Lawn care invoice template

Line items lawn care crews actually bill

• Mowing as a count of visits, with the dates: "Weekly mow, trim & edge: Oct 1, 8, 15, 22", 4 × $48. The customer can match it to the weeks the crew came.
• Seasonal jobs on their own dated lines: core aeration, overseeding, fertilizer, lime, a soil test. Put the lawn size on lines priced by area (the example's aeration and overseeding covers about 7,500 sq ft).
• What was in the spreader. "Granular, lawn only, no weed control" tells the customer (and anyone checking your licensing) that no pesticide went down.
• Shrubs and trees on separate lines, with a count: "9 boxwoods and 3 hollies", "2 flowering cherry trees". In Pennsylvania one is taxable and the other isn't.
• Leaf raking and other cleanups as their own line, by crew hour or by visit.
• The tax as its own line when only some of the work is taxable, showing the base it was charged on.

How the example adds up

InvoiceSnap applies its Tax % field to the whole subtotal, so when only some lines are taxable, leave Tax % at 0 and add the tax as a line, as above: Qty 1, Unit price $33.60. If all of your work is taxable, put 6 in the Tax % field instead.

Pennsylvania: which lawn care lines get sales tax

The rule. Pennsylvania defines lawn care service as "Providing services for lawn upkeep including fertilizing, lawn mowing, shrubbery trimming or other lawn treatment services." and says "The sale at retail or use of lawn care services performed in this Commonwealth is subject to tax." A lawn here is "An area maintained with grass adjacent to a building. The term does not include athletic fields, cemeteries, golf courses, fields, parks and public utility or highway right-of-ways." (61 Pa. Code § 55.6.) The Department of Revenue's retailer guide puts it in one line: "Lawn upkeep services performed in Pennsylvania are taxable." (REV-717, Retailer's Information.)

Taxed, line by line. The regulation's taxable examples include mowing, edging, fertilizing, dethatching, aerating, applying lime, weed, pest and disease treatments on lawns, and "Overseeding, sodding or grass plugging of existing lawns." Two items catch people out. A soil test is taxable when it comes with other lawn work: "Providing lawn evaluation, consultation or soil testing services on lawns, if purchased in conjunction with other lawn care services, regardless of whether the costs of the lawn evaluation, consultation or soil testing services are separately stated on the invoice." And shrubs: "Trimming or pruning shrubbery when performed in conjunction with other lawn care services." That is why the example taxes its $30 soil test and $85 boxwood trim.

Not taxed. The nontaxable list includes "Seeding, sodding or grass plugging to establish a new lawn.", "Trimming, pruning or fertilizing trees.", planting or removing shrubs and trees, designing lawns or landscapes, "Maintaining shrubbery, flower or vegetable beds, such as by mulching, tilling, weeding or fertilizing." and "Separately stated charges for leaf raking." So the example's leaf raking and cherry tree pruning carry no tax.

Separate lines, or tax on everything. "Tax shall be imposed on the total charge for lawn care services. The failure to separately state charges for lawn care services from other nontaxable charges on the same invoice requires the charging of tax on the total invoice amount." A single "October service, $815" line would make the whole $815 taxable.

The rate. "The Pennsylvania sales tax rate is 6 percent. By law, a 1 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Allegheny County, and 2 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Philadelphia." (PA Department of Revenue, Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax.) Lancaster is in neither, so the example uses 6%. A Pittsburgh-area customer would be 7%, a Philadelphia customer 8%.

Your supplies. The same regulation lets you buy for resale what ends up on the lawn, including "Grass seed, sod, grass plugs, straw, fertilizers or lime applied to lawns.", while mowers, edgers, aerators, rakes, spray applicators and the gas and oil for your equipment are taxable to you.

Chemicals in beds and on trees. Section 55.6 lists applying herbicides or fungicides to shrubbery, trees, flowers or vegetables as not lawn care, but REV-717 treats pest control as its own taxable service: "Pest control services are services to trees, shrubs, animals, buildings, and other property that neutralize, exterminate, trap, recover or prevent pests, including fumigation." Our reading is that spraying shrubs or trees for insects is likely taxable as pest control even though it isn't lawn care; ask the Department before you invoice it without tax.

Leaf cleanup and other states

Minnesota. The Department of Revenue lists "Spring and fall cleanup" among taxable lawn services, with aerating, dethatching, fertilizing, mowing and raking, and says "Lawn services are taxable, even when part of maintenance contracts." Initial lawn seeding or sod installation is not taxable. Someone who isn't in the lawn business doesn't collect it: in the Department's example, if you mow a neighbor's lawn while they're away and don't do it as a business or on a continuous basis, "the service is not subject to sales tax." (MN Revenue, Landscape Maintenance Services.)

