A commercial landscape bookkeeper records every bill and payment for maintenance, install, irrigation and snow contracts, and reconciles the bank and the ledgers each month. Much of the work is level billing for HOAs and office parks, snow invoices built from storm logs, and vendor bills for plants, mulch and salt.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Responsible for maintaining accurate financial records and ensuring the smooth operation of bookkeeping functions within a commercial landscaping environment. Plays a vital role in supporting financial stability and operational efficiency by reconciling accounts and processing invoices promptly and accurately. Acts as a key liaison between financial transactions and operational budgeting to support informed business decisions.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Maintain detailed financial records and update ledgers with all transactions.
Reconcile bank statements and company accounts to ensure accuracy.
Process invoices, track payments, and manage accounts payable and receivable.
Prepare periodic financial reports to support management review and decision-making.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review and enter daily financial transactions and reconcile discrepancies.
Process vendor invoices and monitor expense reports for timely approval.
Communicate with vendors and internal departments to resolve financial queries.
Collaborate with the accounting team to prepare monthly financial summaries.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Accuracy Rate: Maintain a financial data entry accuracy of 99% or above.
Invoice Processing Time: Process 95% of invoices within the established deadline.
Account Reconciliation: Achieve 100% reconciliation of accounts on a monthly basis.
Financial Reports Timeliness: Deliver all monthly financial reports by the 5th business day.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Associate's or Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a bookkeeping role, preferably within the home services or landscaping industry.
Proficient in accounting software and Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.
Strong attention to detail, excellent organizational skills, and the ability to manage multiple deadlines.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working in the commercial landscaping or home services industry.
Familiarity with QuickBooks, Sage, or similar accounting software used in small-to-medium enterprises.
Prior experience in an administrative or operations support role in a service-based business.
Demonstrated record of improving financial processes and efficiencies.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to sit at a workstation for extended periods while working on a computer.
Occasional light lifting (up to 15 lbs) for handling documents and office supplies.
Work in an office environment with standard climate control.
May require extended periods of concentration and focus during peak financial periods.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard office hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Occasional overtime during month-end closing or audit periods may be required.
Minimal travel required, if any.
Flexible work arrangements may be available based on operational needs.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive salary ranging from $45,000 to $55,000 per year based on experience and qualifications.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses.
Comprehensive health benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage.
401(k) retirement plan with employer matching contributions.
Additional fringe benefits such as paid time off and employee wellness programs.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a dynamic and growth-oriented company that values innovation, teamwork, and integrity.
Our culture promotes continuous learning and encourages each team member to contribute ideas for improvement.
We believe in fostering an inclusive environment where every employee is empowered to excel and achieve their professional goals.
Join us to work in a supportive atmosphere where your contributions are recognized and rewarded.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What changes for a bookkeeper at a commercial landscaping company
The ledger looks like any service company's until you open the contracts. Year-long maintenance deals, storm billing and install liens shape the work here.
Even monthly bills hide the season
Many HOA and office park contracts bill the same amount each month, while crews do most of the work between spring and fall. Track billed against earned on every contract. If a client ends a deal in early fall, the bookkeeper should be able to show the CFO how much finished work was never billed.
Snow invoices need a log behind every line
Per-push and per-event snow contracts get paid when the log backs up the bill. Agree with operations on what each driver records at each site: arrival and leave times, snow depth, and the salt or ice melt put down. Then invoice each storm within days, while the property manager can still match it to the weather that night.
Install jobs can carry a lien in Wisconsin
Wisconsin's lien law lists planting and landscaping among the improvements to land. To keep a lien on an unpaid install, the company must, among other steps, serve the owner a written notice of intent at least 30 days before filing, and file the claim within 6 months of the last work. Log the last work date on every install so neither deadline slips, and ask your lawyer which jobs qualify. Rules vary by state. Source: Wisconsin Statutes 779.06: filing a lien claim and notice of intent.
Storm bonuses change the overtime rate
Plenty of companies pay drivers and shovelers a set bonus for each storm. Under federal wage rules, bonuses announced to get people to work steadily or stay on, and most attendance and production bonuses, belong in the regular rate. So a storm bonus raises the overtime rate for the weeks it covers. If your bookkeeper runs payroll, have them set this up before the first big storm. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 778.211, bonuses and the regular rate.
