Liz Gold, Author at CPA Trendlines

Corporate to Cannabis: Laura Durham of Kind Accounting

Required of clients: a legal bank account or detailed cash logs.

A proponent of marijuana since college, Laura Durham, CPA, went into private industry after a stint at Arthur Andersen. She worked at a beef company, a software company and later at a manufacturing company.

MORE ON CANNABIZ: The Fire Starter: Groundbreaking Cannabis CPA Luigi Zamarra | Commercial Medical Marijuana Use Comes to Michigan | CPA John Dillinger on California’s Prop 64 | CPA Andrew Hunzicker Creates Course in Cannabiz Accounting | Cannabiz CPA: Dani Espinda Chooses Option Number Three | The Two Crippling Compliance Issues for Cannabis Industry
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It was during this time the course of her life changed.

Recently divorced, with primary custody of two children, she found herself overwhelmed by the demands of full-time corporate life. So, when a consultant colleague asked her if she’d consider going out on her own to help cannabusinesses in need, Durham gave it some thought and decided to go for it, launching Kind Accounting out of her home in Loveland, Colorado.

CANNABIS

The Fire Starter: Groundbreaking Cannabis CPA Luigi Zamarra

“If they follow GAAP in their accounting systems, income taxes will bankrupt them.”

By Liz Gold
cannabizcpa.pro

You might have seen Luigi Zamarra, CPA back in the first episode of Weed Wars, a 2011 Discovery Channel series about the day-to-day operations of Oakland, California’s Harborside Health Center. Zamarra played himself, the chief financial officer of the world’s largest medical cannabis dispensary.

MORE ON CANNABIZ:Commercial Medical Marijuana Use Comes to Michigan | Ben Condon on Launching a Cannabis CPA Firm: ‘The Opportunity Presented Itself’ | CPA Simone Cimiluca-Radzins Launches ‘LinkedIn of Cannabis’ | Jim Marty: Building a National CPA Firm for the Cannabis Industry | Jordan Cornelius: Guiding Cannabiz Clients through Minefields | Wayne Harding: From Tech Boom to Cannabis Boom

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It was during his tenure at Harborside that Zamarra noticed the cannabis industry was humming along without realizing the implications of IRS Code 280E. To bring the issue to light, he wrote an article in Kush Magazine warning those in the industry how he anticipated the code section being an issue.
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CANNABIS

Commercial Medical Marijuana Use Comes to Michigan

CPA Kareyna Miller keeps up with the changing landscape.

By Liz Gold
cannabizcpa.pro

CPA Kareyna Miller has always had a connection to the cannabis industry.

MORE ON CANNABIZ: Ben Condon on Launching a Cannabis CPA Firm: ‘The Opportunity Presented Itself’ | CPA Marcena Sorrels: From Health Care in Texas to Cannabis in Oregon | SURVEY: N.J. CPAs Support Recreational Cannabis | CPA Kim Walker: ‘We Can’t Be Afraid of Diving into Marijuana’ | A CPA’s Unexpected Journey into the Cannabis Industry | Billion-Dollar Questions: Cannabis FAQ for Accountants
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Since 2009, she has been an activist and patient, but this past summer she put her traditional public accounting background to work for the industry, starting LC Solutions Michigan.
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CANNABIS

Ben Condon on Launching a Cannabis CPA Firm: ‘The Opportunity Presented Itself’

A lot of client education is involved.

By Liz Gold
cannbizcpa.pro

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend an Oregon Cannabis Industry Meetup group in Portland. It’s a networking event for cannabis professionals and businesspeople who want to mix and mingle. After the speaker, an “open mic” for businesses is held, at which individuals have a minute to give an elevator pitch about their cannabusiness.

MORE ON CANNABIZ: CPA Marcena Sorrels: From Health Care in Texas to Cannabis in Oregon | CPA John Dillinger on California’s Prop 64 | CPA Andrew Hunzicker Creates Course in Cannabiz Accounting | Cannabiz CPA: Dani Espinda Chooses Option Number Three

More at CPA Trendlines’ cannbizcpa.pro

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That’s how I met Ben Condon – he got up and talked about his CPA firm, BC Consulting, LLC, which he describes as a small boutique niche CPA firm focused on the cannabis industry.
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CANNABIS

CPA Marcena Sorrels: From Health Care in Texas to Cannabis in Oregon

It’s not a field for the weak of heart, she says.

By Liz Gold
cannbizcpa.pro

CPA Marcena Sorrels dubs herself an “old timer” as it pertains to public accounting. She has a long history of management in the financial, regulatory and human resources arenas. She’s been a top executive in a number of healthcare companies in Texas. And she recently completed a tenure with a company at which she was both an owner and the CFO. That company sold for more than $37 million over two years ago.

MORE on CANNABIS: Billion-Dollar Questions: Cannabis FAQ for Accountants | Cannabiz CPA: Dani Espinda Chooses Option Number Three | CPA John Dillinger on California’s Prop 64 | Jim Marty: Building a National CPA Firm for the Cannabis Industry | Ready or Not: CPA Firms Find New Opportunity in Booming Cannabis Industry | CPA Andrew Hunzicker Creates Course in Cannabis Accounting | CPA Simone Cimiluca-Radzins Launches ‘LinkedIn of Cannabis’

Browse more at CPA Trendlines’ canabizcpa.pro

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“I was out of a job and had had my fill of health care,” Sorrels says. “At the same time our daughter moved to Oregon to open up a cannabis dispensary and my husband and I got interested. We ended up investing in the dispensary.”

From there, Sorrels says, she started thinking about putting her skills to work for the industry. She saw a need for good accounting and she had always loved helping and teaching business owners how to understand their financial information to improve their operations. So, she packed up her life in Texas and headed out to the Pacific Northwest.

And that’s how 420 Financial Strategies was born.

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