Outdoor & Property Services

Seasonal swings make cash flow tricky. Job costing shows which services actually make money and which ones are draining the bank.

The Industry

Utah outdoor work runs on the weather. From April to October you’re running crews six days a week trying to keep up with demand. November through March the work slows to a trickle and you’re hoping maintenance contracts keep the lights on. This feast-or-famine cycle creates cash flow challenges that most businesses never have to deal with. You make your money in eight months and have to stretch it across twelve.

The complexity doesn’t stop at seasonality. Most outdoor contractors offer a mix of services. Weekly lawn care is predictable recurring revenue. A deck build is a one-time project with deposits and draws. Pool installation might span two months with materials fronted and labor paid before the final invoice. Each service type has different cost structures, different margins, and different cash flow timing. Lumping them all into one bucket makes it impossible to see what’s actually profitable.

Who This Covers

Landscaping contractors, lawn care and maintenance services, irrigation and sprinkler installers, fence contractors, deck and patio builders, pool contractors, and tree service companies. Any business working outdoors on residential or commercial properties along the Wasatch Front.

What Makes It Complex

Seasonal revenue that swings wildly between months. A mix of recurring maintenance contracts and one-time project work. Crews working multiple job sites in a single day. Equipment costs, fuel, and vehicle expenses that need allocation. Materials purchased for specific jobs. Subcontractors for specialized work like electrical or concrete. Weather delays that throw off timelines and costs.

What We Handle

Every project gets its own cost tracking. The fence job in Lehi. The pool build in Alpine. The commercial landscaping in Draper. Labor hours, material purchases, equipment use, and subcontractor costs all get tagged to the specific job. When the project is done, you see exactly what it cost to complete and what margin you actually made. This is how you learn which jobs to chase and which ones to walk away from.

We also separate your revenue streams so they make sense. Maintenance contracts get tracked differently than project work. You can see how much of your income is recurring and predictable versus how much depends on landing new projects. This matters for planning, for forecasting slow months, and for understanding the real health of your business. On the compliance side, we track subcontractor payments, ensure W-9s are collected before checks go out, and keep payroll records organized for workers’ comp audits.

Job Costing and Profitability

Costs tracked by project, not just by expense category. Labor hours allocated to specific jobs. Materials tagged to the work they were used for. Equipment and fuel costs assigned appropriately. At the end of each job, you know your actual margin, not a guess.

Compliance and Crew Management

Subcontractor payments tracked with W-9s collected before the first payment. 1099s filed accurately in January without the scramble. Payroll records organized by job and by class code for clean workers’ comp audits. Quarterly estimates calculated based on actual income patterns so tax season doesn’t catch you short.

Common Problems

The classic trap is using summer deposits to cover spring expenses. You collect a deposit for a big deck project in June, but that money goes to pay crew wages from May or materials you already bought. Then when it’s time to start the deck, you need another deposit from another customer to buy lumber. This works until it doesn’t. One slow month or one customer who delays payment and the whole system breaks. Without clear job-level tracking, you can’t see the problem until your bank account is empty.

The other killer is bidding blind. You priced a fence installation at $4,000 last year and it felt like good money. But materials are up 15%. Fuel is up. You gave your crew a raise. That same fence now costs you $3,800 to build and you’re making $200 for a week of work. If you’re not tracking actual costs by job, you have no idea this is happening. You just know business is busy but money is tight. The gap between revenue and profit widens and you can’t figure out why.

Seasonal Cash Crunch

Making money from April to October and spending it by February. No reserves built for the slow months. Using customer deposits as operating cash instead of holding them for the work they’re meant to cover. One delayed payment in winter and you’re scrambling to make payroll.

Overhead Blindness

Bidding based on materials and labor but forgetting the truck payment, the insurance, the fuel, the equipment repairs, and the office expenses. These costs are real and they need to be built into every estimate. If your bids don’t cover overhead, you’re paying to work.

What Changes

You start bidding based on reality. You pull up last year’s actual costs for similar jobs and price accordingly. That patio in Sandy? You know exactly what the last three patios cost in labor, materials, and time. Your estimates are grounded in data instead of gut feel. When material prices rise, you adjust your pricing because you can see the impact in your books. You stop accidentally working for free.

The seasonal roller coaster smooths out because you can see it coming. You know what your monthly overhead looks like and how many months of reserves you need. You plan during the busy season instead of panicking in December. When you need to finance a new truck or a piece of equipment, the bank sees clean financial statements from a real business. Growth becomes a choice you make intentionally, based on which services are actually worth expanding and which ones are breaking even at best.

Confident Estimates

Bids built from actual job data. You know your real costs and price to protect your margin. No more leaving money on the table or accidentally underbidding. You can walk away from bad jobs because you recognize them before you sign the contract.

Year-Round Stability

Cash flow planned across all twelve months, not just the busy ones. Reserves built intentionally during summer. Slow months accounted for in advance. Clean books that support equipment financing, credit lines, or whatever you need to grow when you’re ready.

Utah's Construction Bookkeeping Specialists