METRC and the books tell two stories
Quantities drift between seed-to-sale and the ledger. Valuation gets built on untied quantities, and nobody finds out until someone asks.
ŌSensei (formerly Sensei FinanceOS) · Cannabis
The close for a licensed operator.
METRC that ties to the books before anyone talks valuation, 280E classified as the close runs — not reconstructed at tax time — and a hard close by Workday +5, built by a Controller with 11+ years in cannabis.
The close runs on a Finance Operating System I designed and built — an agent-led close, with the major workflows run by an agent I direct and review.
20+ years accounting & finance
Controller-level leadership
MAcct + MSDS
Built by a cannabis Controller
11+ years in cannabis
Flash WD+1 · Soft WD+3 · Hard WD+5
These checks are from internal pilot builds, backtested on worked sample closes. They are not client results, and no client data was used.
Founder, Sensei Advisors
JoMar Hester, MAcct, MSDS
Founder | Financial Systems Architect
Fractional CFO / Controller · ŌSensei
G1 · WD+1METRC quantity tie before valuation — seed-to-sale quantities agree with the books first.
G2 · WD+3Intercompany to $0 — balances between licenses and entities agree before eliminations.
G3 · WD+5License Summary checks pass before the pack is issued.
G4 · Audit-readyEvidence and workpapers checked to PCAOB standards.
The problem
Where cannabis accounting breaks.
Licensed cannabis runs on seed-to-sale data, a punitive tax code, and licenses that never stop moving. The accounting breaks in predictable places — and each one surfaces at the worst time: a lender review, a license renewal, a tax filing.
280E reconstructed at tax time
The COGS versus non-deductible split gets invented after the fact — instead of classified as costs post, all year long.
Shrink nobody explains
Inventory losses get treated as a nuisance. Unexplained shrink is a fraud indicator, and it should be handled like one.
Licenses tracked in someone's head
Held, dormant, and renewing licenses across entities — with no summary that ties to the close.
Intercompany between licenses
Transfers and fees between entities that don't eliminate cleanly, month after month.
Cash-heavy operations, light controls
Cash controls that don't match the risk — in the part of the business where the risk is highest.
The system
Built once, for cannabis. Run every month.
ŌSensei for Cannabis is a complete close system — seed-to-sale, inventory, tax, licenses, and reporting — installed on your existing accounting system, whatever that system is.
METRC reconciliation
Seed-to-sale quantities tied to the books before valuation, at Gate G1 — so inventory numbers start from agreement, not argument.
Inventory & COGS with 280E
Cost classification built into the close, with the split for 280E made as costs post — not reconstructed at tax time.
Intercompany & eliminations
Balances between licenses and entities brought to $0 before eliminations, at Gate G2.
License summary & compliance
Every license's state — held, dormant, renewing — checked before the pack is issued, at Gate G3.
Multi-entity close
Cultivation, processing, distribution, retail, and delivery on one cadence: Flash WD+1, soft close WD+3, hard close WD+5.
Cash, tax & reporting
Excise and sales tax, cash controls, and reporting a lender or investor can follow — produced from closed books.
Audit-ready
Designed to be audited: the PCAOB layer.
Every ŌSensei build is built to US GAAP, with SEC-reporting discipline, SOX-ready controls, and a PCAOB layer — audit evidence and workpaper discipline built to PCAOB standards.
After the close gates pass, a separate Gate G4 — Audit-Ready — checks evidence, workpapers, and review. A failed G4 blocks the words “audit-ready,” not the statements.
International
Built for US and international diligence: the International layer.
ŌSensei is one build with modular activation. Each client picks a US track or an International track — the system underneath is the same. Every standard is anchored two ways: to the FASB Codification and to IFRS Accounting Standards as issued by the IASB. FASB- and IASB-friendly by design, so a diligence team reads the same file on either side of the Atlantic — no translation.
Framework set per entity
Each entity carries its statutory framework, the group reporting framework, and its presentation currency on one register. Nothing is forced into a single framework.
The bridge close
Local statutory close first. Then the framework bridge. Then group consolidation, then the investor pack. The bridge ties with $0 unexplained — or the close does not pass Gate G5.
Instruments read both ways
SAFEs, convertibles, preferred shares, and warrants are analysed under both frameworks before signing — because the same instrument can be equity in one framework and a liability in the other.
Local rules stay local
Statutory calendars, indirect taxes, withholding, and R&D credit evidence are captured in registers, and local advisors file. ŌSensei never replaces the local statutory accountant.
5 vertical pilots482 pilot acceptance checks passedGate G5 Diligence-Ready — Pre-seed to Series C8 deliverables per vertical (IX-1 to IX-8)
In the Cannabis pilot: biological assets carried at fair value under IAS 41 — a $107,000 uplift where US GAAP holds cost; 280E stayed out of book COGS; and the consolidated trial balance balanced at CAD 6,396,570.
How it starts
Two ways to engage. One fixed price.
Start with a short diagnostic. If ŌSensei is a fit, the scope, price, and outcome are fixed before we start. No hourly billing.
ŌSensei Installed
The Cannabis system installed on your existing accounting system: reconciliations, schedules, review checkpoints, responsibility matrices, recurring workflows, gates, and reporting deadlines.
ŌSensei Operated
Sensei runs the close on the installed system. The major workflows are run by an agent I direct and review; judgment, exceptions, and sign-off stay with a person.
Productized, not hourly
Fixed scope. Fixed price. Defined outcome. The price is fixed after a short diagnostic, before work starts — the same model on every engagement.
See the system
The full cannabis system and a one-page sample of the close are available on request.
Request a sampleFounder
Built by a cannabis Controller.
JoMar Hester has 11+ years as a cannabis Controller — operator-side, across cultivation, processing, retail, and delivery — on top of 20+ years in accounting and finance, from a start in public accounting at Grant Thornton to SEC reporting work at a public manufacturer.
MAcctMSDS20+ yearsController leadershipFinancial Systems Architecture
Start with the accounting problem
If the cannabis numbers are hard to trust, the system needs work.
Tell me what is happening in your accounting or finance operation. If ŌSensei is a fit, the scope, price, and outcome are fixed before we start. No hourly billing.
Prefer email? jomar@senseiadvisors.com
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