Ohio. The sales tax statute counts as a sale a transaction by which "Landscaping and lawn care service is or is to be provided" (R.C. 5739.01(B)(3)(g)). The definition in 5739.01(DD) covers planting, seeding, cutting, trimming, aerating, applying chemicals, fertilizing and similar services, but "does not include the providing of such services by a person who has less than five thousand dollars in sales of such services during the calendar year."

Wisconsin. The tax applies to "The sale of landscaping and lawn maintenance services including landscape planning and counseling, lawn and garden services such as planting, mowing, spraying and fertilizing and shrub and tree services." (Wis. Stat. 77.52(2)(a)20.) Unlike Pennsylvania, that includes tree work.

Texas and New York are on our landscaping invoice template page, along with install work such as new beds and retaining walls. We didn't check other states for this page.

Spraying weeds in Pennsylvania: the license and the neighbors

Fertilizer alone needs no license. "As a lawn care provider, you are not required to have a license or registration to use fertilizer in Pennsylvania." But "If, however, you are applying fertilizers that contain pesticides (i.e., weed & feeds or preemergent products), you must have a pesticide license." (PA Department of Agriculture, Fertilizer FAQs.)

Pesticides on a customer's lawn. "A commercial/public applicator license is needed to use pesticides on the property of another". You pass a core exam and a category exam and work for a business with a pesticide business license (PDA, Pesticide Applicators). For lawns that category is 07: "The use of a pesticide in the maintenance or production of lawn and turf." (7 Pa. Code § 128.42.) The business license requires you to "have at least one certified applicator, meet financial responsibility (insurance) required, and pay $35 application fee initially (and annually)." (PDA, Pesticide Application Businesses.)

Neighbors can ask to be told. A neighbor whose property borders the application site within 100 feet can send a written request, and then the business must notify them at least 12 hours before the application with the date and time, "The brand name of every pesticide to be applied including the EPA registration number." and the business name, address and phone number (7 Pa. Code § 128.85a). People on the state's Pesticide Hypersensitivity Registry within 500 feet must be notified between 12 and 72 hours before, with the brand name, EPA number and your pesticide business license number (7 Pa. Code § 128.112). None of this has to be on the invoice, but if you write the product and EPA registration number on the treatment line, your invoice matches your notification records.

1099s

The IRS: "Report on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC only when payments are made in the course of your trade or business. Personal payments are not reportable." A homeowner paying for their own lawn won't send one. A business customer that paid you "at least $2,000 in: Services performed by someone who is not your employee (including parts and materials)" files a 1099-NEC (Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC).

This is a summary of the Pennsylvania Code, PA Department of Revenue and Department of Agriculture guidance, Minnesota Department of Revenue guidance, the Ohio and Wisconsin statutes and IRS instructions as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice. Confirm with your state or your accountant.

Same crew in winter? Pennsylvania doesn't tax snow plowing; the snow removal invoice template covers that and Ohio, where machine work is taxed.

FAQ

How do I make an invoice for lawn care or lawn service?

Put the property address and the month at the top. Write mowing as one line with the dates ("Weekly mow, trim & edge: Oct 1, 8, 15, 22"), Qty 4 at your per-visit price, so a rained-out week shows up as a 3. Give each seasonal job its own dated line: aeration, overseeding, fertilizer, shrub trimming, leaf cleanup. If your state taxes only some of the work, keep the untaxed lines separate and show the tax as its own line, as in the example. Set a due date and list how you take payment. In InvoiceSnap the totals calculate as you type and the free preview PDF shows the finished invoice.

Is lawn care taxable in Pennsylvania?

Yes. Pennsylvania's regulation says "The sale at retail or use of lawn care services performed in this Commonwealth is subject to tax." Its taxable list includes mowing, edging, fertilizing, dethatching, aerating, applying lime, weed and insect treatments on lawns, "Overseeding, sodding or grass plugging of existing lawns." and "Trimming or pruning shrubbery when performed in conjunction with other lawn care services." Not taxable: "Seeding, sodding or grass plugging to establish a new lawn.", "Trimming, pruning or fertilizing trees.", designing landscapes, maintaining beds, and "Separately stated charges for leaf raking." (61 Pa. Code § 55.6). The rate is 6%, plus 1% in Allegheny County and 2% in Philadelphia.

