Lawn care software that prices mowing, programs and cleanups from the map
Lawn care is priced in repetition: one visit multiplied by a season, one fertilizer round multiplied by a program. LandscapeEstimating is lawn care software that measures the turf, trim and beds on satellite imagery, prices one visit from your own production rates and multiplies it correctly across the season, so a small mistake per visit does not turn into a large one per year.
The problem
How pricing by feel costs you across a season.
Why lawn care pricing drifts
A lawn quoted $5 too low per cut is $140 too low over a 28-visit season, on every property with the same habit. Most of the drift comes from pricing by feel.
- Turf area guessed from the street instead of measured.
- Trimming and blowing left out because "they are part of the mow".
- Drive time between properties absorbed rather than recovered.
- Fertilization quoted per property instead of per 1,000 sq ft.
- Spring and fall cleanups quoted from memory every year.
Measurement
Turf, trim and obstacles measured inside the estimate.
Lawn measurement tool built into the estimate
Search the address and trace the property: turf in square feet, trim lines and bed edges in linear feet, trees and obstacles as counts. Each service gets its own layer, so mowing area and fertilization area can differ when beds or a fenced dog run are excluded. Measurements come from aerial imagery; tree canopy can hide turf beneath it, so adjust the traced area where you know the ground better than the image. The lawn measurement tool page shows tracing in detail.
Worked example
A mowing visit and season total, calculated line by line.
Pricing a mowing season, one visit at a time
Worked example for a residential property with 8,600 sq ft of turf and 380 linear ft of trim. Rates are illustrative: a 60 in. mower at 12,000 sq ft per man-hour, trimming at 1,000 linear ft per man-hour, blowing at a flat 0.15 man-hours, a loaded labor rate of $40 per hour, 15 percent overhead recovery and a 25 percent target margin.
| Line | Math | Cost per visit |
|---|---|---|
| Mowing | 8,600 / 12,000 = 0.72 man-hours | $28.80 |
| Trimming | 380 / 1,000 = 0.38 man-hours | $15.20 |
| Blowing | 0.15 man-hours | $6.00 |
| Equipment | from the library | $6.00 |
| Drive time recovery | from the library | $6.00 |
| Direct cost | $62.00 | |
| Overhead recovery, 15 percent | $9.30 | |
| Price per visit at 25 percent margin | $71.30 / 0.75 | $95.07 |
With 28 visits set on the maintenance estimate, the season prices at $2,661.96. In the estimate, the mowing area repeats with the visit count, and trimming, blowing, equipment and drive time go in as charges per visit. The proposal shows the season total, the number of visits and the price per visit.
Programs
Fertilization rounds and cleanups priced from the same turf.
Fertilization programs and cleanups priced per season
Programs are where lawn care software earns its keep, because the same measured turf drives several services. A maintenance estimate carries one visit count for the season: the mowing area and any charge you set per visit repeat with it, and everything else is priced once. A program with its own number of rounds, such as fertilization, goes on its own maintenance estimate with that number of visits.
- Fertilization and weed control: priced per 1,000 sq ft per round. At $7.50 per 1,000 sq ft, the 8,600 sq ft lawn above is $64.50 per round and $322.50 for a five-round program.
- Aeration and overseeding: one or two visits a year from the same turf area, with seed rate per 1,000 sq ft.
- Spring and fall cleanups: bed area and leaf volume priced by production rate, plus disposal per load.
- Mulch and bed refresh: depth times area, waste factor and delivery, the same assembly your enhancement estimates use.
Mowing, per visit charges and one-time work such as a cleanup or a mulch refresh sit on the same estimate, so a maintenance agreement goes out as one proposal instead of several quotes. If your main job is selling and signing season contracts, the lawn care contract software page walks through a 12 month contract priced per visit. Your rates live in the lawn care pricing calculator, and the arithmetic behind a mowing price is explained step by step in how much to charge for lawn mowing.
Agreement
The maintenance agreement your client signs online.
A maintenance agreement the client signs online
The proposal carries your logo, colors and the traced map, lists every service, shows the season total with the number of visits and the price per visit, and offers optional add-ons such as aeration or a fall cleanup. The client opens it online, chooses, and e-signs. You see sent, viewed and signed on each proposal, and the accepted agreement exports to your calendar and, on the Company plan and above, to QuickBooks Online (see lawn care software QuickBooks export). Estimating on a phone between properties is covered on the lawn care estimate app page, and the owner's view of cost and time is on lawn care business software.
FAQ
- Does it price per visit or per season?
Both. A maintenance estimate has one visit count for the season. The mowing area and any charge you set per visit are multiplied by it, one-time work is priced once, and the proposal shows the season total, the number of visits and the price per visit.
- Can I measure commercial and HOA properties?
Yes. Large turf areas trace the same way as a residential lawn, with layers per service. Measurements per month depend on the plan: 60 on Crew, 250 on Company and 800 on Operations.
- Does it handle routing and crew scheduling?
LandscapeEstimating centers on estimating, proposals and job costing. Accepted work exports to your calendar and to QuickBooks Online, and routing stays in the tool your crews already use. If that tool is a lawn treatment platform, our RealGreen alternative page shows how the two split the work.
- What does it cost?
The Crew plan is $129 per month, or $768 per year, for two estimator seats with unlimited proposals. Compare plans on landscape estimating software pricing.
Get started
Price the whole season before you leave the curb
Measure the lawn, apply your rates and send one agreement for mowing, programs and cleanups. Already scheduling in Jobber? See how landscapers pair Jobber with a satellite estimator instead of switching everything.