Landscape accounting that handles seasonal swings.
Lawn care, hardscape, irrigation, and snow removal — seasonal cash flow planning and the tax timing that keeps a landscape company solvent year-round.
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Landscape contracting in Colorado is two businesses in one. April through October you are running landscape, mowing, irrigation, and hardscape crews at full capacity. November through March you are either doing snow removal at midnight, holding cash for spring start-up, or both. The accounting question that defines whether you reach year-five: are you saving from the busy months to fund the slow ones?
We work with maintenance shops (recurring mow-and-blow), design-build hardscape contractors, and snow-removal specialists. Each has different revenue patterns and different tax-planning needs. The framework adjusts to your mix.
What we handle for landscape companies
- Recurring service revenue — track maintenance contracts as scheduled revenue with monthly recognition.
- Job costing for installations and hardscape with materials, equipment, labor, and crew burden per job.
- Crew payroll including H-2B seasonal worker programs where applicable.
- Equipment depreciation on mowers, skid steers, trucks, trailers, and irrigation tools — Section 179 timing.
- Snow removal contracts — handle the deferred-revenue side of seasonal contracts so December P&L reflects reality.
- Quarterly tax planning with cash-flow projections so spring start-up is funded before March 1.
Software we work in
- Aspire — for shops over $1M with crew dispatching and route optimization.
- LMN — strong job costing and estimating for hardscape and design-build.
- SingleOps, Service Autopilot, Jobber — for smaller maintenance shops.
- QuickBooks Online + QuickBooks Time — when the field-service platform is overkill.
Pricing
| Shop type | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Solo / 1 crew, residential maintenance | $400 – $600 |
| 3–8 crews, mowing + installation | $700 – $1,300 |
| Design-build with hardscape, $1M+ | $1,200 – $2,500 |
A commercial snow-removal contractor was booking all October-paid annual contracts as October revenue. Their fall P&L looked exceptional and February (when most of the actual plowing happens) looked terrible. After we deferred the seasonal revenue across the contract period, the P&L finally matched the work being done — and the bank stopped questioning the volatility.
If you are residential mow-and-blow only, simple cash basis works fine for now.
If you do install work over $5K per job, you need job costing or you cannot price the next bid intelligently.
If you do snow removal with annual contracts, deferred-revenue accounting is required to read your P&L correctly.
Books that survive winter and price spring correctly.
Maintenance, install, hardscape, snow — we handle the mix and the seasonality.
Frequently asked questions
How do I plan for spring start-up cash?
We build a 6-month rolling cash flow projection in fall that accounts for winter revenue collapse, fixed insurance and equipment payments, payroll for any retained crew, and the spring start-up costs (mulch, fertilizer, plants, equipment maintenance). The output: how much you need to land on March 1 — and what to do now to get there.
Can you handle H-2B seasonal worker payroll?
Yes. H-2B workers are W-2 employees subject to all standard payroll tax rules with specific reporting requirements. We coordinate with your immigration attorney on the certification side and run the payroll correctly on our end.
What is the workers comp class code for landscaping?
0042 (Landscape Gardening) is the most common. Snow removal can fall under different codes depending on equipment and method. We split the audit wage report correctly by class code so you do not get re-rated upward.
How do I expense equipment correctly?
Most equipment qualifies for Section 179 immediate expensing. Trucks over 6,000 lbs gross may qualify for bonus depreciation in addition. We model the multi-year impact before the purchase so you choose the right tax year for the deduction.
Do I charge sales tax on landscaping?
In Colorado, the sales-tax answer depends on whether the work is improvement-to-real-property (typically not taxable to customer) or sale-of-tangible-property like sod, mulch, or pavers (typically taxable). We set up your invoicing to handle the distinction correctly.