Is leaf cleanup taxable?

It depends on the state. In Pennsylvania, "Separately stated charges for leaf raking." are on the list of services that are not taxable lawn care, so the example bills leaf raking on its own line with no tax. Separate matters: "The failure to separately state charges for lawn care services from other nontaxable charges on the same invoice requires the charging of tax on the total invoice amount." Minnesota goes the other way and lists "Spring and fall cleanup" as a taxable lawn service. Check your own state before you leave tax off a cleanup.

Is lawn care taxable in Minnesota?

Yes, when you are in the business. The Minnesota Department of Revenue lists aerating, dethatching, fertilizing, mowing and trimming, weed and insect control, raking and "Spring and fall cleanup" as taxable lawn services, and says "Lawn services are taxable, even when part of maintenance contracts." Initial lawn seeding or sod installation as part of an initial landscaping project is not taxable. The Department also gives the neighbor case: if you mow a neighbor's lawn while they're on vacation and you don't run a lawn business or mow on a continuous basis, "the service is not subject to sales tax."

Is lawn care taxable in Ohio or Wisconsin?

Both states' statutes tax it. Ohio's sales tax law counts as a sale a transaction by which "Landscaping and lawn care service is or is to be provided" (R.C. 5739.01(B)(3)(g)), but the definition "does not include the providing of such services by a person who has less than five thousand dollars in sales of such services during the calendar year." (5739.01(DD)). Wisconsin taxes "The sale of landscaping and lawn maintenance services including landscape planning and counseling, lawn and garden services such as planting, mowing, spraying and fertilizing and shrub and tree services." (Wis. Stat. 77.52(2)(a)20). Note that Wisconsin's list includes tree services, which Pennsylvania leaves out.

Is lawn care taxable in Texas, Florida or other states?

For this page we verified Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Texas and New York are covered on our landscaping invoice template page. We did not check Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, Connecticut or other states for this page, so look up your own state revenue department's guidance before you fill in the tax line or leave it at 0.

Do you need a license to spray weed killer in Pennsylvania?

On someone else's lawn, yes. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture says "A commercial/public applicator license is needed to use pesticides on the property of another". A commercial applicator passes a core exam and a category exam, for lawns Category 07, "The use of a pesticide in the maintenance or production of lawn and turf." (7 Pa. Code § 128.42), and works for a business that holds a pesticide business license. That license requires the business to "have at least one certified applicator, meet financial responsibility (insurance) required, and pay $35 application fee initially (and annually)." Weed & feed and pre-emergent products count.

Do I need a license to apply fertilizer on lawns in Pennsylvania?

Not for plain fertilizer. The Department of Agriculture says "As a lawn care provider, you are not required to have a license or registration to use fertilizer in Pennsylvania." You must still follow the label and the law's rate and site restrictions. The catch is combination products: "If, however, you are applying fertilizers that contain pesticides (i.e., weed & feeds or preemergent products), you must have a pesticide license." That is why the example's fertilizer line says "no weed control".

Will customers send me a 1099 for lawn care?

Homeowners usually won't. The IRS says: "Report on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC only when payments are made in the course of your trade or business. Personal payments are not reportable." A business customer, such as a property manager, an office park or a landlord paying for a rental property, files a 1099-NEC if it paid you "at least $2,000 in: Services performed by someone who is not your employee (including parts and materials)", the threshold for tax years beginning after 2025. You report the income either way.

Should I invoice lawn care per visit or monthly?

Monthly in arrears suits weekly mowing customers: one invoice, every visit dated, one payment to chase. Per-visit invoices suit one-off jobs such as a spring cleanup, an aeration or a first cut on a new customer. Either way, date every visit on the line. If you sell a season up front, invoice the prepayment once and subtract the visits used on each monthly invoice with a fixed Discount labelled with what was used.

Can I use this as a lawn care receipt?

Yes. A receipt is the same document marked paid. Enter the payment in the Discount field as a fixed amount and label it ("Paid Nov 6 by check #2214") so the balance shows $0.00, and keep the same invoice number. If your invoice has a sales tax line, record the payment that way rather than deleting lines, so the receipt still shows the tax the customer paid.

Is InvoiceSnap free?

Yes. You can fill in the invoice and download a watermarked preview PDF free with no signup. A clean PDF is $4 one-time for 7 days of unlimited invoices (USDC; card coming soon).

Is my data uploaded?

No. The PDF is generated in your browser; your client and pricing details are not sent to a server.

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