Set Up a Lawn Maintenance Agreement
Create a seasonal mowing or treatment agreement that schedules its own visits and bills monthly or per visit — from a quote or from New Contract.
Updated October 9, 2026
A Maintenance Agreement is what turns a sold lawn plan into visits on the schedule and invoices on time. Set it up once per customer and season; after that, mowing visits appear on their own and invoices draft on the schedule you chose.
Some screens use your Lawn Care words and some still say Contract: the list is Sales and BillingContracts and the button is New Contract. A contract and a Maintenance Agreement are the same record.
Mowing and treatments behave differently
Your account ships with two recurring work types, and they are set up for the way each is sold:
| Lawn Maintenance | Lawn Treatment | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Mowing, edging, blowing, trimming, weeding | Fertilization and weed control rounds |
| Visit schedule | Set weekdays, Monday to start — you pick each customer's day | Fixed interval, every 6 weeks |
| Who creates the visits | Auto-create jobs: the agreement creates them | Recommend only: the office creates each round from Needs Job |
| Default term | Seasonal, April 1 to November 15 | Seasonal, April 1 to November 15 |
| Default billing (new accounts) | Monthly on fixed day, on the 1st | After each visit |
Change any of these under SettingsWork Types. The Scheduling section shows the mode and automation, for example Set weekdays · Auto-create jobs.
Where the billing defaults come from
A new Lawn Care account starts with two default quote templates, Lawn Maintenance and Lawn Treatment, under SettingsQuote Templates. Every agreement for that work type — from a quote, from New Contract, or from an import — starts from its template's invoice schedule, due 15 days after the invoice is sent. Add your prices and terms to those templates rather than creating new ones. Accounts created before these templates existed bill on the company invoice default instead, or after each visit when no default is set; Bill the Month Just Finished shows where that is set.
Two ways to create one
From a quote (recommended). Send a quote for Lawn Maintenance or Lawn Treatment from Sales and BillingQuotes. When the customer approves it, OpsVara creates an Active agreement from the quote's lines, term, and schedule — you do not re-enter anything. After a Quote Is Approved covers what approval fills in.
By hand. For a customer who agreed by phone, or one you are moving from another system, press New Contract on Sales and BillingContracts. The rest of this article walks that form.
Fill in New Contract
Pick the work type and customer
Choose Lawn Maintenance or Lawn Treatment under Work Type, then the Customer and Property. Pick more than one property for an HOA or a commercial account with several buildings; each service line can carry its own price at each property.
Set the season
Under Service Term, keep Seasonal. Season Year fills itself with the season in progress, or next year's once this year's has ended, so an agreement written in late November lands on next season instead of one that is already over. Season Start and Season End fill from your work type — April 1 and November 15 unless you changed them. Choose Annual or Ongoing instead if you mow year round.
Pick the mow day (Lawn Maintenance)
Under Service days, choose the customer's day. Monday is only the starting point. Beside the days, pick Every week or Every 2 weeks for biweekly mowing. See Schedule Visits on Set Weekdays for twice-a-week service.
Check the round interval (Lawn Treatment)
Visit interval (days) starts at 42 — six weeks between rounds. Shorten or lengthen it to match your program.
Enter the price
Under Payment plan, enter the Total contract price for the season or the Typical installment — change either one and the other updates. The form says how many months it divides the total across. On each Service Scope line, Price is offers Per month, Per visit (billed monthly), or Total for the term when the agreement bills monthly.
Check Invoice Options
Open Invoice Options. When to create invoices is already filled from your template: Monthly on a fixed day for mowing, After each visit for treatments. For monthly billing, Day of month (1–28) is the day the invoice drafts, and Bill for chooses between The month the invoice goes out in (billing in advance) and The month just finished (arrears).
Save
Press Create Contract. The agreement is Active straight away.
Signing a customer mid-season
When the season started before today, a note appears under the dates — for example "Starts April 1, 2026, before today. Billing starts in October 2026, so earlier months are not invoiced." On a Seasonal agreement billed monthly, First billing month fills in with the current month so the customer is not billed for months before they signed. If they do owe for earlier months, set First billing month to the first one owed. A Season Already Under Way explains the totals.