How much commercial landscape bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for commercial landscape bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for landscaping companies earned a median of $22.42 an hour ($46,640 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $50,670 median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in all industries. About 9,820 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for landscaping companies.
Typically a salary, plus a bonus for clean closes and on-time billing. The template's pay falls within this industry's BLS range.
Landscaping companies
$46,640$46,640 median Middle half $40,700–$57,510 10th–90th $32,120–$67,180
All industries
$50,670$50,670 median Middle half $43,520–$61,470 10th–90th $36,000–$74,550
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Landscaping companies
$32,120
$40,700
$46,640
$57,510
$67,180
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS reports residential and commercial landscaping companies together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Clean bank and credit card reconciliations every month, without help
Matching vendor bills to purchase orders and delivery tickets
Clear, firm emails to property managers about past-due invoices
Strong Excel skills, including lookups and pivot tables
Care with payroll details such as bonuses and overtime
Teach these on the job
Your contract types: level-billed maintenance, per-event snow and install deposits
Each property firm's billing portal and invoice rules
How crews log storm work and how that becomes an invoice
Your account list and the cost code for each site
Lien notice steps for install jobs
Expect QuickBooks Online or Sage for the books, fed by field software such as Aspire, LMN or Service Autopilot that holds the contracts. Let candidates know which you use, and whether the bookkeeper posts invoices from the field system or rebuilds them by hand.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · HOA approval disputes
An HOA board says it never approved an enhancement invoice for [12] new trees. What do you do?
A strong answer: Pulls the signed proposal or written approval, works with the account manager, sends the documents and holds collection calls until it's resolved.
Behavioral · Speeding up payment
Tell me about a time a property management or HOA client paid slowly. What did you change to get paid faster?
A strong answer: Found the cause, such as missing POs, portal rejections or a wrong billing contact, fixed it and can say how days-to-pay changed.
Your own records should set these numbers, not the template. Use last year's error log and close calendar, then review them with your bookkeeper each quarter.
Accuracy Rate
Sample entries each month and check each one against its bill, receipt or bank line. Count errors the CFO or the outside accountant finds at year end too.
Invoice Processing Time
Measure the days from when a vendor bill or a storm log reaches the office to when it is entered or invoiced. Your accounting software's entry dates give the answer.
Account Reconciliation
List every bank, card and loan account. At month-end, mark each one reconciled with no unexplained items, and have the CFO sign off on the list.
Financial Reports Timeliness
Log the date the monthly package reaches the CFO, and note any month a report had to be sent again after a correction.
Career path
Accounts receivable clerkSends contract invoices and logs payments from property firms.
BookkeeperKeeps the full ledger, reconciles the accounts and closes each month.
Staff accountant or controllerHandles the month-end close, audit prep and branch cost reports.
Should snow be billed from the same system as maintenance?
It can be, as long as your field software turns a storm log into invoice lines without retyping. Seasonal snow contracts often bill like maintenance, in set monthly amounts. Per-push sites are easier to handle as their own jobs, so each storm bills on its own and disputes stay small. Run one practice storm in the fall to test the flow.
How much does a commercial landscape bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for landscaping companies earned a median of $22.42 an hour ($46,640 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $40,700 and $57,510 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Does a commercial landscape bookkeeper need to understand retainage?
Yes, if you do installs for general contractors or developers. Those contracts often hold back part of each progress payment until the job is accepted. The bookkeeper tracks retainage owed to you as its own receivable, keeps the closeout paperwork in view, and bills it when the work is accepted. Retainage nobody tracks is easy to forget for a year.
Can a commercial landscape bookkeeper work from home?
Partly, at many companies. The template allows flexible arrangements where operations allow it. Someone still has to open mail, deposit checks and sort supplier statements at the office, and month-end goes faster with the CFO down the hall. One setup that works: office days at month-end and during audits, with remote days the rest of the month.
The template lists light lifting and long focus at the desk. What should the ad say?
Name the tasks: carrying file boxes and paper within the weight the template names, and long stretches of careful work at a computer during month-end close. Sitting and screen time are normal for an office role. If a candidate needs a change to how a task is done, talk it through with them.
