Priority Software enters cannabis space with new ERP product

Priority Software, which makes business management solutions, has entered the cannabis business with Priority Cannabis ERP, a seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning software to manage all aspects of the plant life cycle.

“Priority’s go-to-market strategy continues to be to find the right partners from the cannabis and accounting industry,” said Eran Rozenfeld, managing director of Priority US. “As a new vertical, we’re looking for partners that will join Priority to help customers in installing the system, and provide services — that’s a big thing.”

As cannabis becomes legalized state by state, accounting and enterprise software companies that adopt this vertical now are getting in on the ground floor of what promises to be a lucrative industry.

Priority is well positioned to serve the field because it has a history of serving the pharmaceutical industry, which also requires meticulous tracking of every chemical from production to consumption.

“Pharmaceuticals has been the most helpful industry experience,” said Rozenfeld. “Most items that help the cannabis industry have already been used for many years by pharma companies. The main items are lot number tracking, full traceability, distribution, bill of materials (recipes), and quality assurance, which is a very big thing.”

To ensure compliant growing processes, seed-to-sale reporting, recordkeeping and accounting, Priority Cannabis ERP provides a detailed bill of materials, with support for purchase planning, requisitions, delivery scheduling, warehouse management, shipments, contracts, and billing. The workflow is automated using data analytics, data integration and APIs, and connection with the internet of Things. The mobile ERP capabilities let managers and teams to access real-time crop and plot data from a Priority app.

Priority Software didn’t just superimpose its pharmaceutical ERP onto cannabis and call it a day, according to = Rozenfeld, who said the company collaborated with experts and consultants from the cannabis industry and works closely with a network of professionals like growers and processors.

“Our financial and accounting module is on steroids, because it’s not just accounting — it’s budget control, fixed assets, which you usually don’t see in accounting software, and cost allocation,” Rozenfeld said. “Usually you see cannabis management software that’s just for cannabis. But when you do outgrow your accounting software or your only cannabis software, you have to go to ERP. We provide more items like a human resources module, customer relationship management, and so on.”

A marijuana-growing business in Colorado
Marijuana plants grow in a greenhouse at the Los Suenos Farms facility in Avondale, Colorado, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016. About 938 dispensaries, which outnumber Starbucks in Colorado, in 2015 yielded $135 million in state taxes and fees, 44 percent more than a year earlier. Yet as the market enters its third year after voters legalized retail sales in 2012, officials question whether the newfound income outweighs the escalating social costs. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg
Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

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