Crew & Job Management
Using the Housecall Pro mobile app, lawn care and landscaping service businesses can schedule, dispatch, and keep in touch with the team in one place.
- Easily create new landscaping & lawn jobs
- Assign, notify, and dispatch multiple crews
- Manage time, location, and other job details
- GPS tracking in real-time
Best Software Packages For Lawn Care Pros Reviews
Invoice system is a little messy Free version doesnt include route optimization
User Reviews
- I like the ability to email customers from the program, the ease of invoicing, and the ease of inputting and updating client information.
- My experience with whoever is behind the chatbot has been exceptional. Ive never had to call them and can do everything from the app or computer.
- I like the fact you can track overall time at a specific customers property for the whole season. I like the heads-up of the schedule for the week and month.
Moving Forward With A Lawn Care App
When it comes to adding lawn care apps to your day-to-day grind, make sure you do your homework to find the best fit for you. Determine which features are the most beneficial to your business. If you need help with time tracking, scheduling, communication, and streamlining daily operations then Connecteam may be the best fit for you, especially due to its practical pricing.
Lawn care apps will ensure that your business runs as smoothly as possible so that you can spend more time gaining new clients, supporting employees, and increasing revenue. The eight lawn care apps we highlighted above are the best in the market right now so take some out for a test drive and watch your business grow.
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Lawn Care Professional Bookkeeping Services
Better Bookkeepers is a true, full-service bookkeeping business near you that provides any relevant services you need. If youre looking to audit-proof your business and review your finances, were the right choice. You can also contract Better Bookkeepers to handle your bookkeeping on a monthly basis. Alternatively, you might want to get accounting software like QuickBooks operational so you can handle more of the work on your own. Whatever your bookkeeping goals, you can achieve them with Better Bookkeepers.
Scheduling With Lawn Care Software
Lawn care software makes it easy for scheduling everything from new customers needing a one-time lawn trimming to customers with regular service contracts needing weekly mowing. The software lets you schedule new appointments in open time slots and allows you to cancel or reschedule easily. Schedules can also be optimized based on location, so your teams dont have to travel too long between client properties.
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How Do You Price Lawn Mowing Services
There is no universal formula for pricing your services. However, you can account for factors like:
- Time spent on a project.
- Equipment required.
- Square footage of the working area.
- Additional services.
To get a better idea of how much you should price your services, study similar companies and how theyrepricing themselves.
Youre Not Receiving Real
Using QuickBooks for your landscaping company will calculate some data for you, but its all after the fact. For instance, it would be difficult for you to determine if you were over the budgeted hours for a job in enough time to make an actual change. Instead, youre typically reviewing the data after the job is completed and trying to make changes to the next job. In that way, its more of a historical analysis of your jobs than a real-time solution.
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How Quickbooks For A Landscaping Business Is Like A Complicated Relationship
Things started out okay with you and QuickBooks. In fact, you were getting along pretty well. But that was a simpler time in your relationship. Now you feel like QuickBooks isnt meeting all of your needs and the relationship is starting to feel a bit one-sided. Actually, youre beginning to wonder if its time for a change.
If youre stuck in a complicated relationship with QuickBooks, then youre not alone. That system is how a lot of landscape companies run their businesses, especially in the early years. But QuickBooks for landscapers, as well as other work-around systems that are out there, are pretty complicated and frustrating to use since theyre not tailored specifically to the landscape industry.
In the beginning, it might have worked for you, but over time you began to realize that an industry-specific solution would have been a much better fit. Now, youre just concerned that youll make the wrong change and wind up in another complicated relationship instead of something long-term.
Lets delve a little deeper into how QuickBooks for your landscaping company may be failing to meet your needs in order to weigh if its really worth all the work to try and keep this relationship going. Then, lets look at what might be a better solution to your relationship woes.
Customize Invoices And Payment Options
Create a professional invoice by starting with the basic template that comes with QuickBooks and then add your logo for a professional look. Set up payment options for your customers so they can pay you easily online once they receive your emailed invoice. Consider setting up automatic payments for customers who receive regular maintenance.
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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 dont 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 payments are accurate and delivered to you customer in a professional and timely manner, making life easy for you.
Is An Online Bookkeeper Service Like Gusto And Qbo Better
If you use the online bookkeepers assigned to you they will likely change frequently and when you ask for support it could be one of thousands of online reps from countries on the other side of the world. We focus ONLY on the landscape industry and our Team is all working together in the USA which results in more consistent support when you need it most.
