Who it’s for
Bookkeeping for Landscapers and Lawn Care
Mowing, planting and trimming bring steady invoices, busy and slow seasons, and mowers and trailers to pay off. KeyLine keeps the books current through all of it.
The books
Seasons, Sales Tax and Equipment
Sales Tax
Texas taxes landscaping and lawn care, including mowing, trimming, planting, and tree and garden care. So most invoices carry sales tax, and your books have to show what you collected. Some work isn't taxed, like mowing highway rights-of-way or farm land.
A Small-Operator Exception
A self-employed person with no employees, whose landscaping brought in $5,000 or less over the last four calendar quarters, doesn't charge it. Your books keep the four-quarter total, so you know which side of it you’re on.
Equipment and Supplies
You pay sales tax on mowers, trimmers and supplies, with no exemption. Loan payments on mowers, trailers and trucks are split into interest and what pays down the loan.
Busy and Slow Seasons
Fuel, repairs and crew costs are tracked month by month, so a slow stretch is no surprise.
Regular Customers
Billed on time, weekly or monthly.
A sample
A Sample Month of a Landscaper’s Books
How we’d record one month, with each of the five things above in its place. Made-up numbers, not a real client.
One owner with no employees, 30 regular customers billed on the 1st, and one right-of-way job, in June.
| Entry | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1Sales Tax | |
| Sales tax on June’s invoices, 8.25 percent as an example | $382.80 |
| Mowing a pipeline right-of-way, not taxed | $450.00 |
| 2A Small-Operator Exception | |
| Landscaping receipts over the last four calendar quarters, well past $5,000, so the exception doesn’t apply | $37,500.00 |
| 3Equipment and Supplies | |
| Mower loan payment: $62 interest, $388 toward the loan | $450.00 |
| Blades, trimmer line and fertilizer, with sales tax paid at the store | $286.00 |
| 4Busy and Slow Seasons | |
| Fuel for the truck and the mowers, 9 fill-ups | $412.00 |
| Repairs: a mower belt and a trailer tire | $168.00 |
| Insurance, paid every month of the year | $140.00 |
| 5Regular Customers | |
| Invoices sent June 1 to 30 regular customers, mowed weekly or every other week, before tax | $4,640.00 |
| Paid by June 30, tax included: 27 customers | $4,503.20 |
| Still owed, tax included: 3 customers | $519.60 |
The Month as the Books Show It
- June brought in $4,953.20: $4,503.20 from regular customers and $450 for the right-of-way.
- June’s money out was $1,456, and $1,068 of it was expense: the $388 that pays down the loan isn’t one.
- Sales tax on June’s invoices comes to $382.80, and none on the right-of-way job.
The year
Busy Months Carry the Slow Ones
The same landscaper’s year, with made-up numbers. The books show each month’s money in and money out, so the slow months are planned for, not a surprise.
| Month | Money in | Money out |
|---|---|---|
| January | $450 | $880 |
| February | $600 | $900 |
| March | $2,700 | $1,250 |
| April | $4,100 | $1,400 |
| May | $4,700 | $1,440 |
| June | $4,953 | $1,456 |
| July | $5,050 | $1,470 |
| August | $4,880 | $1,440 |
| September | $4,300 | $1,350 |
| October | $3,500 | $1,240 |
| November | $1,900 | $1,050 |
| December | $700 | $870 |
- March to May
- Customers sign back on and the first cuts start, and money in passes money out again in March.
- June to August
- Mowing every week at full speed. Each of these months brings in more than three times what it costs, and the books show what’s left over.
- September to November
- Leaf cleanup and the last cuts. Money in eases off, while the loan payment and the insurance stay the same.
- December to February
- Little mowing, but the mower loan payment and the insurance still come out every month, so money out runs ahead of money in. What the summer left over carries these months.
These sales tax points come from the Texas Comptroller. This isn’t tax advice: for your own business, read the Comptroller’s page below or ask your CPA.
- Texas Comptroller, Publication 94-112, Landscaping and Lawn Care Services, read September 30, 2026
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