Landscaping & lawn care
Books and taxes for landscape curbing companies.
A job priced by the linear foot, a curbing machine that extrudes concrete on site, color and stamp add-ons that change the price, and a route of yards booked back to back. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May came in at $11,400. The stamped and colored curbing jobs are booked separately from plain gray runs, since the add-on pricing is where the real margin sits.
- Curbing jobs, per footStandard curbing jobs
- Stamped and colored curbingColor and stamp add-ons
- Concrete mix orderConcrete and materials
- Curbing machine repairEquipment repairs
- Truck and trailer fuelTrucks and fuel
Why your books are different
Landscape curbing books go wrong around the machine and the add-ons.
A generalist sees a small business and a concrete bill. Your business runs on one specialized machine, a per-foot price that hides how much color and stamping actually add, and a route that only works if the machine keeps running. When the books do not track that, real margin per job stays a guess.
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1
Color and stamp add-ons get lumped into base pricing
A stamped, colored curb often sells for much more per foot than plain gray curbing, but if both are booked as one undifferentiated curbing income line, you cannot tell how much the add-ons are really worth to your bottom line.
What we doKeeps standard curbing jobs and color or stamp add-ons in separate lines, so you can see what the upgrades actually add. -
2
Concrete mix costs swing with every job's length
Buying concrete mix by the bag or bulk load for jobs of very different lengths makes material cost look inconsistent month to month, when it is really just tracking how many feet you poured.
What we doKeeps concrete and material costs in a steady category, so it reads against total feet poured, not as a random swing. -
3
Machine downtime is a cost that never gets counted
A curbing machine that breaks down mid-route means paying for repairs while also losing jobs you could not run that week, but the lost income never shows up next to the repair bill.
What we doKeeps equipment repair costs visible against the season, so you can see how much downtime is really costing beyond the repair invoice. -
4
A second machine looks like a big repair bill
Adding a second curbing machine to run two crews at once, filed the same as a routine repair, wrecks that month's number and gets lost by tax time instead of being tracked toward depreciation.
What we doFlags equipment purchases the day they post and books them separately from repairs.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a landscape curbing company.
Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Standard curbing jobsPlain gray curbing billed by the linear foot.
- Color and stamp add-onsUpgraded finish work billed at a higher rate.
- Commercial and municipal jobsLarger contracts billed on net terms.
- Repair and replacement jobsFixing or replacing existing curbing.
Money out
- Concrete and materialsConcrete mix, color additive, and sealant.
- EquipmentThe curbing machine and trailer, logged so they get written off right.
- Equipment repairsMachine and extruder maintenance from daily use.
- Trucks and fuelFuel and insurance for the tow vehicle and fleet.
- Marketing and lead feesLocal ads and referral costs.
What we watch for you
- Cost per linear foot
Concrete and labor against feet poured, so per-foot pricing stays accurate.
- Add-on revenue share
Color and stamp income against total curbing income, worth watching since it carries the margin.
- Machine downtime cost
Repair bills against jobs missed while the machine was down, worth watching each season.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things landscape curbing owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
Yes, I keep them separate, so you can see exactly how much the color and stamp work adds to your income, not just your total curbing revenue.
The repair bill shows up in equipment repairs. I cannot track jobs you never billed, but I can flag a season where downtime hit harder than usual.
Usually it can. I logged equipment purchases separately from repairs, and the accountant makes the call on how to write it off with your whole year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of a landscape curbing business.
Most of what goes wrong here is a specialized machine and add-on pricing: repairs mixed with equipment, color work not tracked separately, and downtime nobody counted.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- The curbing machine and trailerA curbing machine and trailer bought for the business can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Standard mileage or actual expensesA tow vehicle used for this work can be tracked either by actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents after, whichever fits your setup better.
- Contractor 1099sAny subcontracted crew or helper not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC if paid $2,000 or more in 2026, due January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions landscape curbing companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Concrete mix and color additive
- Curbing machine repairs
- Extruder dies and parts
- Truck and trailer fuel
- Liability insurance
- Sealant and finishing supplies
- Uniforms with your logo
- Local ads and referral costs
- Card processing fees
- Trailer and equipment storage
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A landscape curbing year, kept every month.
Your season runs alongside everyone else's landscaping work. Your taxes come on their own schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started and you get a monthly set-aside, so the spring rush does not come with a tax surprise attached.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed while spring curbing jobs are already booked.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at the peak of the season, what you will owe, and whether color and stamp add-ons are pricing out as expected.
- October
Before the season slows
Before jobs thin out for the year, Gus looks at equipment you might buy and anything worth doing before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for landscape curbing companies. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions landscape curbing owners ask first.
Can Gus show me how much extra my stamped and colored curbing actually earns?
Yes. Standard curbing and color or stamp add-ons get their own categories, so you can see exactly what the upgraded work adds to your income.
My machine breaks down sometimes and I lose jobs while it is repaired. Does that get tracked?
The repair cost is tracked. Gus cannot capture jobs you never billed, but he can flag a season where repair costs ran higher than usual.
Do I write off my curbing machine all at once?
Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase for the accountant.
My income swings a lot job to job depending on length and finish. Is that a problem for tracking a monthly number?
No. Gus works from what actually hit your bank account each month, so a lumpy job schedule still produces one clear number.
My books are a season behind. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever