Accounting for Landscapers and Lawn Care Companies in BC
Landscaping earns most of its money between spring and fall, then has to carry trucks, loans and a core crew through the winter. Good accounting here is about timing: when you buy equipment, when your year ends, and how much cash you hold back in August.
EverStone CPA handles bookkeeping, payroll and tax for landscapers anywhere in BC, online, at a fixed fee you approve first.
Quick answer: BC landscapers charge GST on their work. PST depends on the job: maintenance generally carries none, while materials you install into a property usually mean you pay PST when you buy them. The main planning levers are a year-end set after the busy season, well-timed equipment purchases, and cash reserves for winter.
Landscaping businesses we support
The industry runs from a single owner with a mower and a trailer to design-build firms installing patios, irrigation and retaining walls for builders.
- Lawn mowing and garden maintenance routes, residential or strata
- Design-build landscapers doing hardscape, planting and irrigation
- Commercial maintenance contractors with multi-year site agreements
- Companies that switch to snow clearing for the winter
- Tree care, hedge and arborist services
- Landscapers subcontracting to home builders on new construction
Some clients are one season in; others have run crews for years and want the paperwork off their plate.
Sole proprietorship or company for a landscaper
The answer turns on profit and on equipment. A business buying a truck or a compact loader every couple of years often benefits from keeping profit inside a corporation to pay for them.
As a sole proprietor
Your landscaping income goes on the T2125 and your personal return. A sole proprietorship normally uses a December 31 year-end, which lands in your quiet season. All profit is taxed in your hands that year.
As a corporation
A company can choose its own fiscal year-end, often after the season winds down. Retained profit is taxed at the 11% combined small-business rate on active income up to the $500,000 limit, leaving more for the next machine.
Liability and contracts
Builders and strata councils may ask for a company name, insurance and a WorkSafeBC account. Incorporation does not replace insurance, but it separates the business from your household finances.
See when to switch from sole proprietor to corporation, run the incorporation calculator, or ask for incorporation advice.
Paying yourself through a seasonal year
Landscaping income is lumpy, so owner pay works better as a plan than as whatever is in the account in July.
A steady salary
A modest monthly salary all year smooths your household budget and builds CPP and RRSP room. It also gives a lender a clean income history when you finance equipment.
Dividends after the season
Once the year’s profit is known, a dividend tops up what you have drawn. No payroll remittances, but no RRSP room either.
Watch the shareholder loan
Taking cash in summer without booking it as pay creates a shareholder loan. If it is not repaid within one year after year-end, it is generally taxed as income.
Compare options with the salary vs dividends calculator and read about shareholder loans.
GST and PST for landscaping work
Landscaping services are subject to 5% GST once you are registered. Registration is required once taxable sales pass $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters.
PST is where landscapers get caught out. Mowing, pruning and garden maintenance are services to land and generally carry no PST. When you supply and install plants, pavers, soil or irrigation parts as part of improving a property, you are usually treated as the consumer of those materials. That means paying 7% PST when you buy them, not charging it to your customer.
Selling goods on their own, such as a pallet of sod picked up by a homeowner, is different, and PST is charged on the sale. Keep supply-only and install jobs coded separately. See the BC PST guide and our GST and PST filing service.
Seasonal crews, layoffs and WorkSafeBC
Hiring for the season
Seasonal labourers are almost always employees. Set them up on payroll with a TD1, remit source deductions, and pay 4% vacation pay on top of wages.
End-of-season layoffs
When work stops, final pay is due within 48 hours and each worker needs a Record of Employment. Late ROEs delay their EI claims. See our ROE guide.
Subcontracted help
A crew lead with their own truck and equipment may be a genuine subcontractor. Keep an agreement, their invoices and a copy of their WorkSafeBC clearance.
WorkSafeBC premiums
Premiums follow your reported payroll, which swings by season. Accurate reporting avoids a large adjustment at year-end.
Our payroll service runs pay, ROEs and T4 slips, which are due by the last day of February.
Job costing for routes, installs and snow contracts
Maintenance routes and install projects need different bookkeeping. A route is recurring revenue against crew hours and fuel. An install is a project with materials, rentals and labour that should be costed against the quote.
Deposits on design-build jobs
Customer deposits taken before work starts are recorded as a liability, then earned as the job progresses. That stops one big deposit from distorting a month.
Field software and payments
Your scheduling or quoting app feeds invoices; card payouts land net of fees. We reconcile both to the bank and keep the fees as an expense.
Snow contracts
Seasonal snow agreements are often billed in fixed monthly amounts regardless of snowfall. Tracking plowing hours against them shows whether the price holds up.
Our monthly bookkeeping service builds this in from the start.
Trucks, trailers, mowers and loaders
Equipment is the second-biggest cost after labour. Each piece is claimed through capital cost allowance, and the class decides how fast. Trucks, trailers, zero-turn mowers, compact loaders and hand tools may each sit in a different class.
Timing matters. A machine bought just before year-end is usually subject to the half-year rule, while buying it a little after can shift the deduction into the next year. We look at your profit before the purchase, not after. The half-year rule guide and the equipment CCA guide go deeper.
Fuel, repairs and insurance for a work truck are deductible for its business use. Keep a vehicle log for any truck that also serves as a personal vehicle.
Seasonal cash flow, holdbacks and slips
Saving for winter
Set aside part of each summer deposit for winter payroll, loan payments and insurance. A rolling forecast shows how long reserves last. The guide to cash flow in a seasonal business has a method.
Holdbacks on builder work
On new-construction jobs, the builder may hold back part of each payment until the project completes. Record holdbacks as receivables so they are collected. See holdbacks accounting.
T5018 reporting
If construction is your main activity and you pay subcontractors, you may need to file T5018 slips within six months of the period end. Hardscape firms should check this.
Tax instalments
A good season can trigger instalments. Personal instalments apply when net tax owing exceeds $3,000 in the current year and either of the two previous years.
End-of-season checklist for a BC landscaper
Work through this list once the last crew is laid off for the year.
- Bill every finished job. Send final invoices and release-of-holdback requests.
- Issue ROEs. One for each laid-off worker, on time.
- Count leftover stock. Pavers, soil, plants and irrigation parts on hand at year-end.
- List equipment changes. Purchases, trade-ins and sales, with the paperwork.
- Close out vehicle logs. Total and business kilometres for each truck.
- Reconcile the loans. Equipment financing balances to the lender statements.
- Review the PST. Confirm install materials were taxed on purchase and supply-only sales charged it.
- Plan winter cash. Match reserves against fixed costs until spring.
You can link to this list from your own site: everstonecpa.com/accountant-for-landscapers-bc#year-end-checklist.
Landscaping accounting services and fees
- Self-employed return for an owner-operator: commonly $250–$450
- Monthly bookkeeping with GST and PST returns: from $300 a month
- Trades-company bundle of books, payroll and year-end T2: usually $450–$650 a month
- Corporate tax return on its own: quoted after a free consultation
- Advice Call before a large equipment purchase: $200 + GST
Fees are fixed and written down before work begins. See pricing.
Questions landscapers ask us
Do landscapers charge PST?+
What year-end should my landscaping company use?+
Should I buy equipment before year-end to save tax?+
Are my seasonal workers employees?+
Written and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working remotely with businesses across British Columbia. Updated . Before you decide, check our client reviews.
Related reading
Pages landscapers find useful.
Send us your details
Routes or installs, crew size, equipment plans and whether you are incorporated. The CPA writes back within one business day with the next step and a fee.