Marijuana Business Magazine September 2018

RED FLAGS C ompliance is the key to keeping your cannabis business afloat in this highly regulated industry. This is where your accountant plays a major role. When hiring an accountant, it’s best to watch out for candidates who: • Have large, unexplained gaps in their job history. • Can’t provide a specific benefit to your business such as set- ting up a solid financial infrastructure. • Don’t have previous cannabis industry experience. Karson Humiston, founder and CEO of Denver staffing agency Vangst, avoids candi- dates with a big hole in their resume timeline that can’t be explained. “If there’s a gap in the resume between, let’s say, 2014 and 2017, it’s very important to identify what the candidate was doing during that period of time,” she said. She also flags someone who appears to be job hopping – for instance, a candidate who changed jobs every two months for a year. “That signals high turn- over – not a very loyal person,” Humiston said. “You want to look for someone who has demonstrated longevity within the company.” Don’t hire anyone who can’t provide specific value to your business, said Naomi Granger, owner and founder of Dope CFO, a Bend, Oregon-based training company for accountants in the cannabis industry. “Stay away from that and look for people who keep your specific needs in the forefront of what they’re providing for you,” she said. Jesse Henry, executive director of the Barbary Coast recre- ational and medical marijuana retail store in San Francisco, would avoid a candidate who doesn’t have enough experience and familiarity with the cannabis industry. “That’s the number one thing,” he said. “I would like to see a little bit of experience with our industry.” – Bart Schaneman and accounting firm. “To make sure it’s all symbiotic and working together,” Henry explained. HOW TO MANAGE A key management issue for Hum- iston is that most business owners aren’t accountants, so they must trust the person they’ve hired. “You really want to spend time getting to know your accountant, so you know what your financials look like,” she said. Your new hire should be helping you with concerns about your cash flow or an upcoming audit, Granger said. “Manage them against the pain points you want them to solve,” she added. If they’re not solving your problems or explaining the value of an issue, you need to address it. “If there’s something that you want and you’re not seeing that, I would bring that up to your accountant,” Granger said. As long as the accountant has what he or she needs, Henry gives them space to work. For example, he’ll put his book- keeper in the same room with the outside CPA to give that person a full understanding of how to work together and what’s expected. “It’s as simple as that,” he said. “It’s making sure that they have all the tools necessary in order to do their job right.” ◆ Karson Humiston is founder and CEO of Denver staffing agency Vangst. You really want to spend time getting to know your accountant ... - Karson Humiston, Vangst 106 • Marijuana Business Magazine • September 2018