What Information is Included on a Landscaping Invoice?

When you are invoicing customers for gardening or lawn care services, you need to bill for planning, materials, equipment, and labour. It is important you keep track of all these billable items to make sure you’re not underbilling the customer.

Be sure to always include your company name, company contact info, and customer information. On top of these essential details, when you invoice landscaping services such as gardening or lawn care, you should include the following items on the bill:

• Planning
• Materials 
• Equipment
• Labour 
• Payment terms

Planning 

Landscaping requires a lot of planning, particularly if your work brings you near commercial buildings. This section of your landscape invoice template can include meetings with the client, and include consultations or yard tours. You could also factor in the time it takes to draw up plans and make revisions. 

Materials 

The materials section of your landscaping invoice covers the supplies you bought for the project. For a standard yard or lawn project, this could include topsoil, seeds, and plants. Therefore, you will need to create a detailed list of all materials used in your landscaping work and include them on the invoice template. Structuring this section by line item with space left for a description will make it easier to account for the materials used for each job. 

You might also purchase fertilizer and other pesticides. It’s common practice to charge the customer more than the price you paid for the supplies, which is also called a markup. It helps you make a profit, and it also helps cover the costs for gas, transportation, and your time. 

Equipment 

If you’re running a small landscaping business, you might not have your own large equipment. However, if a project requires you to rent large items, it’s a good idea to include the rental cost on your invoice. 

For example, you may need to remove trees, so you rent a chipper or log splitter to make them easier to dispose of. You might also need to rent heavy equipment to compact dirt or till large areas. In this situation, you can add a rental fee to the line item for equipment used. 

That being said, when conducting smaller jobs like lawn mowing, you most likely already have a lawn mower in your position, so you would not need to charge extra for this service to recoup rental costs. 

Labour 

Landscaping projects are labour-intensive, which means that labour is one of the most important parts of your invoice. How you charge for labour depends on how you quoted the project. You can find landscaping pricing guides online to help you price your services. 

You can charge the client an hourly rate per person, or offer a flat rate. If you quoted a set price for the labour, simply add “labour” as a line item with that dollar amount.

Payment Terms

Invoice payment terms should always be included in your invoice templates. These payment instructions tell your customers how and where to pay you for your services. 

The invoice payment terms you should include on your landscaping invoice templates are as follows: 

• Due date of payment
• Terms of sale 
• Applicable taxes
• Specified currency 

Don’t forget to identify how the customer can pay you, meaning your accepted payment methods. You should also include a section on overdue payments and late fees. This will help ensure you’re paid faster for the services provided to customers.

How Do You Set Prices for Landscaping Services?

Before you can create an invoice, you need to choose fee quotes for the landscaping services. If you’re new to the lawn industry, the Canadian government recommends starting with a lower price to break into the market. 

Later, you can raise your prices to match your competitors. If you offer a premium service or have a degree in landscape architecture, you can charge higher prices. 

Your pricing strategy should also consider the costs of running your business, including: 

• Company vehicles
• Gardening and landscaping tools
• Certification
• Marketing and advertising
• Employee salaries

When Should I Send Clients Their Landscaping Invoice?

Your invoicing date depends on the type of services you provide. If you’re doing a one-time landscaping project, you might give the customer an invoice as soon as you complete the work.

You can also set up progress invoicing using invoicing software. Progress invoicing is a billing approach where the service provider bills the customer incrementally over the life of the project.

Consider Using Landscape Invoicing Software like QuickBooks Online Instead

Invoice billing is professional, ensures transparency, and expedites the payment process if done the right way. If you don’t feel like changing the landscape contract template every time you take on a landscaping job, then consider using invoicing software to streamline the process. 

Accounting and landscaping invoice software like QuickBooks Online, helps with the payment process and ensures that all the invoices are accurate and delivered to your customer in a professional and timely manner, making life easy for you.