Craft Brewery Financial Training Podcast

A successful annual business plan requires follow-through long after the planning meeting ends. In this episode, Max and Chris from Groundhog HQ share how breweries and beer wholesalers can build stronger partnerships through focused priorities, realistic targets, and consistent communication.We discuss how to prepare for more productive planning meetings, connect sales goals to specific tactics and budgets, and keep plans relevant as market conditions change.Plus, learn how Groundhog HQ brings shared plans, spending, and performance tracking into one place to help both partners stay aligned throughout the year.Key Takeaways:Do the homework before the meeting. Share market data and discuss priorities in advance so meeting time focuses on decisions, resources, and execution.Focus your efforts. Identify three or four major priorities, set realistic targets, and support each with specific tactics, dollars, and team commitments.Keep the plan alive. Review actual results against goals regularly and adjust tactics as distribution opportunities and market conditions change.Use accountability to improve the partnership. Track commitments, spending, and completed activities to understand what worked and make better decisions together.ResourcesConnect with Max ([email protected]) or Chris ([email protected]) to learn more.Get the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics and strategies to run a more profitable beer business. Today’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

How can brewery memberships and loyalty programs turn occasional visitors into regular customers? Today we are joined by brewery leaders from Vacancy Brewing, Loma Brewing, and MoMac Brewing to explore what’s working in their taprooms. You'll hear practical examples of simple membership tiers, weekly rewards, exclusive experiences, and staff involvement that encourage repeat visits and build stronger customer relationships.Actionable Takeaways:Build your program around a specific goal. Decide whether you want more frequent visits, stronger slow-day sales, or greater community engagement. Ask your regulars which benefits they would value before designing the offer.Keep the membership easy to understand. Start with one or two tiers and clear benefits. Consider monthly enrollment with flexible cancellation to lower the commitment for customers.Give members a recurring reason to return. Pair weekly rewards with benefits such as early access to new beers or member events. Choose perks that customers value and your brewery can afford to deliver.Make promotion part of daily operations. Train staff to explain the program, place QR codes where customers can easily find them, and coordinate app notifications with email and text messages to keep communications useful.ResourcesLearn more about how Tapwyse can level-up your loyalty and membership programsGet the Brewery Profit Brief - simple ideas to improve cash flow in your business.Today’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

Private events can do more than fill your taproom for a few hours - they can introduce new customers, generate repeat bookings, and create more predictable revenue. In this episode, we hear from Skyler Lewis, founder of Evently, about pricing events profitably, creating clear offers, and converting more inquiries into bookings. Learn how to simplify the booking process and build an events program that works for your brewery.Key Takeaways:Make booking easy. Show capacity, availability, pricing, and policies upfront so customers can make a decision while they’re excited about your space.Track your conversion rate. Measure inquiries versus confirmed bookings. Improving conversion can generate more revenue from the leads you already receive.Price for profitability. Account for displaced walk-in sales, staffing, and the value of a private experience. Consider minimum spends plus rental fees, with higher pricing during peak periods.Turn event guests into future customers. Promote upcoming events and private booking options so one successful gathering can lead to repeat visits and additional parties.Build a pipeline of repeat bookings. Introduce your space to nearby businesses, host a showcase, and follow up with past organizers about quarterly gatherings and annual celebrations.ResourcesLearn more about EventlyGet the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics, and strategies to improve financial results in your beer businessToday’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

