TAILORSCAN FORGE · FREE PROPERTY SERVICE GUIDE
Before you price that groundskeeping contract, count every visit.
A practical five-minute worksheet for small groundskeeping, landscape maintenance, and property-service teams. Understand where a low quote can become a costly contract.
No login · Free worked example · No earnings promises
1. Count the labor
Include every paid crew member, site time, travel and setup. Two technicians each working 80 minutes means 160 paid person-minutes, not 80.
2. Price every visit
Add materials, fuel, equipment allowance, overhead and realistic reserve visits. Compare the workload required by the contract to what it actually pays.
3. Test the margin
Use price = estimated cost ÷ (1 − target margin). Margin is measured against the selling price, not a percentage markup on cost.
Worked example: fictional recurring grounds contract
A small service company agrees to five scheduled grounds visits and budgets one reserve visit. It expects two crew members, 60 minutes on site plus 20 minutes travel/setup per person for each visit, with a $30 loaded labor cost per paid person-hour.
| Selected input | Illustrative value |
|---|---|
| Labor cost per visit: 2 people × 80 min × $30/hr | $80.00 |
| Materials and equipment per visit | $15.00 |
| Total per visit | $95.00 |
| Six planned visits × $95 | $570.00 |
| Contract overhead allocation | $100.00 |
| Estimated selected contract costs | $670.00 |
| Price for 30% selected-cost margin | $957.14 |
Risk check: at an offered $900 contract price, the $670 of selected costs leave $230, a 25.56% selected-cost margin. If an additional visit is required with no extra revenue and identical $95 per-visit costs, the selected margin would fall to 15.0% before any other surprises.
What belongs in a defensible scope?
- Service dates, seasons, weather delays, reserve visits, access and exclusions
- Paid crew-hours, loading/unloading, travel, setup and equipment handling
- Consumables, supplies, equipment wear and special disposal
- Who approves extra work and how the added price is documented
- What triggers a renewal, change order, or revised service level
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This is a fictional calculation, not a verified market price or a customer outcome. Actual costs, taxes, local regulations, insurance, employee requirements, weather conditions and contract structure vary. Apply your own verified records before quoting. Desktop browser recommended for the paid download; native iPhone ZIP workflow is not established.