Lawn care software QuickBooks export for landscapers who price from measured jobs
LandscapeEstimating is lawn care and landscape estimating software that hands your signed jobs to QuickBooks Online. You measure the property on satellite imagery, price it from your own cost library, the client signs the proposal online, and every accepted job downloads as an invoice file in the column layout QuickBooks Online imports, one row per line with the signed amount. The QuickBooks export is on the Company plan at $299 a month ($149 billed yearly) and up.
The problem
Where QuickBooks and the estimate stop matching.
Why lawn care QuickBooks invoices drift from the quote
QuickBooks is where most US lawn care and landscape companies keep the books, and it does that job well. What it doesn't do is measure a yard, price mulch by the cubic yard or hold a production rate for edging. So the price gets built somewhere else, and then someone in the office types it into QuickBooks again.
That retyping is where money leaks. The invoice says "Spring cleanup and mulch, $2,400" because the line detail stayed in a spreadsheet. The optional add-on the client ticked never makes it over. A crew lead adds 40 feet of edging in the field and nobody knows whether it was in the price.
- Signed proposals retyped by hand into QuickBooks invoices, one job at a time
- Line detail collapsed into one lump sum, so the client questions the bill
- Add-ons and change orders missing from the invoice
- No way to see in QuickBooks which estimator priced a job well and which priced it light
- Bookkeeper and estimator using two different numbers for the same job
How it works
From a US address to an invoice in QuickBooks Online.
How the QuickBooks export works for landscapers
The export starts from the signed proposal, not from a blank invoice. Nothing is retyped between the estimate and the books.
- Search a US address and trace turf, beds, sod, hardscape and edging on satellite imagery; areas and lengths calculate as you draw
- Each layer prices from your cost library with material, waste, production rate, labor rate, overhead and margin
- Send a branded proposal with good, better and best options; the client signs online and picks add-ons
- The signed option becomes the job budget, and crews log hours and materials against it
- Download accepted jobs as a QuickBooks invoice file: invoice number, customer, invoice date, due date, Net 30 terms, the property address as the memo, and one row per line with quantity, rate and amount
- In QuickBooks Online, import the file as invoices; the lines land exactly as the client saw them on the proposal
You can try the estimator on a sample property or one US address of your own before you create an account.
Export
What lands in QuickBooks Online.
What each lawn care QuickBooks invoice carries
Every row in the export is one priced line of a signed job. A mulch-and-edging job with an optional aeration add-on comes through like this (illustrative numbers):
| Invoice | Customer | Item | Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACME-1042 | 18 Oak Lane | Hardwood mulch, 3 in | Hardwood mulch, 3 in, 14 cu yd | 14 | $96.00 | $1,344.00 |
| ACME-1042 | 18 Oak Lane | Spade edge beds | Spade edge beds, 420 lf | 420 | $1.10 | $462.00 |
| ACME-1042 | 18 Oak Lane | Bed cleanup | Bed cleanup, 2,600 sq ft | 2600 | $0.12 | $312.00 |
| ACME-1042 | 18 Oak Lane | Core aeration (add-on) | Core aeration, 9,000 sq ft | 9000 | $0.031 | $279.00 |
The invoice total is $2,397, the same figure the client signed. Because quantities come from the trace, a client who asks "why 14 yards" gets an answer you can show on the map. Your bookkeeper still owns the books: deposits, payments, sales tax and reconciliation stay in QuickBooks, where they belong.
Features
What lawn care and landscape offices use with QuickBooks.
Lawn care QuickBooks workflow features
Signed amounts only. The export carries accepted jobs, so a quote that is still out for signature never turns into an invoice by accident.
Line detail kept. Each material and labor line stays its own invoice row, with quantity and unit, instead of one lump sum.
Job costing before the books. Crews log hours and materials against the signed budget, and you see estimate against actual per line before the job reaches QuickBooks. The landscape job costing software page shows how.
One price per company. Estimator seats are included in the plan, so the office manager and the estimators don't each add a monthly fee.
CSV on every plan. If you use QuickBooks Desktop, Xero or another system, estimates export to CSV on every plan, and Operations adds API access and webhooks.