What happens next
Mowing visits create themselves. Once a day, OpsVara creates Lawn Maintenance visits for agreements whose next mow day is within the look-ahead window — 3 days by default, set under Recurring Schedule Creates Visits in Settings → Automations. An agreement signed mid-season starts from today; it never creates visits in the past. To put each day's visits in driving order and in front of the right crew, build weekly mow routes.
Treatment rounds wait for you. Lawn Treatment is set to Recommend only, so due rounds appear on Jobs under the Needs Job tab. Press Create Job on a row, or use Create Jobs from the Soliven button to create several at once. If you would rather rounds create themselves, change the work type's Automation to Auto-create jobs in SettingsWork Types.
Invoices draft on schedule. A monthly agreement drafts one invoice on its billing day. An after-each-visit agreement drafts one each time a visit is completed. Both arrive as Draft for you to review and send from Sales and BillingInvoices, unless you turn on Automatically Send Draft Invoices under Settings → Automations.
Verify it worked
Open the agreement
On Sales and BillingContracts, confirm the status is Active, the season dates are right, and the invoice schedule is the one you expect.
Look for the next mow
For Lawn Maintenance, check Schedule a few days before the customer's mow day. If nothing appears, confirm the work type still shows Auto-create jobs in Settings → Work Types.
Look for the next round
For Lawn Treatment, check the Needs Job tab on Jobs when the round is due.
Common snags
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "This contract covers N properties and bills after each visit" | One agreement across several properties cannot bill after each visit yet. | Bill it Monthly on a fixed day, or make one agreement per property. |
| A scheduled mowing job cannot be created without an agreement | Lawn Maintenance and Lawn Treatment require an active agreement for scheduled jobs. | Create the agreement first, or use One-Off Job for a single cut. |
| Biweekly customer is mowed every week | The agreement has a 14-day interval instead of Every 2 weeks on its Service days. | Open the agreement and set the days with Every 2 weeks. |
| No visits after the season ended | The agreement is Completed. Seasonal agreements do not renew. | Use Copy Contract on the agreement to start next season. |
Frequently asked questions
Why do my screens say Contract when my account says Maintenance Agreement?
A Maintenance Agreement is the Lawn Care name for a service contract. Some screens use the Lawn Care word and some still say Contract — the tab is Sales and Billing → Contracts and the button is New Contract. They are the same record.
Do I have to create the mowing visits myself?
No. Lawn Maintenance ships on Set weekdays with Auto-create jobs on, so each active agreement creates its own visits a few days ahead of each mow day. Lawn Treatment is different — it is set to Recommend only, so rounds wait under Jobs → Needs Job until someone presses Create Job.
How do I sell mowing every other week?
Keep the agreement on its Service days and choose Every 2 weeks beside them. A 14-day interval does not do it on Lawn Maintenance, because the work type's weekday schedule outranks a bare day count.
What happens at the end of the season?
A Seasonal agreement becomes Completed once its end date passes and stops creating visits. It does not renew itself. Use Copy Contract on the agreement to start next season's from the same terms, or send a new quote.
Can one agreement cover every lot in an HOA?
Yes when it bills monthly. An agreement that covers more than one property and bills after each visit is refused with "OpsVara can't bill that correctly yet. Bill it monthly, or make one contract per property."
Related guides
- Price and bill a lawn season — mowing monthly, treatments per roundPrice weekly mowing as an even monthly payment and fert and weed rounds per application, from the price book through the quote, the visits, and a paid invoice.
- Schedule Visits on Set WeekdaysServe a customer on fixed days of the week — twice a week on Monday and Thursday, for example — instead of every set number of days.
- Bill the Month Just FinishedSet a monthly contract to invoice on the 1st for last month's service, and pick the first month OpsVara bills when a customer moves over mid-term.
- After a Quote Is ApprovedFind the service contract a signed quote created, check the billing day, and know when no plan appears on purpose.
- Build Weekly Mow RoutesTurn each day's mowing agreements into a saved route with a crew and a driving order, then let it book itself every week of the season.