Bookkeeping for Landscaping Businesses
Is your busiest season also when the books fall furthest behind? Bookkeeping for landscaping businesses from Ledger & Logic keeps your income, your crew costs, and your material purchases recorded through the season, without taking your evenings in July.
A landscaping year is hardly a full calendar year. The money arrives in a rush between spring and fall, the costs do not follow the same rhythm, and the slower months look nothing like the busy ones.
When you work with Ledger & Logic, LLC, you work with the same bookkeeper each month, someone who learns your seasonality and what a normal month looks like in your business.
Where a bookkeeping plan starts
For contractors, landscapers, and other project-based businesses, we also review how materials, subcontractor costs, customer deposits, and progress payments are recorded to identify any areas that need attention.
From there, the year gets recorded in a way that shows its shape, so a spring carrying most of your revenue reads differently from a February that carries almost none.
If something in a month does not look like your usual season, we will discuss it with you that month.
Who this helps
You are in the right place if any of these are familiar:
- Your revenue arrives in a few months and your costs are spread across twelve
- You run recurring maintenance alongside one-off installs and would like them shown separately
- Crew size changes with the season and the payroll record needs to keep up
- You buy plants, mulch, stone, or sod per job and the receipts arrive faster than anyone can file them
- Customers pay a deposit up front and the balance once the work is finished
- You add snow removal or holiday work in the winter and it sits in the books differently
- Your books fall behind every summer and get sorted out every winter
We are in Lorton, Virginia, and work with small businesses across Northern Virginia. Because the work happens in your cloud-based QuickBooks file, we can support clients anywhere in the country.
We work with landscape maintenance companies, design and installation firms, lawn care businesses, and hardscaping contractors.
Sound like your business?
How bookkeeping for landscaping businesses works
A personal consultation
Tell us how your season runs, how you bill maintenance against installs, and what you would like to see at the end of the year. From that, we can usually give you a broad pricing range on the call itself.
A review of your books
We review what you have now, so the plan we quote fits what is there.
Your plan and fee
You receive a clear scope and price before work begins, including which services are part of your plan.
Access
We help you grant accountant access to QuickBooks Online and, where available, read-only access to your business bank and credit card accounts so we can retrieve statements directly. If your financial institution does not offer that access, you can share statements through QuickBooks Online or a shared Google Drive folder.
Your setup
We agree how your maintenance work, projects, and cost categories should be set up in QuickBooks Online, and put that in place within the agreed scope. Where the file needs work before that, we will discuss it with you first.
Each month
We record and code your transactions, reconcile the accounts in the agreed scope, and prepare your reports.
What your plan can include
- Monthly bookkeeping, with the business bank and credit card accounts included in your plan reconciled and your reports prepared each month
- Recurring maintenance income and project income recorded separately, where that is included in your plan
- Plant, mulch, stone, and other material purchases allocated to the property or job they were bought for, where job costing is included in your plan
- Deposits and completion payments associated with the appropriate job and recorded according to the applicable accounting treatment
- Vendor records kept current and W-9s collected from vendors when applicable
- Vendor bills entered, coded, and paid according to an agreed process, where accounts payable is part of your plan
- Payroll support through the payroll provider you already use, based on the services included in your plan
- Equipment purchases recorded for your tax preparer to review, where applicable
Where your books are behind, that is catch-up bookkeeping, quoted as a separate project. Where the file itself needs corrections first, that is bookkeeping cleanup, and we quote the two together.
What this gives you
With accurate financial records, you’ll have a clearer picture of your business’s income and expenses, helping you make more informed decisions when planning for the next season.
Your vendor records stay current through the season, so missing W-9 information can be identified before January.
A slow February reads as a slow February, rather than as a problem, because the year is recorded in a way that shows its shape.
How it is priced
Your fee is a personalized monthly amount based on the services in your plan.
A flat monthly fee makes bookkeeping easier to budget for. Your personalized plan outlines the work and level of support included. If your needs change, we discuss any adjustments with you before changing the scope or fee.
If your business needs job costing, we’ll review your existing systems and discuss the setup and ongoing support required before providing a quote.
Your plan runs month to month, with no long-term commitment. A written service agreement outlines the scope, fees, responsibilities, and cancellation process, including any required notice.
Want to know what your plan would cost?
What we need from you
Less than you might expect, once we have agreed how the information reaches us.
Once access is set up, we retrieve bank and credit card statements directly where available. You provide receipts, supporting documents, and details about transactions that need clarification through QuickBooks Online or a shared Google Drive folder. We group questions where practical to make responding easier.
What helps most in a busy season is a note of which property or job a purchase was for, on the supplier receipt or on whatever your crew turns in. Where that is missing, we will ask rather than guessing.
Frequently asked questions
Can you start in the middle of the season?
Yes. We review what you have now and agree what to bring up to date first. Where the books are behind, that work is quoted as a separate project with its own scope and fee.
Can you show maintenance and installation work separately?
Yes, where that is included in your plan. They behave differently through the year, so seeing them apart is usually more useful than seeing one combined figure.
What happens in the off season?
The work gets lighter and your plan stays the same. A quiet month is a good time to look at what the season actually earned, and the reports are easier to act on when you are not out on jobs.
Not seeing your question? Read the full FAQAsk Kris on a call
A note on taxes. Ledger & Logic provides bookkeeping services and does not prepare or file income tax returns. With your permission, we work directly with your tax preparer on bookkeeping questions and adjustments.
See what your season actually earned.
Book a personal consultation. We’ll discuss your needs, provide a broad pricing range when possible, and explain the next steps toward a formal quote.