How do I price a grounds maintenance contract?

Work out the true cost of one visit (crew time including travel, machinery running cost, materials) add your margin, then multiply by the number of visits a year. Pricing the whole contract off a rough day rate is how firms end up locked into unprofitable rounds.

What margin should I put on a maintenance contract?

25–40% is typical. Remember margin is measured on the price you charge, not a markup on cost, a 30% markup is only a ~23% margin. The default here is 30%.

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Grounds maintenance contract · free tool · no sign-up to use it

What should you charge for a grounds maintenance contract?

Price a recurring commercial round properly. Put in your per-visit time, crew, travel and machinery and get a per-visit price with margin, plus the annual contract value to quote with confidence.

Time on site

hrs

Crew sizepeople

ppl

You pay each person

Travel (round trip)

min

Machinery running costfuel + wear

£/hr

Materials per visit

Target margin

Visits per year1 = one-off

/yr

Margin is on the sell price, the way accountants mean it. A 30% margin, not a 30% markup on cost.

Charge this per visit (ex VAT)

£264.69

≈ £66.17/hr on site£79.41 profit/visit£6,352.56/yr

Labour (9.33 hrs): £149.28
Machinery: £36.00
Your cost: £185.28

Stop pricing one job at a time.

SwardOps builds this into every quote (travel, machinery and margin) then schedules the round and invoices the work.

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Pricing something else? Use the general calculator · Grass cutting · Hedge cutting · Turf laying · Weed control & spraying · Leaf clearance · Lawn treatment

SwardOps does this on every quote, automatically

From your own costs, crews and kit. Then it schedules the round and invoices the work.

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Grounds maintenance contract pricing, answered

How do I price a grounds maintenance contract?: Work out the true cost of one visit (crew time including travel, machinery running cost, materials) add your margin, then multiply by the number of visits a year. Pricing the whole contract off a rough day rate is how firms end up locked into unprofitable rounds.
What margin should I put on a maintenance contract?: 25–40% is typical. Remember margin is measured on the price you charge, not a markup on cost, a 30% markup is only a ~23% margin. The default here is 30%.