Landscaping businesses across Australia face the same financial pressures as arborists and other outdoor trades — heavy equipment investment, seasonal cash flow swings, complex job costing across materials and labour, and an ATO that treats every chipper, mower and ute differently. At Arbour Advisory, we built our practice serving arborists and outdoor trades. Landscapers were the natural next step.
If you run a landscape construction, garden maintenance, lawn care or design-and-build business, this page covers exactly how a specialist accountant for landscapers should be helping you — and what it costs.
Why landscapers need a specialist accountant (not a generalist)
A typical suburban accountant prepares your tax return and lodges your BAS. That’s table stakes. What landscapers actually need is an accountant who understands:
- Job costing across mixed projects. A $40,000 retaining wall, a $1,200 mow-and-edge, and a $180,000 commercial install all sit in the same Xero file. Each needs different cost tracking.
- Equipment finance structures. Should that new $85,000 Kubota tractor be a chattel mortgage, novated lease, or operating lease? The wrong call costs you $8,000+ over five years in tax and cash flow terms.
- Seasonal cash flow planning. Landscaping revenue can drop 40-60% from peak summer to mid-winter. Your accountant should be modelling this, not noticing it after you’ve missed a BAS.
- Subcontractor and TPAR compliance. If you pay other landscapers, arborists or earthworks contractors, the Taxable Payments Annual Report applies. Penalties for missing it start at $313 per 28 days.
- Fuel tax credits. Most landscapers leave $2,000-$8,000 a year on the table because their accountant never claimed FTC on off-road diesel use in mowers, ride-ons and chippers.
Equipment finance for landscaping businesses
Equipment is where landscaping businesses make or break their balance sheet. Here’s what the typical capital stack looks like for a growing landscaping business:
- Ride-on mowers and zero-turns: $8,000–$25,000. Usually chattel mortgage over 3–5 years. Current market rates 7.5%–9.5% p.a.
- Compact tractors / skid steers: $35,000–$120,000. Chattel mortgage or equipment loan, 5-year term, residual 20–30%.
- Trailers and tipper trailers: $5,000–$30,000. Often bundled into a working capital facility.
- Utes and trucks: $40,000–$95,000. Watch the Luxury Car Limit ($69,674 for 2025-26 — depreciation cap applies above this).
- Wood chippers and stump grinders: $20,000–$80,000. Standard chattel mortgage. (See our equipment finance calculator.)
The right structure depends on your business turnover, tax bracket, GST registration status and whether you’re trading as a sole trader, company or trust. We model all four scenarios before recommending a finance structure.
Job costing: the #1 thing landscapers get wrong
Most landscaping businesses we take on are profitable on paper but bleeding cash on specific job types. The owner doesn’t know which jobs because they’ve never properly costed them. We set up job costing in Xero or MYOB so every quote can be checked against actual cost — labour hours, materials, equipment time, subcontractors, fuel — within 48 hours of job completion.
Typical findings in the first 90 days: 15–25% of jobs are loss-making, and the owner stops bidding for that job type. Margin recovery is usually 8–14 percentage points within six months.
Seasonal cash flow planning
If your December invoicing is $120,000 and your July invoicing is $45,000, you need to be putting away ~30% of summer cash to bridge winter wages, BAS and equipment repayments. Most landscapers don’t, and end up scrambling for an overdraft in August. We build a 13-week rolling cash flow forecast that tells you exactly how much to retain each month, taxed or untaxed.
BAS, GST and PAYG for landscapers
If your turnover exceeds $75,000 you must be GST registered. Most established landscaping businesses lodge BAS quarterly. Common errors we fix on takeover:
Tax deductions every landscaping business should claim
- Tools under $300 — immediate deduction
- Protective clothing, sun hats, boots, eyewear — fully deductible
- Vehicle running costs (logbook method usually beats cents-per-km for landscapers)
- Mobile phone, plant ID apps, design software (Vectorworks, SketchUp, DynaSCAPE)
- Industry membership fees (LNA, AILDM)
- Home office (admin and quoting time)
- Training (Chemcert, chainsaw tickets, white card, first aid)
What our landscaping accounting service includes
- Bookkeeping (Xero or MYOB) with weekly bank reconciliation
- Quarterly BAS preparation and lodgement
- Annual tax returns (company, trust, or sole trader)
- Job costing setup and ongoing review
- Equipment finance structuring and broker referrals
- Cash flow forecasting (13-week rolling)
- Year-end tax planning
- ATO correspondence and audit support
Pricing starts at $385/month for sole traders and $750/month for companies with 1–5 employees. Larger landscaping businesses with 10+ staff typically sit at $1,800–$3,500/month for full outsourced finance function.
Related services for outdoor trades
Frequently asked questions
How much does an accountant for a landscaping business cost in Australia?
Sole trader landscapers typically pay $385–$650/month for bookkeeping, BAS and tax. Companies with 1–5 staff sit around $750–$1,500/month. Full outsourced finance function for landscaping businesses with 10+ employees ranges $1,800–$3,500/month. One-off tax returns run $550–$1,200 depending on structure and complexity.
Can I claim GST back on a new mower or tractor?
Yes — if you’re GST registered, you can claim the GST credit in the BAS for the period the equipment was acquired, regardless of finance structure. The GST is claimed in full upfront even if you’re paying it off over 5 years on chattel mortgage. The remaining ex-GST cost is then depreciated.
Do landscapers need to lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR)?
Yes — if you operate a landscaping or building/construction business and pay contractors for landscaping, building or related services, you must lodge a TPAR by 28 August each year. Penalties start at $313 per 28-day period for late lodgement and escalate.
What’s the best business structure for a landscaping business?
Sole trader works fine until you hit ~$120,000 net profit or take on employees. Above that, a company (PTY LTD) usually wins on tax efficiency and asset protection. A discretionary trust with corporate trustee is common for owners with a non-working spouse or family income splitting opportunities. We model all three before recommending.
How much fuel tax credit can a landscaping business claim?
You can claim fuel tax credits on diesel used in off-road equipment — mowers, ride-ons, chippers, generators, mini-excavators. The 2026 rate is approximately 20.3 cents per litre for off-road business use. A typical landscaping business burning 4,000 litres/year in equipment recovers ~$812 annually in FTC. Larger operators claim $4,000–$10,000 per year.
Talk to a specialist accountant for landscapers
If you run a landscaping, garden maintenance or design-build business and you want an accountant who actually understands job costing, equipment finance and seasonal cash flow, book a free 30-minute consultation. We’ll review your current numbers and tell you within 30 minutes where the money is leaking.