Maximizing Efficiency: How the Right Cannabis ERP Can Drive Your Company’s Growth 

The cannabis industry landscape is ever-evolving. Businesses in cannabis face unique challenges demanding streamlined compliance, efficiency and growth solutions. However, due to a variety of reasons, many organizations we work with have ended up in a web of separate/siloed cannabis technology solutions requiring extensive manual effort to share information between them. Unfortunately, this inhibits growth and slows down an industry that currently depends on resiliency and precision.

Business owners frequently mention that inefficiencies cost them not only time and money, but also opportunities in the marketplace by not having information readily available to make informed decisions. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP emerges as a powerful tool amongst cannabis technology, unifying essential business functions and offering many benefits tailored to the cannabis sector including: cannabis inventory management, track and trace compliance, POS integration and forecasting.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP provides a modern cloud-based solution, consolidating crucial business functions into a cohesive system. This stands in stark contrast to the fragmented approach of using multiple systems or relying on numerous spreadsheets, eliminating the complexities and manual tasks associated with data silos. The centralized system ensures real-time visibility across departments, fostering collaboration and efficient decision-making.

Inventory management is the cornerstone of a cannabis company, and presents challenges around costing, availability and compliance. Because the industry is in its beginning stages, many plant-touching businesses are using tools that don’t address the complexities of cannabis inventory management, compliance and tracking. Typical inventory management tools don’t integrate the advanced functions needed for a Cannabis-based organization such as Lot and Serial tracking, or the ability to change units of measure from weights to eaches. Combined with required and stringent State track-and-trace regulations like Metrc or BioTrack, you end up with limited options for an efficient solution.  

Business Central addresses seed-to-sale by seamlessly integrating advanced inventory features and Metrc compliance within the same system as accounting and finance. This integration ensures easy compliance and significantly reduces manual tasks associated with reconciling inventory and financial transactions. The associated financial entry occurs in the background when an inventory transaction is processed. This ensures real-time inventory and financial data. Other key features within Business Central for the Cannabis industry include warehousing (including zones and bins) and inventory planning to ensure that reordering is suggested based on your inventory reorder rules setup on each item!

Another key challenge in the industry is maintaining accurate margins to ensure profitability, all while being as competitive in price as possible. Adapting to fluctuating costs and market dynamics is crucial in the cannabis industry. Business Central ERP empowers businesses to maintain their margins through flexible inventory pricing options. Companies can set specific margin targets, allowing for automatic inventory price adjustments in the ERP to maintain the desired margin as costs fluctuate. Additionally, the system supports creating customer price groups, enabling customized pricing structures for different customer segments, group discounts, or bulk purchases.

A considerable gap in the cannabis ERP market is the ability to have an effective ERP to track cultivation. The Silver Leaf add-in takes Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP to the next level for cultivation-based companies. Businesses can streamline their processes by seamlessly incorporating quality control, barcoding and cultivation modules into the ERP. This comprehensive functionality ensures that critical aspects of the cannabis supply chain, from seed to sale (including very detailed cultivation processes and seed-to-sale tracking), are seamlessly integrated with other core business functions all in the same solution.

For cannabis businesses looking to navigate the complexities of ERP implementation and business software optimization, Withum stands out as an experienced accounting firm with a whole team dedicated to serving our Cannabis client base. With a strong foothold in the cannabis industry, Withum can guide companies through streamlining operations, ensuring compliance and setting the stage for sustainable growth.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, coupled with the expertise of Withum, offers cannabis companies a robust ERP solution to overcome industry-specific challenges. From integrated cloud ERP capabilities to advanced cannabis inventory management and compliance features, this comprehensive system provides the tools necessary for operational efficiency and strategic growth in the ever-evolving cannabis market.

Authors: Josh Stove, Lead, Microsoft Business Applications | [email protected] and Christina Barea | [email protected]