Payroll that survives banking limitations
Many cannabis-friendly Colorado financial institutions still place restrictions on payroll processors touching plant-touching accounts. We coordinate with your bank, set up compliant direct deposit or payroll card rails, and build a cash-tolerant backup process for facilities that occasionally need to run payroll manually while banking relationships are in transition.
Wage classification under Section 280E
Not every employee's wages are treated the same way for federal tax purposes. Trimmers and cultivation techs whose time is spent producing the crop are generally includable in cost of goods sold, while front-of-house budtenders, delivery drivers and marketing staff generally are not. We build time-tracking and job-costing procedures so hourly and salaried wages are allocated correctly, supporting your COGS calculation instead of undermining it.
Colorado wage, workers' comp and unemployment compliance
We register your Colorado unemployment insurance account, apply the correct workers' compensation classification codes for cultivation, extraction and retail job functions, and keep pay stubs compliant with Colorado's wage statement requirements, including any local minimum wage ordinances that apply in cities like Denver.
Seasonal and harvest-cycle staffing costs
Cultivation facilities often bring on temporary trim labor around harvest. We build payroll processes that onboard and offboard seasonal staff quickly while still capturing their hours correctly for cost-of-goods-sold allocation.
