How do I track recurring vs one-time landscaping jobs?
Recurring jobs like weekly mowing or monthly maintenance contracts need a different tracking approach than one-time installations or hardscape projects. The simplest method is using customer types or classes in your accounting software to tag each customer or job accordingly. This lets you run reports showing revenue, costs, and margins separately for each type of work.
For landscaping and outdoor services, recurring accounts should be tracked by customer over time. You want to know total revenue versus total costs per account per month or per season. Track how many hours your crew spends at each property and what supplies get used. A $200/month lawn care account that takes 3 hours per visit has a very different margin than one that takes 1.5 hours. Without tracking time by customer, you might be losing money on your biggest maintenance accounts and not know it.
One-time projects like landscape installations, retaining walls, or outdoor living spaces need job costing. Estimate labor, materials, and any subcontractor costs before the job starts. Then track actual costs as the work happens. You should know the profit margin on every project, not just your overall profit for the month.
In QuickBooks, customer types let you tag customers as “Maintenance” or “Projects” and filter reports by type. The Projects feature in QuickBooks Online groups all income and expenses for a specific job together, which works well for installations. For recurring customers, track all visits and revenue under the customer record so you can see annual profitability per account.
The goal is knowing which side of your business actually makes money. Many landscapers assume maintenance is steady but thin-margin work while installations are where the real profit is. Sometimes the opposite turns out to be true. A contractor bookkeeper in American Fork who understands landscaping operations can help you set this up correctly so you get reports that actually answer these questions.
Review the numbers quarterly. Compare margins between your recurring and project work. Look at which maintenance accounts are profitable and which are costing you money. Use that information to adjust pricing, drop unprofitable accounts, or shift your sales focus toward the work that actually pays.
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