Measured quantities. The numbers on the invoice come from a satellite trace priced in the lawn care pricing calculator, not from a guess on the drive home.
Who it's for
Companies that keep QuickBooks and want better bids in it.
Who uses QuickBooks for landscapers with an estimating tool
- Lawn care companies on QuickBooks Online who sell mowing contracts plus cleanups, mulch and aeration, and are tired of retyping proposals
- Design-build landscapers whose install bids are too detailed for a QuickBooks estimate form
- Maintenance companies with an office manager or outside bookkeeper who want invoices that match the signed number
- Owners who run scheduling in another app and only need the estimate, the signature and the invoice to agree; see software for landscaping business for the full workflow
Commercial contractors bidding by zone can do the same on our landscape bidding software.
Compare
How lawn care software connects to QuickBooks.
Lawn care software QuickBooks options compared
Most landscape platforms connect to QuickBooks in some way. The difference is what you get before the invoice: a measured, priced estimate, or a typed quote. The table sums up what each vendor says about its own product. Check current plans with each vendor, since they change.
| Tool | How it connects to QuickBooks | Satellite measuring built in | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online alone | Native estimates and invoices | No | Companies whose quotes are a few flat-rate lines |
| Jobber | QuickBooks Online sync from the Connect plan | No (Google Maps or a partner) | Small service crews who want scheduling and invoicing in one app |
| LMN | QuickBooks Online on every plan, Desktop on Professional and up | Not listed on the pricing page | Companies that run the whole business from a budget |
| Service Autopilot | QuickBooks Online sync as an add-on, included on Elite | Through a partner | Route-heavy maintenance companies |
| LandscapeEstimating | QuickBooks Online invoice import file of signed jobs, Company plan and up | Yes, any US address | Companies that want measured, margin-checked bids that land in QuickBooks unchanged |
Where the others win: Jobber, LMN and Service Autopilot run scheduling, routing and payments, which we don't, and their live sync updates QuickBooks without an import step. If two-way sync of customers and payments is your main need, they are a better fit. Where we win: the invoice starts from a trace priced with your own production rates, overhead and margin, so the number in QuickBooks is a number you can defend. Plenty of companies keep Jobber for the schedule and price installs here; our Jobber alternative for landscapers guide covers that setup.
FAQ
- Can QuickBooks be used for a lawn care business?
Yes. QuickBooks Online handles invoicing, payments, expenses, payroll and taxes for a lawn care business well. What it lacks is measuring and pricing: no satellite measurement, no production rates, no cubic yards of mulch. Most companies pair it with lawn care software that builds the estimate and sends the signed job to QuickBooks.
- What is the best software for lawn care that works with QuickBooks?
It depends on where your problem is. If you need scheduling and routing, Jobber or Service Autopilot sync with QuickBooks Online. If you lose money on the bid, an estimator such as LandscapeEstimating measures the property, prices it from your rates and exports the signed job to QuickBooks Online as an invoice.
- Does LandscapeEstimating sync with QuickBooks Online?
It exports, rather than syncs. On Company and above you download accepted jobs as a file in QuickBooks Online's invoice import layout and import it as invoices, one row per priced line. Payments, deposits and reconciliation stay in QuickBooks. Every plan also exports estimates to CSV for other accounting systems.
- Can QuickBooks do job costing for landscaping?
QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced can track income and expenses by project, but they don't hold a production-rate budget per line. LandscapeEstimating turns the signed proposal into a job budget, crews log hours and materials against it, and you see estimate against actual per line before the job reaches QuickBooks.
- Does it work with QuickBooks Desktop?
The invoice export is built for QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Desktop users can use the CSV export of estimates that comes with every plan, and the Operations plan adds API access and webhooks for connecting to other systems your bookkeeper runs.
- How much does lawn care software with QuickBooks export cost?
The QuickBooks Online export is included on the Company plan at $299 a month, or $149 a month billed yearly, with 6 estimator seats and 250 satellite measurements. Operations is $649 a month with 15 seats and 800 measurements. See the pricing page for every plan.
Get started
Send the number the client signed to QuickBooks
Trace a real US address, price it from your own rates and see the estimate you would send. When it matches how you price, create your account and let the signed job land in QuickBooks Online line by line, with online e-sign in between.