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Is A Local Bookkeeper Better
Perhaps if you have an existing relationship with an all-star. However, it can be difficult to find the perfect bookkeeper that has landscape specific industry knowledge and understands how a lawn care business operates. 99.99% of questions can be answered virtually and we answer all our support emails within 24 hours.
The Benefits Of Lawn Care Software
Improve operational efficiency: Lawn care software improves the effectiveness of business operations, from organizing customer records in a centralized digital library to automatic generation of invoices. This reduces the administrative burden on people and frees them up to perform more critical tasks that require human deliberation.
Track employee productivity: Lawn care solutions help businesses track the performance and productivity of employees. For instance, the tool allows visualizing the task allocated to a person and tracking the time he/she spent on it.
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Sortscape Lawn Care Software
Best for easy scheduling
Another garden and lawn care specific software, SortScape is an Australian-based company catering to the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Founded in 2014, they’re relatively new to the field service software game, but their incredibly popular platform has brought up comparisons to some of their more established rivals.
Notably, SortScape users will miss the ability to provide quotes and invoices for customers, but the intuitive platform makes up for it with easy-to-manage scheduling options particularly the recurring appointment option. If you’re looking for a software that makes scheduling easy, and can forego other basic features, SortScape is for you.
- GPS Tracking and Route Optimization
- Online Customer Support
- Easy to use for everyone
- Supremely intuitive scheduling features
- Invoicing and quotes not available
How To Start A Landscaping Business
A landscaping business in Canada can be a lucrative venture during all seasons. Spring and summer bring high demand for mowing, trimming, pruning, and gardening. During the fall, homeowners and businesses need their lawns winterized and leaves raked. And then the winter months, though often viewed as a slow period for landscapers, offer the chance to earn additional cash plowing snow and clearing driveways. Best of all, landscaping is a low-barrier-to-entry business.
If you have a good business plan, a little money for basic equipment, and no aversion to physical labour, landscaping might be your ticket to a successful career. Learn how to start a landscaping business, including what youll need to get your Canadian lawn care business underway this season.
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What Is Lawn Care Software
Lawn care software is any computer or mobile program that helps a lawn care business run efficiently and maximize cash flow. Most business software marketed toward lawn care companies provides a similar range of features detailed below:
Scheduling
Manages employee timesheets and schedules clients for one-time or recurring services. Most business software will automatically arrange a schedule for maximum workflow.
Job Tracking and Management
Assigns employees to specific jobs and tracks their hours worked to provide accurate pricing to customers.
Customer Relationship Management
A set of tools that help you keep track of your lawn care companys relationships with new clients and reach new customers. Service history tracking, complaint management, and communication all fall under this umbrella.
Invoicing
Tracks all services performed for a customers account and sends bills to customers automatically upon completion of service.
Route Optimization
Creates the most efficient route to perform all jobs on a daily schedule. Eliminates wasted time and fuel costs. Some software will update routes for delays and cancellations in real-time.
Equipment and Inventory Management
Keeps track of your lawn care machinery and inventory of supplies Some software can send notifications when equipment is due for maintenance or inventory needs a resupply.
How Do You Start A Lawn Care Business
Becoming a landscaping professional is one thing, but starting a business is another and its even more challenging. To create a lawn care business, youll first have to scope out your competition and determine what makes you stand out. From there, youll have to constantly hone your skills, purchase the right equipment, obtain a business license, register your company, and seek out your first clients.
Maintaining your business wont always be easy. As such, investing in robust project planning software can help pinpoint areas of improvement and help you come up with actionable steps.
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When Should I Send Clients Their Landscaping Invoice
Your invoicing date depends on the type of services you provide. If youre 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.
Benefits Of Using A Lawn Care App
There are countless benefits of using a lawn care app, including saving on costs and streamlining daily operations, but below we drill into the five best benefits of using a lawn care app below.
We have to note there are so many additional benefits that we dont have time to list them all! But, fret not, because the ones we do list below will make the biggest impact on your business. After all, thats what its all about.
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Easy Quickbooks Scheduling For Your Lawn Care Business
How exactly will Smart Service serve your lawn care company every step of the way? By joining with QuickBooks, of course! Smart Service links up with your QuickBooks database to let you schedule jobs for your existing customers. With our lawn care business app, work orders will automatically link to your billing system, eliminating all kinds of tedious data entry.Learn more.
