For most marijuana retailers, the humble penny has rarely been a topic of concern. That is changing. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Mint to halt production of the penny.
Since then, financial institutions have begun limiting the number of pennies they distribute. The shift has drawn little public attention, but businesses that rely heavily on cash are beginning to feel the impact. Cannabis dispensaries are among the first to notice.
Although digital payment tools have expanded in recent years, marijuana sales still involve a significant amount of physical currency. In many states, store owners estimate that about one-third of transactions are settled in cash, though the figure can be higher depending on location and clientele. When exact change becomes difficult to provide, that problem repeats itself at the counter all day.
One purchase, rounded up or down, may seem insignificant. Hundreds in a single day tell a different story.
Without pennies, merchants are advised by the U.S. Treasury to round totals to the nearest nickel. That approach leaves no middle ground. If the final figure is adjusted upward, customers pay slightly more. If it is reduced, the retailer absorbs the shortfall. Over time, those five-cent differences accumulate.
If rounding decisions create a variance of even $15 to $25 each day, the monthly effect becomes noticeable. Over the year, the total can reach into the thousands. For operators managing slim margins, especially in competitive markets with high compliance costs, that sum matters.
Beyond the financial impact, inconsistency is emerging as a concern. Many dispensaries have not formally set a rounding policy. In practice, the decision often falls to individual employees. One cashier may round down, another up. A third might try to balance things based on instinct. The result is uneven treatment at the register and discrepancies in the till.
That inconsistency can complicate bookkeeping. Most point-of-sale systems were designed with exact change in mind. When coins are unavailable, small gaps appear between recorded sales and cash on hand. Drawer shortages become more frequent. Minor sales tax differences surface during reconciliation. None of these issues triggers immediate alarms, but over time, they create irregularities in financial reports.
In the marijuana sector, irregularities attract scrutiny. Regulators, auditors, and financial partners tend to examine even small discrepancies closely. For businesses operating in a tightly regulated environment, added noise in the numbers is unwelcome.
There is also a governance question. If rounding is occurring, it should be clearly documented. Otherwise, it remains unclear who bears the difference and how it is reflected in accounting records. Many existing point-of-sale contracts did not anticipate a scenario in which pennies would be unavailable, and some operators have yet to revisit those arrangements.
Larger metropolitan markets may have more flexibility, including alternative payment options and broader banking relationships. Newer or smaller markets often depend more on lean staffing and cash. In those settings, even modest inconsistencies stand out.
To solve the issue, some retailers have chosen a specific rounding method, configured their systems accordingly, trained employees, and monitored the results. When customers ask about a five-cent adjustment, staff can provide a straightforward explanation.
Others continue to treat the change as a minor nuisance. The same purchase is processed differently depending on who is behind the counter. Over time, those small variations compound, making reconciliation more complex.
The shrinking supply of pennies is not, by itself, a crisis for marijuana businesses. It does, however, highlight how interconnected routine operations can be. Cash management, margin pressures, and compliance requirements already demand careful attention. A small disruption in coin availability can ripple through daily processes more than expected.
For marijuana, the solution is deliberate planning. Establish a clear policy. Implement it consistently. Monitor the numbers. A single coin will not determine a company’s future. But a series of small, unaddressed issues can compound over time, and this is one more factor operators can no longer afford to ignore.
It would be interesting to hear what experience established entities like Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF) are having with the shrinking supply of pennies for use during cash transactions.
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