A landscaper runs two businesses with different needs: design and build projects, with detailed quotes for plants, groundwork and materials, and maintenance, with regular contracts that must be invoiced every month without fail. Here is what quoting and invoicing software should do for a landscaper to save time on both.
A catalogue of plants and services
Shrubs, perennials, turf per m², mulch, edging, topsoil per m³, labour, equipment hire: each item is saved once in a catalogue with its price and unit. A project quote is then built by picking lines and entering quantities, without retyping a single price.
Project quotes by area
Clients follow a quote better when it is organised by area: front garden, patio, borders, lawn, hedge, irrigation. Each area becomes a section with its own subtotal. The client sees where the budget goes and can postpone one area to next year rather than drop the whole project.
Alternatives as options
Seeded or turfed lawn, evergreen or flowering hedge, automatic or manual watering: show these choices as optional lines, outside the total. The base price stays stable, and the client chooses when signing. One quote instead of three versions.
Signing and deposit
The quote goes out by WhatsApp or email with a link. The client signs on their phone and pays the deposit, which funds plants and materials before you buy them. On a planting project, plants are often a large share of the price, so the deposit should cover them. See our guide to asking for a deposit.
Maintenance: invoices that send themselves
A maintenance contract at 165 a month only pays if all twelve months are invoiced. In the busy season, it is easy to forget. Recurring invoices go out automatically on each billing date, and automatic reminders follow if payment is late. Setting up the invoicing is covered in our article on maintenance contracts.
One-off jobs
Tree work, removals, extra planting during the year: a separate quote, signed online, without touching the maintenance contract. The client sees clearly what the contract covers and what it does not.
Tracking payments
A dashboard shows paid, pending and overdue invoices, contracts and projects together. You know each month what is still to come in, and can plan for the quieter winter months. See our article on cash flow forecasting.
What you gain
| Situation | Before | With software |
|---|---|---|
| Project quotes | Plant prices retyped | Catalogue |
| Layout | A long list | Areas with subtotals |
| Alternatives | Several quotes | Options outside the total |
| Deposit | Plants bought with your money | Paid at signing |
| Maintenance | Invoices forgotten in season | Recurring invoices |
| Late payers | Manual chasing | Automatic reminders |
Pricing maintenance properly
The recurring invoice only helps if the monthly price is right. Build it from the number of visits per year, the real time per visit including travel, and green waste removal, then divide by twelve. Clients prefer a steady monthly amount, and you get steady income through the winter.
Seasonal cash flow
Landscaping income swings with the seasons: busy spring and summer, quieter winter. Maintenance contracts on fixed monthly invoices smooth that out, and deposits on spring projects fund the plants before the rush. Keep an eye on what is still owed in autumn, so winter starts with a healthy balance rather than a pile of unpaid invoices.
Getting started
Try it free on your next quote. The page FacturWeb for landscapers shows the features that fit the trade, and plans are on the pricing page.