Unique Qualifier:

Understanding of the complete cannabis industry system from seed-to-sale and from the state’s METRC system through to the operator’s financial reporting system. This provides the skill set to be the “CFO to cannabis CFOs,” developing high-quality reporting for clients.

Work and Related Experience:

Thirty years as a CPA in California including 21 years in full-time operation of Andersen CPA Firm.

Since 2018, developed expertise in the California Cannabis industry, providing CFO and financial reporting services to several dozen cannabis and hemp operators in multiple states. We also developed a website specifically for cannabis: CannabisCPA.Tax.

Specific Activities for the Cannabis Industry since 2019:

  • Panelist on a cannabis tax webinar with De Lon Harris, IRS Deputy Commissioner of Examination for Small Business and Self Employed and Scott Irick, IRS Director of Examination, working under Mr. Harris. The webinar was sponsored by the National Association of Cannabis Accountants and Tax Professionals, founder Naomi Granger – March 2021.
  • Panelist on the topic of “Compliance and Enforcement Management from a Practitioner’s Perspective at the CalCPA annual Cannabis Symposium – November 2022.
  • Panelist with the Chief of Tax Policy for the CDTFA at the annual Cannabis Symposium hosted by the California Society of CPAs in South San Francisco – August 2019.
  • Presenter to more than a dozen groups of CPAs and attorneys.
  • Authored and presented more than twenty topics on Cannabis and accounting systems through the National Business Institute including materials on cannabis taxation in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, and Colorado.

Client types in the California cannabis industry:

  • Dispensaries in several counties
  • Delivery service as a part of the dispensaries in several counties
  • Distributors
  • Manufacturers
  • Indoor cultivators in Southern California (So Cal)
  • Outdoor cultivators in both Southern and Northern California (No Cal)
  • Hemp-based CBD wholesalers and retailers

Social Equity Service:

Several clients of color and other minorities who include:

  • Social equity cultivation – So Cal
  • Social equity branded products – No Cal
  • Social equity retail – So Cal
  • Minority-owned dispensaries – Massachusetts and Oregon
  • Pending agreement with a social equity group in Illinois that will have retail licenses
  • Asian-owned cultivation – So Cal
  • Hispanic-owned retail and delivery –
    So Cal, Central Valley of California

Support and training for a San Francisco-based social equity program, www.ThisIsOurDream.com. Provided training material and a webinar as well as consulting to several members.

Career Highlights prior to involvement with cannabis:

  • Two years with Mobil Chemical Company, Bakersfield as financial analyst.
  • Two years with Fox and Company, CPAs, Bakersfield, as a financial auditor of governmental agencies and financial institutions.
  • Three years with DJC Corporation, Culver City, as Systems Accountant. Served as project manager for the conversion of the company’s computer systems from a Data General minicomputer to an IBM mainframe.
  • Twelve years with Fastener Technology Corporation, North Hollywood, as the controller for a small aerospace parts manufacturer. Developed a business plan resulting in a joint venture with Lockheed Corporation and building a manufacturing plant in Turkey.
  • Twenty years with Bruce T. Andersen, CPA. Currently, providing accounting, consulting, and tax services to small and medium sized companies.
  • Twenty years with BTA Consulting and Training. Currently providing QuickBooks training and consulting. QuickBooks is the preferred software used by most small and medium sized cannabis businesses that have accounting software.
  • Three years with Spidell Publishing as a part of a team providing tax seminars to more than fifteen thousand tax professionals each year in California. Also developed the seminar material for a topic of how the IRS uses QuickBooks for auditing of small businesses.
  • Two years with K2 Enterprises which provides education to state CPA societies including the State of California. Topics included QuickBooks, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, and other technology subjects.

Professional Experience:

  • Taught accounting, finance, and business systems in the School of Business, University of Phoenix for over fifteen years, part-time basis.
  • Certified Public Accountant, licensed in California.

Education:

  • Advanced degrees from Golden Gate University (M.S. Tax), Boston University (M.S. Business Administration), and California State University-Bakersfield (MBA-Finance).
  • Undergraduate work at Iowa State University earning a B.S. in Industrial Administration on a full ROTC scholarship. Upon graduation, commissioned as a Regular Army Officer, Corp of Engineers, rank of 2d Lieutenant.

Post-Graduate Experience:

Served in the Corp of Engineers, U.S. Army, in Europe as a Regular Army officer with a top-secret NATO clearance. Functioned as Equal Opportunity Officer for the Battalion.