Common seller tricks in landscaping
Sellers lean on a good summer and on add-backs that hide how much of the work still depends on them.
- Capitalizing a single strong season or a one-off install (hardscape, drainage, a big sod job) as if it were recurring maintenance.
- Calling the business absentee when the owner still does the estimating, the pesticide applications, or the Saturday emergency calls.
- Counting cash ‘route work’ that never hits the bank, or that will not follow a new owner.
- Adding back equipment repairs every year and still leaving you a tired mower fleet.
- Leaving family members on the payroll, or on a truck, without a plan for who replaces them.
Which numbers to verify
Ask for monthly revenue for three years, split between maintenance contracts, one-off installs, snow or ice work, and other add-ons. Reconcile deposits to that split. Recast add-backs, then look at fuel, dump fees, and equipment purchases — those costs do not go away because someone called them discretionary. If a property manager or HOA is a large share of sales, get that percentage in writing.
Licensing and key-person risk
In many states, the person who applies pesticides or fertilizers must be licensed, and that license does not automatically sit with the company after a sale. If the owner is the only licensed applicator, you are buying a key-person problem. Confirm what transfers, what has to be reapplied for, and whether the owner will stay long enough for you or a tech to get licensed. The same is true of irrigation or pesticide business registrations where they exist.
Equipment and condition
Walk the yard. Hours on mowers, reels, and skid steers matter more than a typed asset list. Look at trucks for rust, beds, and whether they are personal vehicles on a ‘business’ lease. Ask what was capitalized versus repaired, and what has to be replaced in the next two seasons. A cheap asking price that requires three new mowers is not cheap.
Seasonality and the calendar
Most landscape companies make their year in a short window. Ask how the crew is held over in the off-season, what happens to cash in January, and whether snow work is real or just a line on a brochure. A buyer who closes in October can face months of payroll or a vanished crew before the first mowing.
Customer concentration
Commercial maintenance is more transferable than a collection of residential favors, but only if the contracts exist and can be assigned. One HOA, apartment group, or general contractor can be 30% or more of revenue. If those accounts are handshake renewals, assume they are in play the day the owner leaves.
Questions to ask before you make an offer
- Please break out trailing-twelve-month revenue by maintenance contracts, installs, and snow or other seasonal work, and reconcile it to bank deposits.
- Who holds the pesticide or fertilizer applicator license, and what is required for me to operate legally after close?
- Which accounts have written, assignable contracts, and what notice or consent is needed?
- What share of revenue comes from your largest three customers, and will you introduce me before close?
- How many of last season’s crew members are expected back, and what were they paid?
- May I see hours, maintenance logs, and titles or leases for the trucks and mowers?
- What capital replacements are due in the next 24 months?
- How much revenue is cash or unreported, and what records exist besides the P&L?
- Will the phone number, Google listing, and yard lease transfer, and is there a personal guaranty on the lease?
- After an accepted letter of intent, may I speak with your accountant and ride a day of the route?