Last updated: July 2026
To price a commercial lawn care contract, measure the mowable turf, price each visit from your per-thousand-square-foot rate plus fixed services, multiply by the annual visit count, then add overhead and your target margin and divide into equal monthly payments. Commercial jobs are bigger and lower-margin than residential, so accurate measurement and a real overhead number matter more.
Commercial contracts are won on a defensible annual number, not a per-visit gut feel. Property managers compare bids line by line, so your pricing has to be built from measured square footage and real costs, not a round figure. Below is the process, the factors that move a commercial bid, and how to structure it as a clean monthly contract. Ranges reflect the 2026 market.
Five steps. One, measure the total mowable turf across the property, excluding buildings, parking, and hardscape. Two, price a single full-service visit from your per-thousand-square-foot mowing rate plus fixed line items (edging, blowing, bed maintenance, trash). Three, multiply by the number of visits in the season or year to get the annual service cost. Four, add your overhead (insurance, equipment, admin, drive time) and your target profit margin. Five, divide the annual total into equal monthly payments so the client pays a level amount year-round. That level monthly number is what wins commercial bids.
Commercial jobs are larger, more competitive, and lower margin, so precision matters more. Properties are big enough that a measurement error compounds into real money across a year of visits. Property managers get multiple bids and compare them closely, so a vague or high number loses. Commercial work often carries stricter insurance and licensing requirements, more liability, and net-30 or net-60 payment terms instead of on-completion payment. And contracts are usually annual with level monthly billing, not per-visit. All of that means you price from measured square footage and a real overhead figure, not the quick per-visit instinct that works for a small residential lawn.
It varies widely by property size, region, and scope, so treat any figure as a rough band. Commercial mowing is often built from a lower per-thousand-square-foot rate than residential because of the volume, but the total is far larger because the properties are big. Many commercial contracts land in the range of a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month depending on acreage and services, with large multi-acre properties going well beyond that. The right number is always your measured square footage times your rate, plus fixed services, overhead, and margin. Use market ranges only as a sanity check, not a bid.
Several move the number materially. Total mowable acreage is the base. Terrain, slopes, and obstacles add mowing time. The scope of extra services (bed maintenance, mulching, seasonal cleanups, irrigation checks, snow in northern markets) stacks on top. Visit frequency across the season sets the annual multiplier. Site access, gates, and traffic on the property affect crew time. Insurance and bonding requirements raise your overhead. Payment terms (net-30 or net-60) tie up your cash and should be priced in. Bake each of these into either the per-visit price or the overhead figure, so the annual number reflects the real cost to serve the account.
Present it as a clear annual agreement with level monthly billing. Show the property, the measured square footage, the services included per visit, the visit schedule across the year, and the flat monthly price. Spell out what is included and what is extra (for example, storm cleanup or additional mulch as separate line items) so scope creep does not eat your margin. Include the term, renewal, and payment terms. A clean, itemized bid that shows a measured basis reads as professional and defensible, which is exactly what a property manager comparing bids is looking for.
It removes the biggest source of error on a big property: the measurement. LawnVex measures the mowable turf from the address by satellite and excludes buildings, driveways, parking, and pools, so the square footage that drives a large annual contract is accurate rather than eyeballed. On a multi-acre commercial site, a measurement mistake multiplied across a year of visits is a serious margin leak, so getting the number right up front protects the whole contract. You can then apply your commercial rate, add services and overhead, and produce a defensible bid from a measured basis. Try it free with 3 measures a month.
Price from real costs, itemize scope tightly, and revisit annually. Build the bid from measured square footage and a true overhead number so you are not underpricing a big account for a full year. Define included services precisely and quote anything outside them as a separate line item, so extra work is billed, not absorbed. Price net-30 or net-60 terms into the number, because delayed payment has a cost. And review the contract at renewal against your actual time and cost on the account, so a job that grew or got harder gets repriced. Commercial margin is thin, so small pricing discipline protects it.
| Pricing step | What you calculate | Note for commercial |
|---|---|---|
| Measure turf | Total mowable square footage | Exclude buildings, parking, hardscape |
| Price per visit | Rate per 1,000 sq ft plus fixed services | Often lower rate, larger total |
| Annualize | Per-visit price times visit count | Set the seasonal visit schedule |
| Add overhead | Insurance, equipment, admin, drive time | Higher insurance and bonding for commercial |
| Add margin | Target profit percentage | Commercial margins are thinner, price carefully |
| Level monthly billing | Annual total divided by 12 | Account for net-30 or net-60 terms |
Measure the mowable turf, price each visit from your per-thousand-square-foot rate plus fixed services, multiply by the annual visit count, then add overhead and margin and divide into equal monthly payments. Commercial contracts are won on a defensible annual number built from measured square footage.
Commercial jobs are larger, more competitive, and lower margin, with stricter insurance, net-30 or net-60 terms, and annual contracts billed monthly. Because properties are big, measurement errors compound across a year, so you price from measured square footage and real overhead rather than a per-visit gut feel.
It ranges widely, from a few hundred to several thousand dollars a month depending on acreage, scope, and region, with large multi-acre sites going higher. Treat any figure as a rough band. Your real number is measured square footage times your rate, plus services, overhead, and margin.
Present a clear annual agreement with level monthly billing: the property, the measured square footage, included services per visit, the visit schedule, and the flat monthly price, with extras itemized separately. A measured, itemized bid reads as defensible to a property manager comparing quotes.
It removes measurement error on large properties. LawnVex measures mowable turf from the address by satellite and excludes buildings, parking, and pools, so a big annual contract is priced from an accurate basis, not an eyeball. On multi-acre sites, getting the square footage right protects a full year of margin.