preparation and bookkeeping firm that works exclusively in cannabis. That focus is deliberate. The cannabis accounting space has no room for part-time attention — the rules are too consequential, and they change too fast.