METRC Tips for Accountants
You might not work inside METRC every day, but your work depends on it.
The accuracy of the numbers in your financial statements comes directly from how well your colleagues enter and maintain data in the system. When month-end rolls around and you need reliable reports for reconciliation, tax prep, or audits. You need to know where to look and how to interpret the data inside METRC.
Key METRC Reports for Accountants
Transfers Report
- Purpose: Tracks all product movements such as sales, testing, returns, and third-party purchases.
- Accounting Lens: Quantities sent to testing are typically capitalized as inventory until the final product is sold. Transfers also provide a direct link between operational activity and revenue recognition.
Inventory Report
- Purpose: The backbone of end-of-month reconciliations and compliance reporting. Verifies what’s physically on hand versus what METRC says you should have.
- Accounting Lens: Critical for accurate COGS calculations and compliance state reporting. Misalignments here ripple through your entire set of financials.
Waste Report
- Purpose: Documents product lost or destroyed during production.
- Accounting Lens: Recording waste separately highlights true production efficiency and ensures COGS reflects only what’s tied to salable product. May be a tax write-off as well.
How High Cloud Helps Accountants
METRC wasn’t designed for accounting, but High Cloud bridges that gap. By layering analytics and purpose-built reports directly inside METRC, accountants get cleaner, more actionable data without extra spreadsheets or manual cleanup.
Enhanced Transfers Report
- Purpose: Adds in the harvest data and summarizes product movement in and out of the facility with audit-ready clarity.
- Accounting Lens: Makes tax calculations simpler so you don’t pay taxes on flower not grown in your facility. Highlights discrepancies faster and provides a reliable paper trail.
Bill of Materials (BOM) & Production Report
- Purpose: Connects raw materials to finished goods so you can calculate COGS and inventory valuation with precision.
- Accounting Lens: Helps track turnover, manage cash flow, and identify which products tie up capital.
Dashboards
- Purpose: Instead of combing through raw METRC exports, accountants can slice data by date, category, or facility in seconds.
- Accounting Lens: Turns large data sets and compliance records into clear financial insights.
Extra Considerations for Cannabis Accountants
Cannabis accounting is state-specific, which means there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. To stay aligned with regulations, accountants should always cross-check financial reporting requirements against their METRC data. What passes in one state may not satisfy auditors or regulators in another, so keeping your reporting tightly linked to the right jurisdiction is essential.
Audit readiness is another area where preparation pays off. Auditors will eventually review your compliance system, and having organized, reconciled METRC data can make the process far less stressful. Instead of scrambling to gather and clean records at the last minute, a proactive approach ensures your team enters an audit with confidence and transparency.
METRC provides the raw data, but High Cloud turns that data into reports accountants can actually use. With the right tools, you can cut through the noise, stay compliant, and give your organization true financial clarity without adding hours of manual work every month.
Learn More
The cannabis industry is at a crossroads when it comes to data tracking. By overcoming the barriers to effective data management with High Cloud, companies can gain the insights they need to thrive in a competitive market. Embracing a data-driven approach is essential for long-term success and growth in this rapidly evolving industry.
For more information go to www.highcloudinsights.com.
