Landscaping chart of accounts
Landscaping projects use soil, stone, turf and plants in bulk, call in machines and other trades, and leave green waste to be carted away. These accounts give each of those costs a place beside the general chart.
- By Book Keeping Pros
- Sources checked 15 Oct 2026
What this industry adds
- Landscape supplies for projects gathers the turf, topsoil, crushed rock, paving and plants that go into a client's project, so each project's materials show up beside what was quoted.
- Machine hire for projects and Subcontracted trades on projects cover the work brought in from outside: excavators or skid steers hired by the day, and concreters, fencers or irrigation installers who invoice for their part.
- Green waste and tip fees records what it costs to cart away green waste, soil and old paving, and Machinery and vehicle fuel records diesel and petrol for the machines, utes and trucks.
- Replacement plants after handover keeps the cost of replacing plants that fail once a project is finished apart from the cost of new work.
Download the chart
The general accounts and this industry's accounts in one CSV file, in code order, which opens in any spreadsheet program.
Download the CSV fileThe accounts this chart adds
| Code | Account name | Type | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-1100 | Landscape supplies for projects | Expense | Turf, topsoil, garden mix, crushed rock, paving, timber sleepers and plants bought for a particular client's project |
| 5-1200 | Machine hire for projects | Expense | Excavators, skid steers, trenchers and other machines hired by the day for a project |
| 5-1300 | Subcontracted trades on projects | Expense | Invoices from concreters, fencers, irrigation installers and retaining wall builders for their part of a project |
| 5-1400 | Green waste and tip fees | Expense | Tipping fees for green waste, excess soil, rubble and old paving taken from projects to a waste or recycling facility |
| 5-1500 | Replacement plants after handover | Expense | Plants bought to replace ones that fail after a project is finished, when the client isn't charged for them |
| 6-2100 | Machinery and vehicle fuel | Expense | Diesel and petrol for the business's excavators, skid steers, utes and trucks |
Illustrative example only: these rows show the method and are not sourced data.
What goes in each column
- Code: A number that sorts the account into its group: 1 for assets, 2 for liabilities, 3 for equity, 4 for income, and 5 and 6 for expenses.
- Account name: The name that appears in your books and reports.
- Type: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income or Expense, which decides whether the account appears on the balance sheet or the profit and loss statement.
- What goes in it: The transactions to record against the account.
How to use it
- Set up each design and build job as a project in your software, and code supplies, machine hire, subcontractor invoices and tip fees to it as they come in.
- Keep tip dockets with the project they came from, so each charge in Green waste and tip fees can be traced back to its job.
- Day hire of an excavator or skid steer goes to Machine hire for projects. A machine the business has bought is recorded in Equipment instead.
- The chart deals with the landscaping business's own money. Talk to your accountant about accounts for anything else, such as how the business is owned.
The chart is a CSV file, which opens in a spreadsheet program. It is not set up for importing directly into any particular accounting software, so check the format your software expects before you load the accounts into it.
Related pages
Related terms
Sources
- Key financial terms
business.gov.au, Australian Government. Current at 15 October 2026, released 9 July 2024. Checked 15 October 2026.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2020, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU. Licence: CC BY 3.0 AU.
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