Charting a course

These three profit-and-loss charts of accounts forms are customized for maintenance, lawn care and design/build operations. If your company provides a mix of these services, you'll need to adjust your budget accordingly.

Some key differences to note:

• Advertising costs tend to be higher in the lawn care business.
• Subcontracting and equipment rental costs may increase in the design/build sector.
• Cost of materials is higher for lawn care than for maintenance, but demand for labor is lower for lawn care and net profit margin is significantly higher (on average).
• Most indirect overhead costs are the same across these segments.

As you develop your budget (or budgets) for 2012, keep more flexible direct costs like labor and materials in mind. And remember that adjusting certain indirect, overhead costs – like insurance, rent, and licenses and bonds – is more difficult.

To view the charts, click here.