Upfront Conclusion
The best landscaping accounting software right now is FreshBooks and Zoho Books.
As the owner of a landscaping business, there are plenty of things that need your attention, not just the accounting aspect of your business. This can be a complicated area, especially if it’s not your main focus. In order to help simplify your accounting procedures, we’ve compiled several great accounting software options for your landscaping business that you can reach for. We’ve chosen the top eight programs that can help simplify your accounting and make sure that your business has all of the resources that it needs to be successful.
Top 8 Best Accounting Software Options for Landscaping Businesses
- FreshBooks – Best for landscape specific accounting
- Zoho Books – Best across multiple business departments
- Bonsai – Best For Its Robust Tax Assistant
- Quickbooks – Best for overall and general accounting
- Yardbook – Best for overall landscape business management
- Wave – Best for à la carte accounting options
- Xero – Best for simple accounting management
- Arbor Gold – Best for business accounting
1. FreshBooks – Best for landscape specific accounting
PRICING: 4 plan options, billed monthly
- Lite – $6.00
- Plus – $10.00
- Premium – $20.00
- Select Custom Pricing
FreshBooks is primarily focused on serving small businesses. The software is cloud-based and offers a free 30-day trial which can be a great way to see if it’s the right program for your business’s needs. It has a great user experience and if you have questions after completing the initial set-up, you can use their searchable database for help. If you’re not able to find the help you need there, you can also reach out to their customer support team by email or phone.
KEY FEATURES:
- Easily track time, expenses, and invoices
- Send reminders, automate billing, and charge late fees
- Organize business expenses seamlessly
REASONS TO BUY:
- Easy to read and understand reports
- Integrates with Google Suite, Shopify, Stripe, and more
- Multiple customer support channels
REASONS TO AVOID:
- FreshBooks can be great for freelancers, but it might not be the right choice for larger landscaping businesses
2. Zoho Books – Best across multiple business departments
PRICING: Four plan options, billed monthly or annually
- Free
- Standard – $15.00
- Professional – $40.00
- Premium – $60.00
Zoho Books is a great solution if your focus is purely on directing your accounting tasks and organizing transactions, especially if your landscaping business has multiple departments, such as a landscape division and a greenhouse that’s mainly involved in retail sales.
KEY FEATURES:
- Focus on tax compliance
- Simple to run and interpret reports
- Standard billing and invoicing services
REASONS TO BUY:
- Multiple integrations with common apps such as Google Suite, Stripe, Office 365, and Tax 1099
- Zoho Books has several layers of security to keep your client’s information safely secured
- Easily import existing data for a quick set-up
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Might be too large or in-depth for your needs
3. Bonsai – Best For Its Robust Tax Assistant
PRICING: It offers three plans that may be billed monthly or yearly. Here is the pricing of all annual packages that are charged by one-time payment every year:
- Starter – $17 per month
- Professional – $32 per month
- Business – $52 per month
Running a landscaping business requires you to manage your finances properly to avoid legal troubles. That is where Bonsai can help you with ease. The software has a robust invoicing and payment system to make sure you charge your clients accurately.
The best thing about the software is its tax assistant for landscaping businesses. You can get this service as an add-on by paying $10 more per month. Tracking expenses and identifying write-offs will be less time-consuming with the assistant.
Estimating quarterly taxes will also be easy with the robust accounting system of Bonsai.
KEY FEATURES:
- Enjoy a free trial of seven days on all monthly and yearly packages
- Send payment receipts to your client by calculating accurate business hours
- Track expenses and compare them with your income to determine whether your business is in profit or loss
- Identify deductible payments to save more funds during tax season
- Use templates for signing contracts with new clients
REASONS TO BUY:
- It has a well-developed client portal for communication
- You can get two months free by subscribing to an annual plan through a good discount
- Simple interface for beginners
- Allows you to manage your finances without hiring a full-time accountant
- You can connect multiple bank accounts to Bonsai
REASONS TO AVOID:
- The time tracker option needs improvement
4. Quickbooks – Best for overall and general accounting
PRICING: 5 plan options, billed monthly
- Self Employed – $7.50
- Simple Start – $12.50
- Essentials – $25.00
- Plus – $40.00
- Advanced – $90.00
Quickbooks can be a great way to start out with your accounting and documentation process. There are five plans to choose from so that you’re sure to find the best fit for your business, regardless of how large or small it is. Although it’s not specifically geared towards landscaping businesses, Quickbooks offers a variety of features, including: tracking income and expenses, running reports, receipt management, mile tracking, and assistance with estimating quarterly taxes.
KEY FEATURES:
- Managing income, expenses, and invoices
- Tax assistance
- Easy to access reports
REASONS TO BUY:
- Integration with other software
- Mobile apps to run your business on the go
- Easy to learn with plenty of resources available
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Not built specifically for landscaping
5. Yardbook – Best for overall landscape business management
PRICING: One plan option, free
- Kept free through a sponsored ad business model
- Optional premium features
YardBook is a perfect system for managing your landscaping business. It’s easy to input customer information, create work orders, and invoice clients through the site. This software not only offers multiple accounting features, such as invoices and payments, but also has a fully developed CRM to help simplify the number of programs that you need to use in order to successfully run your lawn care business.
