
In exactly the same way, accountants often wake up in cold sweats thinking about small business owners buying materials on their personal credit cards and not being able to find their statements. We’re the premier, remote accounting, tax, and consulting firm built exclusively brewery accounting to serve the craft brewing industry. I want to apologize if I have crushed your dreams of running a full ABC analysis on your brewery. I have experienced, first hand, what happens when you try to run an ABC analysis on a brewery with weak processes and limited data.
- That’s why it’s vital that you get an experienced professional who understands your business.
- The method that most closely relates to the brewing process is Activity Based Costing (ABC).
- This means that the deposits appear on its balance sheet as a liability.
- With our specialized experience, we can help you negotiate these challenges.
- Some of us might have a knack for numbers and details, but that isn’t everyone’s speed.
- Providing information about possible future outcomes supports the brewery’s decisions about the future.
Direct Overhead
Once your business has survived the start-up phase, it’s got a solid foundation to grow. Independent brewers made up 13.1% of the U.S. beer market in 2022. We recommend enlisting legal help from someone who is familiar with alcohol rules in your state.
New York City CPA Firm

Our firm has expertise in industries including manufacturing, construction, real estate, financial services, healthcare, government, education and retail. In the past when you’ve been making a new batch of some groundbreaking beer, you’ve probably been struck by inspiration and adjusted the mix mid-brew. This is how you create unique and creative beers that build your brand.
- Managing your finances is often a challenge for individuals, independent contractors, and business owners.
- A bigger firm is going to be expensive for the value you get given they don’t have expertise in any one particular industry.
- Our innovative, analytical insights will make sense of your finances, lower your tax exposure, and increase profits so your business can grow.
- Beer CPA offer a full-service payroll solution so you don’t have to worry about it.
- The brewery has to pay the federal government an excise tax on each barrel of production, and usually another excise tax to the state government.
Overview of the Brewing Process
Again huddled up with the partners making major decisions for the brewery based on gut feel, strong opinions, and back-of-the-napkin math. During business planning https://www.bookstime.com/ a brewery CPA can help by consulting on business structure and capital structure planning. We can also be sure that initial capital transactions are accounted for.
- We offer an accounting newsletter with timely tips for growing your business.
- This first post will define and explain the components and challenges in calculating COGS.
- “Chris and the Small Batch Standard team are an integral member of Wicked Barley. We consider our relationship a partnership. They have demonstrated invaluable knowledge in the brewery industry and has kept us from flying blind.”
- If so, it collects a refundable deposit on each one, which it pays back when kegs are returned.
- You’ll gain a basic understanding of the importance of finance and accounting in craft beer and learn the top financial mistakes breweries make (and how to avoid them).
- We know it’s a stressful and confusing task for many small business owners, but our tailored approach, extensive experience and industry knowledge gives us the ability to streamline your accounting processes.

You would need the right person leading the charge and enough money to pay for it. In my next post, I will share with you what we have used to replace an ABC analysis. For breweries under 50,000 bbls in production, our process has brought clarity to profit and growth.
We have been a staple of the area’s business community for years, and pride ourselves on the level of esteem we have earned. At the end of the day, we’ve spent enough time around brewery owners to know that time and space to think is the currency that matters. I spent eight months last year diving deep into the options surrounding COGS and how to make it work for smaller breweries. The results will be released in a two-part series on Craft Brewing Business.
Members of the Alabama and Florida Brewers Guilds

What is COGS?
- We make beer because we like to drink it delicious and fresh and because we like to smile.
- At the end of the day, we’ve spent enough time around brewery owners to know that time and space to think is the currency that matters.
- Naturally, you want to keep costs to a minimum as you invest in expensive pieces of equipment and maybe even start getting some staff on the payroll.
- This rate is different depending on how many barrels you produce each year.
- Even if you don’t expect to retire anytime soon, the earlier you start…