What if you could see your brewery’s financial performance throughout the month instead of waiting weeks for the books to close? In this podcast episode, I talk with Rob Hamilton of Digits about how AI is changing accounting, from categorizing transactions and processing invoices to giving business owners more timely insight into spending and financial results.Rob explains where automation can reduce manual work and why accountants still play a critical role in reviewing exceptions, validating results, and advising owners.We also discuss how breweries can evaluate their existing systems, identify bottlenecks, and build a more connected financial workflow before making a software change.Key TakeawaysGet financial information sooner. More timely reporting helps owners spot spending changes and make informed decisions throughout the month.Automate routine work while retaining oversight. AI can handle repetitive tasks and flag transactions that require human judgment.Connected systems improve results. The ability of your bank, payroll, POS, and inventory systems to share data affects how much you can automate.Start with your goals and workflow. Map where information comes from and identify manual bottlenecks before choosing new accounting software.ResourcesLearn more about the Beer Business Finance Association - tips, tactics and strategies to build a more profitable businessToday’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

In this episode, I talk with Chris Overlay from Get Hoptimized about how breweries can build a repeatable system for generating more private-event leads. Chris walks us through what your website needs before you start advertising, how to showcase your space and amenities, and how to use Meta ads and dedicated landing pages to reach potential customers. We also dig into common mistakes, the importance of fast follow-up, and the numbers you should track to determine whether your marketing is actually paying off.Key TakeawaysGet your foundation right first. Before spending money on ads, make sure you have great photos, a dedicated private-events page, a simple inquiry form, and the proper tracking in place.Sell the experience, not the discount. Showcase your space, amenities, and the types of events you can accommodate. Focus on helping the customer create a great event rather than competing primarily on price.Use the right advertising strategy. Chris recommends lead-focused Meta campaigns rather than simply boosting posts, with multiple creative approaches directing prospects to a dedicated landing page.Respond quickly to every lead. Generating inquiries doesn't matter if you're slow to follow up or don't have a clear process for converting those inquiries into bookings.Know your numbers. Track cost per lead, average value of a lead, bookings generated, and return on ad spend so you can understand what works and invest accordingly.ResourcesConnect with Chris and learn more about marketing services offered by Get HoptimizedGet the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics and strategies to grow cash flow and profitToday’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

In this episode, I’m introducing my new book, Brewery Finance Basics, a practical financial handbook designed to help brewery owners and managers build a more profitable, sustainable business. The book brings together 12 essential areas of brewery finance, from understanding your numbers and managing margins to cash flow, budgeting, benchmarks, and financial operating systems.I’ll also share lessons from the first chapter: Brewery Financial Standard Operating Procedures. Just as you wouldn’t brew beer without a recipe and a process, you shouldn’t run the financial side of your brewery without one. Financial SOPs create the consistency, accuracy, and accountability you need to produce reliable numbers, and use those numbers to make better decisions.Key TakeawaysWhy financial systems matter. Great financial management is about creating repeatable processes that produce reliable information and better decisions.The 8 essential financial SOPs every brewery should consider: month-end close, monthly financial review, budgeting and forecasting, cash management, revenue and receivables, purchases and payables, inventory management, and tax reporting.How to build a financial SOP from scratch. Establish the goal, determine how success will be measured, assign one person to own the process, identify the tools involved, and document the specific steps to follow.Turn recurring financial tasks into simple checklists. Define what needs to be done, when it needs to happen, who is responsible, and how completion is documented - especially for critical processes like the month-end close.Start small and build your financial playbook over time. Pick one process—cash management, inventory, or month-end close—and document it. Then move on to the next. Each SOP brings you closer to the consistent, accurate financial information you need to improve profitability and cash flow.Get the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics and strategies to improve cash flow in your business.Today’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

Most breweries spend hours every week pulling reports from accounting software, brewery management systems, payroll platforms, and spreadsheets, only to end up with outdated or incorrect data. In this Brewery Financial Round Table, we revisit the four-part Financial Operating System and welcome Jeremy Carney from Central Coast Analytics to demonstrate how breweries can automate their most important KPIs into a single, live dashboard. Learn how real-time financial visibility improves accountability and helps your team make better decisions every week.Key TakeawaysUnderstand the four components of the Brewery Financial Operating System and how they work together to improve financial performance.See how brewery software, accounting systems, payroll platforms, and spreadsheets can be connected into one automated dashboard.Discover how live, real-time dashboards eliminate manual reporting while giving every department visibility into the metrics they own.Walk away with a practical roadmap for building a financial reporting system that saves time, improves accountability, and helps your brewery make faster, better decisions.ResourcesConnect with Jeremy Carney from Central Coast Analytics and learn how he can help you build an automated financial dashboard - [email protected] the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics and best practices to build a financially sustainable brewery business. Today’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

