How much cash should a lawn care business keep?

A lawn care company sells repeat visits. Mowing, fertilizing and weed control run on routes from spring to fall. Some customers pay per cut, some prepay a season, and commercial accounts pay monthly on terms. The billing method decides how even the cash is.

Payroll per run, all-in $ How often you run payroll Fixed bills per month (rent, loans, insurance, software) $ Days your customers take to pay, on average days Cash in the bank today $

Minimum to keep

Two payroll runs plus one month of fixed bills

Comfortable level

Covers costs while you wait for customers to pay, plus one month

Weeks your cash covers

If no customer paid you

The starting numbers are an example. Replace them with yours.

How cash moves in a lawn care business

Per-cut billing follows the grass. A dry month means fewer cuts and less cash.
Prepaid season plans bring cash in early for visits you still have to do.
Mowers, trucks and trailers wear out, and replacing them takes a big lump of cash.
Fertilizer and weed control products are bought before the first application is billed.

Why the usual rule falls short

Two lawn care companies each mow 200 lawns. One bills per cut after each visit. The other bills a flat monthly fee from April to October. The second one knows its season's cash in March. The first finds out week by week.

How the calculator works

Result	Formula
Minimum to keep	2 × payroll per run + 1 month of fixed bills
Comfortable level	Monthly costs × (days to collect ÷ 30 + 1)
Weeks your cash covers	Cash ÷ weekly costs

Get this done for you every Monday

One Page CFO reads your QuickBooks, builds your 13-week cash forecast and your one-page report, and a CFO checks both. $500 a month.

Check if I fit →

Also for lawn care owners, see the lawn care business monthly financial report.