Why Timely Reporting Is Critical
Have you ever wondered why Salal Credit Union asks you to submit your monthly cannabis sales totals in a timely manner? It’s all part of Salal’s effort to keep cannabis regulators happy and maintain our cannabis banking program for the benefit of all our members.
Your Attestation and Our Compliance Role
For those of our members who have a licensed cannabis checking account, you may recall signing an initial Attestation affirming that your business is familiar with the national cannabis-related Cole Memo, and that your company does not engage in any illegal activities that are priorities for federal enforcement:
Those unlawful activities include, among others, engaging in the sale of illegal items such as non-cannabis drugs or firearms. Under Salal’s compliance responsibilities, we ensure that your cannabis sales align with your account deposits, and we reach out to you to inquire about any discrepancies.
How Reporting Works
We run these calculations every quarter, and while you are encouraged to submit your sales reports monthly, we must receive each quarter’s sales reporting figures immediately following the end of each calendar quarter.
Submitting Sales Through the Compliance Member Center
For efficiency and to keep your account fees low, we collect your sales figures through our Compliance Member Center. This system sends your designated compliance contact an email on the 5th of each month requesting the previous month’s sales report, which includes licensed cannabis sales, unlicensed sales of non-cannabis items, and sales or excise taxes collected by your business.
Avoiding Fees with Timely Reporting
You are welcome to provide the monthly sales figures immediately upon receipt of the notification. If sales figures are not received by the 25th of that following month, the Compliance Member Center will begin sending you automated email reminders. “Your timely completion of sales tasks goes beyond just ‘checking a box,’” said Hillary Carlson, Senior Business Banking Program Analyst. “It is essential to protect the cannabis banking program that we all rely on.”
Reporting for Multiple Licenses
Some of our members hold more than one cannabis license, and in these cases, the system requires sales figures to be entered for each permit. After entering three sales figures, including any zeroes, for your first license, use the dropdown menu on the lower right to select your next license for data entry:
Need Help or an Extension? Let Us Know Early
If you encounter an unexpected barrier to submitting your sales figures on time, please reach out to your Account Officer as early as possible. A late reporting fee of $250 will be assessed to all members who have not submitted their sales reports by each end-of-quarter deadline, and we want to help you avoid that fee.
Changing Your Compliance Contact
We recognize that sometimes the person you initially designated as your compliance contact may no longer wish to fill that role, and we’re happy to help you change your compliance contact. “We appreciate your dedication to this requirement, and we are here to support you,” Hillary assured. “Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need help making sure the right people from your team have access to the compliance portal.”
We’ll send you a short one-page DocuSign, and then when we create a profile for your new compliance contact, we’ll send an informational email with a training video and FAQ. There is also a detailed User Guide available in PDF format, which you can consult each time you complete a task in our Compliance Member Center.
Add Sub-Users for Shared Compliance Duties
If you are your business’s primary compliance contact, you can also enlist others at your company to assist you with these duties. Just log in to your profile in our Compliance Member Center, and on your dashboard, visit the Users tab to add or update sub-user profiles for your colleagues:
We’re Here to Support Your Success
Should you encounter any technical difficulties using our Compliance Member Center, please don’t hesitate to contact your Account Officer or our Business Compliance team at BusinessCompliance@salalcu.org. We’re here to help keep our cannabis banking program in compliance for everyone’s benefit, so you can keep your focus on managing your business toward success.