Most breweries have a financial operating system problem. What I mean by this is that financial statements arrive too late, budgets get ignored, department managers don't know what numbers matter, and owners end up carrying the financial burden alone. In this episode, I walk through a practical four-step framework for installing a Brewery Financial Operating System to solve this problem. You'll learn how to build financial confidence across your leadership team, create a meaningful annual financial plan, establish department KPIs, and implement weekly financial huddles that turn numbers into action. If you want your brewery to become more profitable, improve cash flow, and make faster, better decisions, this episode will show you where to start.Key TakeawaysThe four pillars of a Financial Operating System. Learn how financial literacy, annual planning, department KPIs, and weekly financial huddles work together to create accountability and improve performance.How to create financially confident leaders. Understand why every department manager - not just the owner or accountant - should know how their daily decisions impact profitability and cash flow.How to connect strategy to execution. See how one primary financial goal cascades into department-level KPIs that teams can measure and improve every week.Why weekly financial huddles change everything. Learn a simple meeting cadence that keeps everyone focused on results, identifies problems early, and creates a culture of continuous improvement.ResourcesLearn more about the 90 Day Brewery Financial Reboot ProgramGet the Brewery Profit Brief. Weekly tips, tactics and best practices to build a financially resilient brewery.Today’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

Beer loss is often accepted as the cost of doing business, but it could be one of your biggest taproom profit opportunities. After tracking beer loss in spreadsheets, Brent Reynard discovered his brewery was losing nearly 21% of draft beer revenue every month through foam, temperature issues, over-pouring, and operational blind spots. Rather than accept it as the cost of doing business, he built Draft Control - software designed to track beer loss, uncover root causes, and help breweries make better financial decisions. In this episode we explore how better data can reduce waste, improve margins, and replace gut feel with measurable profitability.Key TakeawaysWhy draft beer loss may be far larger and more expensive than most owners realizeHow Brent reduced draft loss from roughly 20% to single digits using visibility, accountability, and operational changesThe “profit per day” metric and how to evaluate draft lines based on both sales velocity and profitabilityWhy the highest-priced beer isn’t always the most profitable beerHow data-driven decisions around pours, pricing, and inventory can create a stronger, more profitable taproomResourcesConnect with Brent, [email protected] the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics and strategies to run a more profitable beer businessToday’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies. 

Events can be one of the most effective ways for breweries to drive traffic, increase customer visits, and create stronger community connections. In this episode, SkylerLewis from Evently joins our Taproom Success monthly expert to discuss how breweries can build event programs that create predictable recurring revenue. Key Takeaways:Private events have become a critical growth lever for breweries in today’s market - learn how to streamline the planning process to turn inquiries into solid bookingsThe event formats and programming strategies that are generating the strongest results right now.How successful breweries think about event ROI beyond ticket sales, including guest spend and repeat visits.Common event mistakes breweries make and practical ways to improve execution and attendance.ResourcesConnect with Skyler from Evently, [email protected] the Brewery Profit Brief - tips, tactics and strategies to build a more profitable brewery businessToday’s episode is brought to you by BevCap. At Beer Business Finance, we talk a lot about installing systems that improve profitability and health insurance should be no exception. BevCap helps beverage companies apply the same discipline they use across the rest of the P&L to employee benefits, helping create smarter plans, more visibility into costs, and significant savings over time. To learn more visit BevCapManagement.com. Ready to transform financial results in your beer business? Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of owners and managers working together to build more profitable companies.