The Numbers Behind
Every Batch.
Craft beverage is one of the most financially complex industries in the country — production costs, tasting room margins, distribution breakeven, and compliance costs all running simultaneously. We built the operating systems to manage all of it.
Higher
Tasting room vs. distribution margins
Channel economics differ significantly — both need to be tracked
6+
Revenue streams tracked
Per SKU, per channel, per location
Varies
Cost per bottle by spirit type
Production cost tracking reveals true profitability
Meaningful
Value of financial visibility
Operators consistently report better decisions once reporting is in place
What Keeps Distillery Owners Up at Night
Craft beverage is a passion business. The financials are anything but simple.
Production Cost Opacity
You know what a batch costs in ingredients. But do you know the true cost per bottle after labor, energy, barrel depreciation, and overhead allocation? Most distilleries don't — and it's killing their margins.
Tasting Room vs. Distribution Confusion
Tasting room revenue feels great. Distribution feels like volume. But which channel is actually more profitable after all costs? Without channel-level P&Ls, you're flying blind on your growth strategy.
Multi-State Distribution Complexity
Every state has different licensing requirements, distributor agreements, and tax treatment. Managing compliance across Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon without a system is a full-time job.
Cash Flow Timing Mismatches
Production cash goes out months before revenue comes in. Barrels age for years. Seasonal tasting room traffic creates feast-or-famine cycles. Without a cash flow model, you're always reacting.
Payroll Complexity
Tasting room staff, production crew, delivery drivers, and management — often with different pay structures, tip reporting requirements, and seasonal headcount swings. Payroll errors in this industry are expensive.
Distributor Accountability
Are your distributors actually performing? Without tracking revenue by distributor, territory, and SKU, you can't renegotiate contracts from a position of knowledge or identify underperforming markets.
From Gut Feel to
Operating Intelligence
This Montana craft distillery produces multiple spirit categories — each with different production costs, aging timelines, and channel economics. Before 406, they had QuickBooks and instinct. After, they had a full operating system.
5
Spirit categories tracked
6
Revenue channels modeled
44
Dashboard modules built
Financial Visibility That Runs the Distillery
The KPIs we track for distillery clients — built from the ground up based on how craft beverage businesses actually operate.
Services for Craft Beverage Producers
Production Cost Accounting
Full cost allocation by batch, SKU, and spirit type. Know your true cost per bottle before you price.
Tasting Room Financial Management
Daily revenue tracking, product mix analysis, labor cost management, and seasonal forecasting.
Distribution Breakeven Analysis
State-by-state and SKU-level breakeven modeling so you know which markets to grow and which to exit.
Cash Flow Forecasting
Rolling 13-week forecast accounting for production cycles, aging inventory, and seasonal revenue patterns.
QuickBooks Integration
Full QuickBooks setup and management integrated with your POS, payroll, and distributor reporting.
Custom Operating Dashboards
Industry-specific dashboards showing production KPIs, tasting room performance, and distribution metrics in one view.
We Also Build the Operating Systems
Beyond financial consulting, we build custom production dashboards, tasting room analytics tools, and Zoho CRM implementations for craft beverage clients. Our work with a local Montana distillery is a proof point of what’s possible.
Learn About Business SystemsWhat We've Done for Craft Beverage Producers
Real outcomes from real distilleries, breweries, and beverage producers — not projections.
Craft Distillery — $1.4M, Montana
Rebuilt TTB reporting from scratch after discovering 14 months of incorrect excise tax calculations. Corrected filings, eliminated penalty exposure, and implemented automated production tracking.
Craft Brewery — $2.1M, Idaho
Restructured from sole proprietor to S-corp, corrected FICA tip credit claims, and implemented quarterly estimated tax planning. Net savings of $18K in year one.
Regional Winery — $3.6M, Oregon
Built lender-ready financials with inventory valuation and harvest cycle cash flow model. Secured a $900K revolving credit line to fund barrel aging and seasonal production costs.
What Craft Beverage Producers Say
“Our TTB filings were wrong for over a year. 406 found it, fixed it, and rebuilt our production tracking so it never happens again. The penalty exposure alone made the engagement worth it.”
“Brewery accounting is not like regular accounting. 406 actually understands excise tax, taproom vs. distribution margins, and how to read a production report. Finally, someone who speaks our language.”
