By Lawrence Baye, CMC, CISA and Mark Bednarz, CPA, CFE, CISA
Cannabis has been in the headlines again as voters in many parts of the country approved its availability for recreational use during the last election cycle. Attention has shifted to the states that are developing rules and regulations governing licensing, operation, testing and reporting, as well as determining the responsible agencies or authorities that will monitor these activities. Simultaneously, local governments are grappling with the question of whether their communities are willing to have these businesses operate in their neighborhoods. While new businesses and/or the expansion of existing ones spur job creation and local construction and can also provide a welcome stream of new tax revenue, they also raise concerns about the potential for more crime, traffic accidents due to driving under the influence, attracting people from other neighborhoods solely to buy the product and other undesired outcomes.
While these issues should be top-of-mind of cannabis business owners and operators, investors and Board members who may seek to capitalize on this new opportunity should also be mindful of other risks and challenges and have a robust plan of action in place to address them:
About the Co-Author
Mark Bednarz is a Partner in PKF O’Connor Davies Risk Advisory Group. He combines more than twenty years of public accounting and Fortune 500 experience and an expertise in attestation and consulting services for a variety of financial service clients including banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, fund of funds, family offices, fund administrators and registered investment advisors.
Mark’s extensive experience includes internal audit, business reengineering, forensic accounting, Oracle implementations, FINRA, NFA, and SEC compliance, Sarbanes-Oxley consulting, IT audits and governance, service organization control reporting (SOC) attestations and risk assessments.
He is a frequent presenter and training evaluator for several professional organizations related to Governance, Risk and Compliance. He has also served as an author and contributing editor to articles that appear newsletters and publications as well as conducted webinars.
Lawrence Baye is a Principal of PKF O’Connor Davies and serves in the Risk Advisory Group. He has over 35 years of management consulting experience in the public accounting firm sector. Prior to joining the firm, Larry worked for one of the “Global Six” CPA firms.
Larry focuses on risk advisory and performance improvement engagements for a broad range of clients, including private and public companies of varying sizes, not-for-profit and health care organizations, higher education institutions and governmental entities, financial services and institutions, real estate owners, managers and developers, REITs, manufacturers, distributors and retailers, professional and business service firms, energy, technology, media and entertainment, publishing, health care, defense contractors, and others.
His expertise includes enterprise risk management, Sarbanes-Oxley internal controls over financial reporting, internal audit out/co-sourcing, information technology auditing and security, corporate governance practices, COSO 2013, HIPAA and regulatory compliance. In addition, he has led projects designed to enhance organization and operational performance, utilized benchmarking to gauge results/outcomes against peer/industry metrics, developed financial accounting policies and procedures, evaluated information technology effectiveness, drafted and tested business continuity and disaster recovery plans, constructed information technology strategy as well as guided clients in their ERP system selection and implementation.
Larry is a frequent presenter at various professional organizations and co-authors the Risk and Advisory Newsletter published by the firm.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Name *
Email *
Website
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Comment *
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
Δ
The legal cannabis industry is thriving in the U.S., reaching its highest-ever number of jobs and sales, a new report shows. Vangst, a cannabis industry job platform, found that at…
Maine is the newest frontier for the illicit marijuana trade, with potentially hundreds of suspected unlicensed grow houses operating in the state, a CBS News investigation has found. It’s part…
Ten years ago this month, Iowa policymakers made it legal to use cannabis for certain medical treatment, marking the start of what would eventually become Iowa’s existing medical cannabidiol program.…
By Tom Hymes Remediation in the cannabis industry has become an increasingly hot topic as the practice has expanded in legal markets throughout the country, and for good reason. Remediation…