Landscaping
Landscaping Business Profit Calculator
Model the landscaping business across a year, with maintenance and installation separated.
Result
Net profit here is before tax and before any owner's draw that is not already inside overhead. If you pay yourself out of what is left, this figure is your wage rather than the company's profit.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Mix between recurring maintenance and one-off installation.
- Crew count and workable days, which is weather and season dependent.
- Equipment replacement, which is a real recurring cost rather than an occasional event.
Where this one goes wrong
Judging the business on summer. Landscaping revenue is highly seasonal in most climates, and a company profitable through the growing season can consume that profit over the winter.
Questions
About this calculator
Maintenance or installation, which is better?
Maintenance gives predictable recurring revenue at lower margin per hour; installation gives higher value jobs with more variability. Most businesses want both for different reasons.
How should equipment replacement be budgeted?
As an ongoing cost proportional to use rather than as a capital event. Mowers and handheld equipment have a finite life in hours and that cost belongs in every job.
What about winter?
Either diversify into work that runs through it, or plan the year so the season carries the off-season. Discovering the shortfall in January is the common pattern.
The formula
net profit = revenue - direct costs - overhead
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How to use this calculator
- Revenue ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $47,000.
- Direct labour ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $16,000.
- Materials and equipment ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $11,000.
- Other direct costs ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,200.
- Overhead ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $12,500.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to net profit, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $47,000 |
| Direct labour | $16,000 |
| Materials and equipment | $11,000 |
| Other direct costs | $2,200 |
| Overhead | $12,500 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Net profit main result | $5,300 |
| Net margin | 11.3% |
| Total direct cost | $29,200 |
| Profit per working day | $240.91 |
That is $5,300 at a 11.3% margin, about $240.91 for every working day.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only revenue, this is what happens to net profit. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Revenue ($) | Net profit |
|---|---|
| $23,500 | -$18,200 |
| $35,250 | -$6,450 |
| $47,000 example above | $5,300 |
| $70,500 | $28,800 |
| $94,000 | $52,300 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Revenue ($)
- A money amount, starting at $47,000.
- Direct labour ($)
- A money amount, starting at $16,000.
- Materials and equipment ($)
- A money amount, starting at $11,000.
- Other direct costs ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,200.
- Overhead ($)
- A money amount, starting at $12,500.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Net profit | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Net margin | A percentage. |
| Total direct cost | A money figure. |
| Profit per working day | A money figure. |
Seasonality is not in this
Coverage and material figures assume the area you enter. Slope, access for machinery, existing growth and the time of year all affect both quantity and labour, and none of them appear in a calculation like this.
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.