Who You’re Actually Working With
Two founders who’ve sat on both sides of your financials
Craft beverage is capital-intensive and margin-opaque — exactly the kind of business that needs a lender's eye on the financing and an operator's eye on the systems. You aren’t handed off to a junior bookkeeper. You work directly with the people whose names are on the door — and their backgrounds are exactly the ones a growing business needs in its corner.
Carrie Anderson
Co-Founder · The Lender’s Eye
A former commercial banker and underwriter who personally reviewed 300+ business loans. She knows exactly how a bank reads your financials to decide what you can borrow — because she used to be the one reading them. That’s why our clients’ books come out lender-ready, not just tax-ready.
Jason Anderson
Co-Founder · The Operator’s Eye
A big-firm-trained accountant with a lifelong passion for processes, efficiency, and Six Sigma— made practical, not academic. He builds the job costing, tax strategy, and systems that let a company actually see where its money goes and scale without the wheels coming off.
Both spent years in the oil & gas industry, and both design financial systems from a whole-company view— not just an accounting lens. You get a firm that reads your numbers like a lender and builds systems like an operator.
Meet the teamRemote, and better for it
Wherever your business is, we’re in Montana.Here’s why that’s an advantage.
The best accountant for your business almost certainly isn’t the one with the nearest office. Modern accounting runs on cloud books, a secure portal, screen-share, and video — so the relationship is built on expertise and responsiveness, not drive time. A great remote firm beats an okay local one every single time.
About 80%of even our own local Montana clients run the entire relationship remotely — and never come into the office. Working with your business is exactly the same.
Cloud books, always on
Your numbers live in the cloud — you can see them any time, not just at tax season.
Real conversations
Scheduled video reviews and screen-shares where we walk through the numbers together.
Secure document portal
Send and sign everything safely — no dropping off a shoebox of receipts.
Same-day responsiveness
You get faster answers from us by email and call than from most firms down the street.
Distillery & Beverage Accounting FAQ
How is accounting different for a distillery or craft beverage producer?
Craft beverage is capital-intensive and margin-opaque: money goes into equipment, barrels, and inventory that can age for months or years before it sells, so your bank balance rarely reflects how the business is really doing. Good accounting for a producer means real production and batch costing, aging inventory tracked as the asset it is, and a clear line between what the tasting room makes and what distribution makes. Generic bookkeeping misses all of it.
Do you handle federal excise tax and TTB reporting?
Yes. We help distilleries and breweries stay on top of federal excise tax and the recordkeeping and reporting that comes with a federal permit, and we keep your books structured so the numbers reconcile with what you report. We're not a substitute for your regulatory counsel on licensing questions, but we make sure the financial side is clean, accurate, and defensible.
How do you track production and batch costs?
We build costing that follows the product: raw materials, labor, barrels and packaging, and overhead allocated to each batch, so you know your true cost per bottle or case — not just a company-wide average. For aged products, we track inventory through its life so the cost is captured when the product finally sells, giving you real margin by product line instead of a guess.
Can you separate tasting-room and distribution economics?
Yes, and it's one of the most valuable things we do for producers. A tasting room and a distribution channel have completely different margins, and blending them hides which one is actually funding the business. We segment the two so you can see true profitability by channel and decide where to put your next dollar of time and capital.
Can you work with our distillery remotely?
Yes. Production and financial data live in the cloud, and reviews happen over video and screen-share, so we work with craft producers wherever they are — and craft beverage is a geographically scattered industry, so most of our producer relationships are remote by nature. About 80% of our own local clients are fully remote too. A great remote firm that genuinely understands beverage beats an okay local one that doesn't.
Start With a Number, Not a Sales Call
Not ready to talk yet? See where your business stands first — each takes just a few minutes and costs nothing.
Financial Maturity Assessment
See exactly where your finances stand — from chaos to strategy — in about 8 minutes.
Try it freeS-Corp Tax Calculator
Find out whether an S-corp election could cut your self-employment tax this year.
Try it freeBreakeven Calculator
Find the volume your distillery or brewery needs to cover its fixed costs and start making money.
Try it freeReady to Know Your Numbers?
We work with craft distilleries, breweries, wineries, and beverage producers across Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and the Pacific Northwest. Start with a free diagnostic call.
Get in TouchNo commitment. 30-minute call. We'll tell you exactly what we'd do differently.