Growers, dispensaries, and other businesses that operate in the legal cannabis industry are caught between federal and state regulations, which make banking and payroll a challenge. Despite marijuana being legal in many states, cannabis businesses are still on shaky ground at the federal level, and banks in particular are skittish about partnering with the industry. Without solid banking partners, local cannabis businesses can have trouble keeping up on payroll. So what’s the solution?
Rather than waiting for Congress to make a decision on potential regulations that would shield banks from federal punishment for maintaining accounts for cannabis businesses, more dispensaries and growers are moving toward using web-based cannabis payroll platforms designed specifically for their industry.
Here are five examples of payroll platforms that dispensaries and growers can use.
1. Wurk
Wurk has developed cannabis software for payroll and human resources. The company’s relationship with banks and financial institutions allows it to offer payroll services to all verticals within the cannabis industry, including those that have not had access to payroll management systems previously. Through Wurk’s web-based platform, businesses have access to automated payroll software that syncs general ledger processing and electronically files federal, state, and local taxes. Wurk can handle direct deposits, it generates pay stubs, it tracks pay histories for employees, and it handles tax filings to maximize deductions. In addition to payroll, the Wurk platform can also be setup to manage hiring, HR, scheduling, and time keeping.
2. PeopleGuru
PeopleGuru is a cannabis-friendly payroll platform. Residing on a single database, PeopleGuru’s product suite includes tools for payroll and taxes, benefits management, salary administration, and compliance management. Businesses can streamline their operations by adopting PeopleGuru’s paperless workflow. More importantly to cannabis businesses, PeopleGuru offers a long-term payroll banking solution. With Private Banking Services, cannabis businesses can get secure ACH files for direct deposit and check printing and distribution services, with the ability to maintain existing bank relationships.
3. Greenleaf
Greenleaf’s payroll services and human resources consulting platform helps to keep dispensaries and other marijuana businesses compliant with state and federal regulations. Greenleaf’s all-in-one system covers HR, payroll, taxes, and employee benefits. Businesses can view deduction registers, invoice histories, payroll registers, and summary reports through the web-based system. Greenleaf also handles paid-time-off (PTO) accrual for employees and W2 management.
4. Zenefits
Zenefits specializes in human capital management, or HCM. The company’s web-based platform includes tools for payroll, HR, benefits, and scheduling. Although Zenefits isn’t targeted exclusively at the cannabis market, it does work with a number of clients in the industry and its tools are designed to support those businesses. Zenefits’ payroll platform is fully integrated, with advanced features like automatic salary changes, benefits deductions syncing, and automatically prorated payments for new hires, which all seem designed for dispensaries and growers. Zenefits’ automatic compliance tools and automatic federal and state tax filings are also useful for entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry.
5. AdaptiveHR
AdaptiveHR boasts extensive cannabis industry expertise, which the company has tapped in the design of a web-based payroll processing center. Businesses in the cannabis industry can use AdaptiveHR’s platform to setup their human resources departments, benefits programs, and retirement programs. They can also use the platform’s payroll processing tools to ensure accurate and compliant payments go out to their employees on time each month. AdaptiveHR supports both standard payroll and PEO payroll, which means the risk of having employees is shared between the client’s company and AdaptiveHR.
Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.