Landscaping & lawn care
Books and taxes for lawn mowing companies.
Weekly route billing, a crew running three mowers a day, fuel receipts by the fistful, and a mower or trailer bought most seasons. 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
June came in at $10,400. The new stand-on mower from the Toro dealer went in as equipment, not a supply run.
- Jobber route billingRecurring mowing routes
- One-time cleanup jobsOne-time services
- Toro dealer, stand-on mowerEquipment
- Shell fuel, crew trucksTrucks and fuel
- Crew payrollWages
Why your books are different
A mowing company's books break down in the same few spots.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and a payroll run. Your business is routes, crews, and machines that wear out on a schedule the weather sets. When the books do not track that, you cannot tell which routes pay and which ones just keep a crew busy.
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1
A route's real cost hides in one payroll number
Two crews running different routes get paid out of the same payroll line, so a slow, spread-out route and a tight, profitable one look the same on paper. An owner ends up guessing which route to drop or raise prices on.
What we doKeeps wage totals visible against route billing, so you can see which routes carry their weight. -
2
A new mower is not a supply purchase
A $9,000 stand-on mower or a zero-turn upgrade filed as supplies wrecks the month it was bought and gets lost by tax time instead of being tracked as equipment that can be written off.
What we doFlags equipment purchases the day they post, logs them separately, and gets the accountant's call on how to write them off. -
3
One-time cleanups blur into weekly route income
A spring cleanup or a one-off fall job paid outside your recurring billing gets dumped into the same category as weekly mowing, so you cannot tell how much of your revenue is steady and how much you have to keep selling.
What we doKeeps recurring route income and one-time jobs in separate lines, so you know what repeats without asking. -
4
Fuel and repairs are not tied to which mower
Every fuel receipt and repair bill for three mowers and two trucks lands in one bucket, so there is no way to see that one machine is costing more to run than it is worth keeping.
What we doKeeps fuel and repairs grouped so you can ask which mower or truck is worth replacing. -
5
Winter payroll eats a season with no route income
Keeping a crew on through a slow or snowless winter with almost no route billing coming in can drain a summer's savings fast if nobody is watching the number as it happens.
What we doTracks what is coming in against payroll every month, so a thin winter is a number you see early, not one you discover in March.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a mowing and maintenance 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
- Recurring mowing routesWeekly and biweekly route billing through Jobber, LMN, or Aspire.
- One-time servicesCleanups, mulch jobs, and requests outside the regular route.
- Seasonal add-onsAeration, overseeding, or fall cleanup billed alongside the regular route.
- Commercial contractsHOA and property management accounts billed monthly on net terms.
Money out
- Crew wagesHourly pay for mowing and trim crews, kept apart from equipment costs.
- Trucks and fuelFuel, repairs, insurance, and loan payments for the fleet.
- EquipmentMowers, trimmers, and blowers, logged so they get written off right.
- Route and dispatch softwareJobber, LMN, or Aspire subscription fees.
- Fertilizer and seasonal materialsAnything applied as part of a mowing or cleanup visit.
- Dump and disposal feesClippings, brush, and debris hauled off a job.
- Marketing and lead feesDoor hangers, local ads, and referral costs.
What we watch for you
- Route margin
Route billing against crew wages and fuel, so you know which routes are worth keeping.
- Labor share
Wages against money in. When it creeps up, pricing or scheduling needs a look.
- Off-season runway
Cash on hand against payroll if a crew stays on through a slow stretch.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things lawn mowing 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.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not supplies, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
A trailer repair and a bulk mulch order both hit this month. Route billing is actually up. I can show you both side by side.
If they are on your payroll, no extra paperwork from me. If you are paying them cash outside payroll, that is worth a real conversation, so I flagged it for the accountant.
The tax side
The tax side of a lawn mowing business.
Most of what trips up a mowing company is timing and labels: equipment filed as supplies, a helper paid off the books, and a set-aside nobody started until spring.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Mowers and trailersEquipment bought for the business can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. Whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Standard mileage for the estimate truckA lighter vehicle used mostly for estimates or supervision, rather than hauling mowers, can use the standard mileage rate: 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026, 76 cents after.
- Seasonal help, on or off payrollA crew member who drives your truck, runs your mower, and works your schedule is usually an employee, seasonal or not. Getting that wrong gets expensive.
- 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 lawn mowing and maintenance companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Mower blades and belts
- Trimmer line and blower fuel
- Trailer registration and tags
- Fuel for trucks and mowers
- Uniforms with your logo
- Route software subscriptions
- Dump and disposal fees
- Tools that live on the trailer
- Phone and tablet for dispatch
- Liability insurance
- Local ads and door hangers
- Card processing fees
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 mowing company's year, kept every month.
Routes run the same weeks every year. Your taxes come on a 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 spring ramp-up does not come with a tax surprise attached.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed while your crews are already back on the routes for the season.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at the peak of the season, what you will owe, and whether route pricing needs a second look.
- October
Before the slowdown
Before routes thin out for winter, 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 lawn mowing and maintenance 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 lawn mowing owners ask first.
Can Gus tell me which of my routes actually make money?
He keeps route billing and crew wages in view together, so you can see which routes carry their weight and which ones just keep a truck busy. The call on pricing or dropping a route is still yours.
I run routes in Jobber. Do I have to change anything?
No. Keep running routes the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Do I write off a new mower 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 and the accountant decides.
My crew is part-time and changes every season. Does that matter?
It matters for how they are classified more than how they are booked. Gus keeps wages clear either way and flags anything that looks like it should be a payroll conversation.
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.
More in landscaping & lawn care
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Hydroseeding
- Land clearing & forestry mulching
- Landscape curbing
- Organic lawn care companies
- Pond, water feature & koi pond builders
- Raised bed & edible garden installers
- Xeriscaping & native plant landscaping
- Aeration & overseeding services
- Certified arborists & plant health care
- Grading & drainage (French drain) contractors
- Leaf removal services
- Mulch, stone & landscape supply yards
- Sod installation
- Stump grinding
- Commercial grounds maintenance
- Irrigation & sprinkler contractors
- Lawn fertilization & weed control
- Mosquito & tick control
- Snow removal & plowing
- Tree service & removal
- Landscape design & installation
- Chicken coop & backyard farm structure builders
- Dock & boathouse builders
- Gazebo & pavilion builders
- Outdoor audio & TV installers
- Playground & swing set installers
- Putting green installers
- Retractable screens & motorized shades
- Seawall & bulkhead contractors
- Sport court builders (pickleball, basketball)
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