5 Must Haves | Accounting Software for Landscape Businesses

Accounting software is a must-have for landscape companies.  Your landscaping business likely has a lot of accounting needs, such as estimates and invoicing, scheduling, managing inventory, and tracking sales. But, you don’t have to do all of this using a pen and paper or the dreaded Excel spreadsheet. 

Not only does accounting software make things simple, but it also helps you streamline your processes and helps your team become more efficient. Accounting software for landscape business also allows you to track everything and can help optimize and manage cash flow. Your customers and team will love the quick turnaround time and digital solutions that come from using accounting software.

Here are 5 must-have accounting tools to have for your landscaping business:

1. Purchase Order Tracking

Purchase orders are necessary when tracking materials needed for a job, or to keep things tracked when working with subcontractors.   A  purchase order, also referred to as a PO, is a commercial document created by the buyer issued to a seller to indicated the type, quantities and agreed price for the products the purchaser is looking to buy.  When buying large quantities of sod, plant materials, for a project it is important to keep inventory control and tracking to ensure you’re paying the agreed upon price of the product.  If you bid a project based on an estimated cost, the purchase order will help track the order and payment of the products. 

2. Inventory Management

If your landscape company keeps on hand materials, such as mulch, dirt, sod, irrigation piping and parts, rock, etc, it is important to track how much is on hand and how much is available to jobs.  The cost of materials, products, parts, and the stock isn’t cheap. Not having a good line of sight on your inventory can cause a loss of profit that you may not even be aware of. 

A good inventory management software will not only tell you how much you have on hand but give you a warning sign that you are below a threshold and more product needs to be ordered.  It also keeps track of the suppliers that you order from, what they charge, and the best price for the quantity that you need to re-order.  Another important factor to keep in mind is keeping track of inventory needed for jobs that are approved but not scheduled.  

3. Scheduling

Scheduling can be a total pain no matter if your team is big or small. A good accounting software for landscape business must include a scheduling component. It fits right in within with managing inventory needed for jobs, you can’t schedule a job if the inventory isn’t available to complete the project. The job scheduling features will help you track what jobs are scheduled, pending, what resources are available. Using a tool for scheduling, dispatching, tracking, and routing can really make work life a dream. 

4. Job Costing

There’s a lot that goes into job costing. It’s not just about the quote, it’s about the resources and time spent that also offsets how much you should be charging.  e into account all the things that go into providing a quote, and creates the cost for you with a few clicks. Everything is customizable and easy to use on any device. You can also track inventory and equipment as well.

5. CRM

A customer relationship management tool (CRM) is crucial for properly managing your landscaping business.  If you want to truly grow your business, you need to have a way to track leads, customer journeys, and referrals.  Every single lead and the status of that lead needs to be tracked. A CRM helps you manage the relationships with your clients and give you the ability to segment customers for marketing, recall important information about job history, track quotes pending, tag customers for lookup.

All in one Accounting Software for Landscape Business

Many software programs on the market have some of the features listed, but not all.  An all in one accounting software for landscape business is Arborgold Ultimate, it has it all – you can use an app to manage your entire workflow, quotes, purchase orders, inventory management, scheduling, and billing.  It has a fully integrated mobile experience as well, meaning your entire team can simply use their smartphone as their daily technology. Click here to take a tour and see for yourself!