Bookkeeping for landscaping businesses in Ann Arbor, MI.
For lawn care, landscaping and snow removal businesses. Your books done the day you upload your statements, checked against your bank, for $79 a month.
Free to join. The first 1,000 in get their catch-up free.
Sales tax
Michigan's sales tax is 6%, with no local sales tax on top. If what you sell is taxable, you collect it and file returns with the state.
State income tax
Michigan taxes income at a flat 4.25%, including the profit from your business.
Federal tax
Working for yourself, you pay 15.3% self-employment tax on most of your profit, plus federal income tax, usually in four estimated payments: April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15.
Contractors
Paid a contractor $2,000 or more in 2026? Send them a 1099-NEC by January 31.
What every business in Ann Arbor (about 120,000 people) keeps track of in 2026. Rates change, so check with your accountant before you file.
Landscaping businesses in Ann Arbor, by the numbers
Washtenaw County, home to Ann Arbor, has 148 landscaping companies with employees (Census Bureau, 2023).
That's 12% more than in 2018 (132).
Another 480 are run by one person with no employees, mostly self-employed owners.
Across Michigan there are 3,781 with employees, so about 4% are in Washtenaw County.
Every one of them has books to keep: sales to match to the bank, costs to sort and tax to work out.
Why landscaping businesses need different books
Busy summers and quiet winters, trucks and trailers and mowers that last for years, fuel on every card, crews that grow and shrink with the season and customers who pay by the visit or by the season. Cash flow is the hard part.
What a bookkeeper for landscaping businesses in Ann Arbor keeps track of
Seasonal income and what to keep for winter
Trucks, trailers and equipment written off over the years
Fuel and repairs
Seasonal crew pay
Sales tax or GST/HST on services and materials
Taxes for landscaping businesses in Michigan
Whether landscaping services are taxed depends on the state, and many states don't tax them. Check Michigan's rules; anything you sell as a product is usually taxed at 6% plus local tax.
Equipment like mowers and trailers can often be written off in the year you buy it.
Crew you pay as contractors $2,000 or more in 2026 need a 1099-NEC.
Some states tax landscaping services; most tax plants and materials you sell.
What SumSwift does for landscapers, for $79 a month
Big purchases get one question, "Is this equipment?", so they're written off over the right years
Depreciation or CCA worked out for each piece of equipment
A 90-day cash forecast, so you see the quiet months coming
Payroll worked out each payday, with the deposit file for your bank and the remittance to send
A mileage log (a CRA logbook in Canada) and the business share of your vehicle worked out for taxes
Invoices made, emailed and chased in SumSwift, with a pay link your customers can use
Up to 3 accounts included. Prices in USD. Your accountant still files your tax return, with clean books and free access.
Questions.
How much does a bookkeeper for landscaping businesses cost in Ann Arbor?
Published price guides put most small businesses at $300 to $1,500 a month for a bookkeeper, more when the books are busy, as they often are for landscaping businesses. SumSwift does the monthly work for $79 a month, the day you upload your statements.
How do I handle the slow season?
Set aside part of each summer month. SumSwift's cash forecast shows the weeks ahead from your real bills, invoices and usual spending.
Can I write off my truck?
The business share of it. SumSwift keeps the log and works out the share from your business and total distance.
Does SumSwift know Michigan's tax rules?
Whether landscaping services are taxed depends on the state, and many states don't tax them. Check Michigan's rules; anything you sell as a product is usually taxed at 6% plus local tax. Equipment like mowers and trailers can often be written off in the year you buy it.
Behind on my books. Can you catch me up?
Yes. A catch-up of up to 12 months is $599, once, checked against your bank to the cent.