Landscaping & Home Service Financing — Seasonal Cash and Fleet

Landscaping and lawn care business loans: what actually gets approved

Most landscaping and lawn care companies are financed with two tools, not one. Equipment financing covers mowers, skid steers, trailers and trucks: the machine is the collateral, the published floor is a 580 FICO with no minimum time in business, and businesses under two years old are capped at $50,000. A revolving line of credit covers the off-season, meaning payroll, insurance and spring materials. It asks for 6+ months in business, 600+ FICO and about $10,000 a month in deposits, and you pay interest only on what you draw. These are review criteria. They are not approvals.

Landscaping equipment financing: send the quote first

A dealer quote or invoice with the make, model and serial number is most of the underwriting. Standard, resaleable equipment (zero-turns, compact track loaders, dump trailers, work trucks) underwrites more easily than custom or specialised gear. Ask for delivery and setup to be financed too, because paying soft costs in cash defeats the purpose.

A loan proposal for a lawn care service, in five parts

1. The ask, in one line. The amount, what it buys and how it is repaid.
2. Your route. Number of recurring accounts, average monthly ticket and contract renewals. Recurring maintenance revenue is what lenders underwrite best.
3. Seasonality, shown honestly. Twelve months of deposits, with your plan for the slow months (snow removal, leaf season, prepaid annual contracts).
4. The equipment. The quote, and whether it replaces a machine or adds capacity. If it adds capacity, list the new accounts it lets you serve.
5. Three to six months of bank statements plus a photo ID. Business tax returns help but are not required on every program.

Timing matters more than anything else in this proposal. Lenders read your trailing deposits, so an application made in July on summer statements usually gets a bigger number than the same business applying in February. Not sure what your statements support? Run them through how much can I borrow first.