Landscaping Chart of Accounts for QuickBooks Online
Use this landscaping chart of accounts template to separate service-line revenue, direct job costs, overhead, equipment, loans, sales tax, payroll, and owner activity in QuickBooks Online.
Short answer
A landscaping chart of accounts should show revenue by service line, keep labor and materials in direct job costs, separate overhead, and track equipment, loans, payroll liabilities, sales tax, and owner activity. When mulch, crew labor, rentals, and dump fees are buried in general expenses, every job looks better than it really was.
Free resource
Download the Landscaping Chart of Accounts CSV
A QuickBooks-formatted starting template with account numbers, account names, account types, and detail types for landscaping and lawn care companies.
Checklist
- Separate mowing, maintenance, installs, cleanup, tree work, and hardscape revenue.
- Keep direct crew labor, materials, rentals, dump fees, delivery, and subcontractors in cost of goods sold.
- Keep insurance, advertising, software, office costs, and other overhead in operating expenses.
- Track vehicles and equipment separately from the loans used to buy them.
- Keep payroll liabilities, sales tax payable, customer deposits, and owner activity off the profit and loss statement.
- Use account numbers so the list stays readable in QuickBooks Online.
- Review the chart before importing so you do not duplicate QuickBooks default accounts.
Common mistakes
- Posting all landscaping revenue to one income account.
- Burying mulch, plants, direct labor, rentals, and dump fees in overhead.
- Recording equipment loan payments as one expense instead of separating principal and interest.
- Coding owner draws, sales tax, or customer deposits as income or operating expenses.
- Creating a new account for every vendor instead of grouping costs by decision.
- Importing accounts that already exist in QuickBooks.
Examples for landscaping businesses
- A mowing company can separate recurring maintenance revenue from cleanup and add-on work.
- An installation company can keep plants, mulch, rock, direct labor, rentals, and dump fees in direct job costs.
- A tree service can track equipment, loans, deposits, subcontractors, hauling, and crew labor without hiding job margin.
Your chart should answer operating questions
A landscaping owner should be able to open the profit and loss statement and see where the money came from, what the work cost, and what overhead remained. One broad income account and one pile of expenses cannot answer those questions.
The chart of accounts creates the reporting structure. Products, services, customers, and projects add the job-level detail. Both pieces have to work together.
Use a numbered structure that stays readable
Account numbers keep assets, liabilities, equity, income, direct job costs, and overhead in a predictable order. They also make duplicate or misplaced accounts easier to spot.
Recommended number ranges
- 1000 to 1999: cash, receivables, vehicles, and equipment
- 2000 to 2999: credit cards, payroll and sales tax liabilities, deposits, and loans
- 3000 to 3999: owner's equity, retained earnings, and owner draws
- 4000 to 4999: mowing, maintenance, installs, cleanup, tree work, and hardscape revenue
- 5000 to 5999: direct crew labor, materials, rentals, dump fees, delivery, and subcontractors
- 6000 to 6999: insurance, repairs, advertising, software, office costs, and other overhead
- 8000 to 8999: depreciation, interest, and review accounts
Separate revenue by the work you sell
Revenue accounts should match the major decisions you make. If mowing, installs, and cleanup have different crews, pricing, and margins, they should not disappear into one sales number.
Landscaping revenue accounts
- 4000 Mowing and Maintenance Revenue
- 4010 Seasonal Maintenance Revenue
- 4020 Mulching Revenue
- 4030 Planting and Installation Revenue
- 4040 Tree Work Revenue
- 4050 Cleanup Revenue
- 4060 Hardscape and Gravel Revenue
Keep direct job costs out of overhead
Direct job costs exist because a job exists. Putting those costs in the 5000s makes gross profit visible before overhead. That is how you see whether pricing covered the crew, materials, rental, delivery, and disposal.
Direct landscaping job costs
- 5000 Direct Crew Labor
- 5010 Mulch, Plants, Rock, Soil, and Seed
- 5020 Equipment Rental
- 5030 Dump and Disposal Fees
- 5040 Subcontractors
- 5050 Delivery and Material Pickup
- 5060 Jobsite Supplies
- 5070 Workers' Compensation - Field Crew
Separate overhead from the cost of the work
Overhead keeps the company running whether or not a specific job happens. Keeping it out of direct job costs lets you review gross margin first, then see what the business spent to operate.
Landscaping overhead accounts
- 6000 Vehicle Fuel
- 6010 Repairs and Maintenance
- 6020 General Liability Insurance
- 6030 Commercial Auto Insurance
- 6040 Advertising and Marketing
- 6050 Software and Subscriptions
- 6060 Office and Administrative
- 6070 Uniforms and Safety Gear
- 6080 Professional Fees
- 6090 Phone and Internet
- 6100 Rent and Storage
- 6110 Bank and Merchant Fees
Keep the balance sheet clean too
A useful chart does more than organize the profit and loss statement. Equipment purchases, loan balances, customer deposits, payroll liabilities, sales tax, and owner activity belong on the balance sheet.
Balance sheet accounts to keep separate
- 1500 Vehicles and 1510 Mowers and Landscaping Equipment
- 2100 Sales Tax Payable and 2110 Payroll Liabilities
- 2200 Customer Deposits
- 2500 Vehicle Loans and 2510 Equipment Loans
- 3000 Owner's Equity, 3100 Retained Earnings, and 3200 Owner Draws
Import the template into QuickBooks Online
The download uses the four fields QuickBooks maps during import: Account Number, Account Name, Type, and Detail Type. In QuickBooks Online, open Settings, choose Import Data, select Chart of Accounts, upload the CSV, and map each column.
Review the import before saving. Deselect accounts that already exist. Confirm the account type first, then the detail type. The template is a starting point, not a substitute for reviewing how your file, payroll, sales tax, loans, and existing history are set up.
Review the reports every month
After the chart is in place, review the profit and loss statement by service line, gross profit, overhead, equipment and loan balances, sales tax, payroll liabilities, and owner activity. The chart has done its job when those reports make the next pricing or cash decision easier.
Do not add an account every time a new vendor appears. Add one only when the new category changes a decision you need to make.
Get a Custom Chart of Accounts
The Setup Sprint tailors this structure to your services, existing QuickBooks file, payroll, sales tax, equipment, and reporting needs.
Get a Custom Chart of AccountsRelated resources
QuickBooks Online Setup Checklist
The 12 step setup checklist that uses this chart as Step 3.
How to Reconcile in QuickBooks Online
Reconciliations depend on a clean chart, start here next.
Job Costing for Landscapers
Use the new account structure to track job margin.
QuickBooks for Landscaping Companies
Connect the chart to products, services, projects, and month-end review.
Related support from Small Business Bookkeeping Co.
If this guide describes the bookkeeping problem you are dealing with, these services are the most relevant next step.
Custom chart of accounts setup
Setup Sprint includes a chart of accounts customized to your business and loaded into your bookkeeping system.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Recurring bookkeeping, reconciliation, and monthly reports for landscaping businesses.
Catch Up Bookkeeping
Cleanup help when QuickBooks is behind or unreliable.