Planimeter Measure Land Area
A planimeter, also known as a platometer, is a measuring instrument used to determine the area of an arbitrary two-dimensional shape. In this case, a planimeter app for landscaping measures two points on a 2D satellite-based map, whether its a customers lawn or an area youre fencing in for a project.
Rated 4.8 out of 5 with over 1,200 reviews in the Apple App Store, this planimeter ranks above other similar, cheaper or free planimeter apps. This is one of the best apps of its kind, writes one reviewer, while the following landscape contractor calls this lawn care app the best tool ever.
I have used this app for 2 years and it changed my life, writes Artistic Landscaping Services in a 2020 review of the app. Bold statement, I know…This allows me to give estimates over the phone, thus reducing or eliminating the cheapskate contact.
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Create Product And Service Lists
Create a list for the products you sell, such as bags of grass seed, fertilizer, paver stones or shrubs. Be specific, as you may sell several types or brands within each category, and they will vary in price. Services can be created as one-time care or specific bundles of routine maintenance.
As you create each item within these lists, select whether or not each item is taxable. The selected tax code will automatically appear each time it is selected on an invoice but can be changed if necessary. Be sure to check with your sales tax revenue department to understand which services are taxable or exempt within your state.
Servicetitan Field Management Software For Quickbooks
If you already use QuickBooks and also utilize ServiceTitan to run your lawn care business, consider combining the two services with our integration program. Go paperless and see transactions in real time, and you wont need to duplicate information between the programs as they automatically sync once the accounts are linked. You can generate invoices and purchase orders in ServiceTitan, then export them to QuickBooks for secure, accessible, and reliable accounting and payroll functions.
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Service Autopilot For Lawn Care
Best for client acquisition
The whole point of adding a lawn care software to your company is to save time, increase profits, and generally grow your business. With Service AutoPilot, that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do. Thanks to a huge catalog of standard field service features and a collection of marketing and new client-facing tools, you’ll have a chance to reach scores of customers that would otherwise never have known how great your company is.
With a lot of features, a comprehensive mobile app, and thorough reporting to keep your business on track, Service AutoPilot is designed to make things easier. However, their customer support team takes a bit longer to get things done, thanks to the company’s smaller size. Luckily, the lower price makes Service AutoPilot a great move for those familiar with this kind of software, who won’t need too much help making it work for them.
- GPS Tracking and Route Optimization
- Analytics Reporting
- Great marketing and new-client tools
- Comprehensive mobile app
- Hard to reach customer support team
- Slow learning curve
Planimeter Gps Area Measure
Made for Android devices, you can try the free version of Planimeter to preview the tools and measuring functions before buying this $2.99 app for lawn care business, with in-app purchases required for upgraded features such as circle mode and multiple areas measurement.
Claiming to be the best land surveying app and field area measure tool, this landscaping app for Android gets a 4.2 of 5 rating with more than 1,600 reviews in the Productivity category in the .
This is the best measuring app around, writes reviewer Jerry Martin in February 2020.
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Yardbook Lawn Care Software
Best for simple lawn care functionality
That value of ease of use cannot be understated when it comes to field service management software, and YardBook is intuitive enough for your whole team to use, regardless of training. With a simple setup process and a dedication to lawn care, you’ll be able to keep track of everything, manage everyone, and save a little money along the way.
While it may be missing a few key features, including dispatching, YardBook provides the industry-specific attention such as equipment management features that you need to run things smoothly. Plus, with a very popular free mobile app, you’ll be able to keep track of your team and your business while you’re on-the-go.
- GPS Tracking and Route Optimization
- Customer Support
- Very intuitive, even for beginners
- Includes inventory management features
- Exclusive to lawn care businesses
How Do I Find The Right Software For My Company
The best thing you can do is research and talk to other lawn care maintenance business owners and professionals. Onboarding and training for a new software implementation can be costly, so its important you invest in the right solution.
Read reviews and testimonials, watch tutorials, and ask for a demo from the salespeople at a few companies. You may even be able to try a free trial and ask your staff how they felt working with it.
Its also good practice to do an audit of your current technology and software and see whats working, what isnt, and what you are missing. Look at your current pricing and contracts, and try negotiating to either get the cost down or add new features onto existing tools you use.
Lastly, make sure to really outline your business needs and find something that works for you. You dont need something fancy if what you want to solve for is really simple, so dont waste your money on a fancy tool or app if you only need something for one function of your business.
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