US: Rise of craft beer highlights needs in accounting and tax planning

(NBBJ) - After a number of accounting and advising firms have found a focus in serving the specific needs of the North Bay wine industry, demand from a different beverage category — craft beer — is highlighting another niche for tax and bookkeeping.

Many North Bay accounting firms with clients in both industries drew parallels between brewing and winemaking, including the heightened financial reporting requirements required as alcohol producers.

Yet as craft beer explodes in popularity in the North Bay and beyond, the accounting and tax nuances facing an ever-growing roster of craft brewers are becoming a topic of increased interest for the region’s large and small brewers alike.

“For many years, a lot of us were driving in the dark, trying to help each other. It was easier to get someone to help you with equipment and sourcing ingredients than finances,” said Tom McCormick, executive director of the industry trade group, the California Craft Brewers Association. “It’s just now beginning to develop where we’re seeing some people who are popping up to serve our industry.”

Sonoma County craft breweries, along with distillers and cider makers, were responsible for nearly $450,000 in outside accounting,  tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services in 2012, according to the first-ever Sonoma County Craft Beverage report released last week by the Sonoma County Economic Development Board.

Those breweries — currently 18 in Sonoma County alone — range widely in size. The largest in the region, Petaluma’s Lagunitas Brewing Company, produced more than 250,000 barrels of beer last year and plans to produce over 2 million after expansion both locally and within a new Chicago facility, according to the EDB. Other larger-scale producers include Cloverdale’s Bear Republic Brewing Company and Boonville’s Anderson Valley Brewing Company.