KEY FEATURES:
- Finance and accounting features
- Business management services
- Support with new and existing sales
REASONS TO BUY:
- Tailored software for landscaping businesses
- Simple to use, intuitive dashboard
- Searchable support database
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Yardbook may include too many features if you’re only looking for an accounting software
6. Wave – Best for à la carte accounting options
PRICING: Three plan options
- Free
- Pay-Per-Use – Starting at 1% per transaction
- Monthly – Starting at $20.00
If you know exactly the accounting software services that you need and what you don’t want, Wave may be the service for you! They offer bookkeeping and banking tools that are more customizable than the other program options mentioned here since they can be used separately from each other. Their free accounting and invoicing software includes most features that you may be looking for, while their other two paid plans fill in the gaps.
KEY FEATURES:
- Income and expense tracking
- Unlimited account admins and users
- Send unlimited invoices
REASONS TO BUY:
- Perfect for easily organizing your business expenses
- Ability to run multiple businesses off of one main account
- Keep invoices and accounting details in one place
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Doesn’t offer services outside of accounting software, should you need them
7. Xero – Best for simple accounting management
PRICING: Three plan options, billed monthly
- Early – $12.00
- Growing – $34.00
- Established – $65.00
Xero is made to grow with your business as it takes off and starts to succeed. While Xero’s Early plan is a bit more restrictive than most, the other two plans offered give you the benefit of a simple user interface with plenty of features as well. Due to the more functional nature of the two more expensive plans, Xero can be a great choice for medium-sized businesses and larger since the features offered may better suit a larger scale caliber of needs.
KEY FEATURES:
- Integrates with Gusto for payroll
- Track projects, send invoices, and accept payments
- Includes bank reconciliation with the Growing and Established plans
REASONS TO BUY:
- Offers invoice reminders that can be automated
- Works seamlessly with Office 360 and Gmail to integrate your emails
- Fast and easy reporting with unlimited users
REASONS TO AVOID:
- With the Early plan, you are limited on the amount of quotes, invoices, and bills that you can send
8. Arbor Gold – Best for business accounting
PRICING: Three plan options, billed monthly or annually
- Starter – $129.00
- Professional – $274.00
- Enterprise – $439.00
While Arbor Gold has a more premium pricing structure than the other accounting softwares mentioned here, it also offers the most personalized support. Each account has a dedicated manager which is unique among the other software options on this list. If your focus is on receiving a great customer experience for your company or interacting with a real person to help support you in answering your questions, this might be the right accounting software for your business.
KEY FEATURES:
- Dedicated account manager
- Includes CRM features
- Standard billing and invoicing services
REASONS TO BUY:
- Handles transactions fully by going from the beginning stages of ideation through to taking your client’s payment
- If you prefer Arbor Gold’s CRM but want to work with Quickbooks for your accounting system, they fully integrate
- Integrates with Angi to help you find more credible business opportunities
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Can have occasional slow periods where the software might lag behind
Frequently Asked Questions
Are any of these landscaping accounting software options free?
Yes! Both YardBook and Wave offer free software plans and resources that could be a great jumping off point for your landscaping or lawn care maintenance company. Both companies offer you valuable accounting tools and could be perfect for your business.
YardBook is a totally free service and offers several more services outside of just accounting. It has multiple functions that could help you run your entire business, such as accounting features, housing customer information, and a CRM.
Wave offers two additional pricing tiers that may be right for you as your business grows. Even if you choose to stay with their free plan, both their accounting and invoicing applications should fulfill most aspects you’re searching for.
Which of these options is the best for a small lawn care company?
FreshBooks offers the most features and resources for small businesses. They offer four affordable plans and could be an excellent fit for freelancers or contractors.
This is due to the fact that there aren’t as many moving pieces to manage with FreshBooks and a smaller team. With a smaller workforce, however, this software could be extremely beneficial and could provide all of the services your landscaping business may need.
What software is the best fit for a large landscaping business?
Xero would be the top recommendation for a medium to large landscaping business. Its first tier plan is more restrictive, but once you move past that entry level, the software opens up and becomes much more fully functional.
Along with that, Xero also lets you have unlimited admins and users so that your employees can all work together within the software. This allows easy cooperation without your staff interfering with the credentials of the one main account.
References/Sources:
- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/online/advanced/
- https://www.freshbooks.com/accounting-software/landscaping-businesses
- https://www.yardbook.com/
- https://www.yardbook.com/pages/testimonials
- https://www.waveapps.com/pricing
- https://www.xero.com/us/
- https://www.xero.com/blog/2016/05/top-5-reasons-small-businesses-use-xero/
- https://arborgold.com/
- https://www.zoho.com/us/books/?zmc=zoho-fa&ireft=ohome
- https://www.zoho.com/us/books/what-is-zoho-books/
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