OHANA FP&AFrom one grower to another.
Our founder grew cannabis in Michigan for 15 years before moving to the numbers side. Now we help growers see what their pounds really cost, where their cash is going, and get their books clean enough to trust.
Sound familiar?
The books are months behind
Transactions piling up, nothing reconciled, and tax season coming whether you're ready or not.
You don't know your cost per pound
Prices keep sliding and you can't say which strains or buyers still make you money.
Cash keeps surprising you
Slow-paying buyers, big bills after harvest, and a tax bill nobody planned for.
5 numbers every grower should know
- Cost per pound, all in, until it's sold
- Break-even price per pound
- Margin by strain at today's prices
- Days your buyers take to pay you
- Weeks of cash in the bank
Missing one? That's usually where the money leaks.
Most grows divide total costs by total pounds. That number hides everything.
One average cost per pound makes every strain, room and harvest look the same. They aren't. We use activity-based costing, the same method manufacturers use to find which products actually make money.
- List the work. Cloning, veg, flower, feeding and irrigation, IPM, harvest, dry and cure, trim, testing, packaging.
- Find what drives each cost. Clone success rates drive how many cuts it takes to fill a room. Weeks in veg and plants per light drive veg costs, and veg time is expensive. Days in flower drive rent and power. Trim hours drive trim labor. Batches drive testing.
- Charge each strain for what it uses. A strain that roots poorly, vegs two weeks longer, runs 63 days instead of 56 and trims twice as slow carries all of that in its cost.
- Add it up by strain, room and harvest, then follow it to the bank. Cost per pound tells you what a strain costs. Sell-through tells you how fast it turns back into cash.
| Strain A | Strain B | |
|---|---|---|
| Clone success rate | 95% | 70% |
| Plants per light | 4 | 2 |
| Weeks in veg | 3 | 5 |
| Days in flower | 56 | 63 |
| Pounds harvested | 30 | 20 |
| Trim hours per pound | 4 | 8 |
| Veg costs ($8,000, by veg weeks) | $3,000 | $5,000 |
| Flower room costs ($30,000, by room days) | $14,118 | $15,882 |
| Trim labor ($10,000, by trim hours) | $4,286 | $5,714 |
| Cost per pound | $713 | $1,330 |
| Weeks to sell through | 3 | 10 |
Divide the same $48,000 by 50 pounds and both strains look like $960 a pound. Strain B actually costs almost twice as much per pound, and it takes more than three times as long to turn back into cash. Profit that sits in the vault or in receivables doesn't pay the bills.
Yield isn't cash.
Growers rank strains by yield. Cash in the bank ranks them by how fast they sell. Here's what that looks like in a strain review we'd prepare after each harvest.
The top yielders finish last in cash
Cash collected vs. unsold inventory, by cultivar
See the numbers
| Cultivar | Lbs harvested (yield rank) | Cost per lb | Price per lb | Gross margin | Lbs sold per week | Weeks to sell out | Cash by week 12 | Unsold at cost | Cash back on cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultivar C | 38 #4 | $700 | $1,250 | 44% | 4.5 | 8.4 | $47,500 | – | 179% |
| Cultivar B | 41 #3 | $680 | $1,100 | 38% | 3 | 13.7 | $39,600 | $3,400 | 142% |
| Cultivar E | 30 #6 | $760 | $1,300 | 42% | 3.5 | 8.6 | $39,000 | – | 171% |
| Cultivar F | 35 #5 | $690 | $1,000 | 31% | 2.5 | 14.0 | $30,000 | $3,450 | 124% |
| Cultivar A | 52 #1 | $620 | $1,050 | 41% | 2 | 26.0 | $25,200 | $17,360 | 78% |
| Cultivar D | 47 #2 | $640 | $950 | 33% | 1.5 | 31.3 | $17,100 | $18,560 | 57% |
| Total | 243 | $674 | 17 | $198,400 | $42,770 | 121% |
What it shows
- The two highest-yielding cultivars, A and D, rank last in cash collected. They hold $35,920 of the $42,770 still in the vault (84%).
- C and E sold out in under 9 weeks and have already returned more than 1.7 times what they cost to grow.
- Next harvest: weigh shifting room space from D toward C and E, and set pricing on A and D to move before they age.
Sample exhibit with illustrative figures, not a client's numbers. Cash assumes payment on delivery. Cost per pound comes from the activity-based costing above.
Example figures for illustration, not a client's numbers.
A discovery call, then one clear analysis
We start with a 30-minute call about your biggest pain points. If there's a fit, we propose a one-time $2,500 analysis: we dig into your books, bank statements and sales from your state tracking system, and show you what your pounds really cost and where the money leaks. No monthly commitment.
30-minute call. What's working and what's keeping you up.
Read-only access. Your books, 3 months of bank statements, sales from your state tracking system.
Findings within 30 days. Walked through together on a call.
You decide. Fix it yourself, or hand it to us.
Then pick what fits
One-time engagements
- Books cleanup
- Activity-based cost analysis (cost per pound by strain)
- Strain profitability and sell-through analysis
- AR sprint
- Season Review
- Diagnostic
Fractional Controller
We review your bookkeeping, close and reconcile every month, and deliver financial statements and analysis reports monthly, quarterly and annually, with a monthly owner's meeting. Bookkeeping can be added.
Fractional CFO
Financial planning and analysis, cost accounting, forecasting, weekly cash flow analysis, pricing and budgets.
"Cannabis is first an art, then a science, then a business."
That's the philosophy behind Ohana FP&A. Our founder spent 15 years scaling cannabis businesses in Michigan, with an in-depth background in indoor and outdoor organic cultivation, soil science and solventless processing. In 2024, he retired from his award-winning cannabis brand to pursue his passion for accounting and finance.
Founder, Ohana FP&A
Controller-level accounting experience and graduate work in Accounting and Data Analytics at Michigan State University. We work alongside your CPA, not in place of one, and your numbers stay confidential.
Common questions
Do you work remotely?
Yes. Most of our work runs over video calls, shared files and access to your systems. Site visits are available on request.
What systems do you work with?
QuickBooks Online is our home base, and we've also worked in Salesforce-based accounting systems. We work from your POS, inventory and ERP systems (Dutchie, Flowhub, Treez, Distru, Canix and similar), your state tracking system (Metrc or BioTrack), payroll reports, and Excel or Google Sheets. Larger operators on NetSuite or Xero are welcome too. If you use something else, we'll learn it.
Do you replace my bookkeeper or CPA?
We can work alongside your bookkeeper or take the bookkeeping over, whichever you need. We don't prepare taxes, so your CPA stays in place. If you need a cannabis tax professional, we're happy to make an introduction.
How do engagements work?
Two ways: one-time engagements with a set scope, or ongoing monthly support as your fractional controller or CFO. Most clients start with a one-time $2,500 analysis.
What if my books are behind?
That's common, and it's where a lot of our work starts. We catch up and clean up your books first, so every number after that is one you can trust.
Is my data kept confidential?
Yes. We only access what you choose to share, we never share client data, and anything we publish uses illustrative numbers.
Talk to us
Call or book a call. If we're with a client, we'll get back to you the same day.