Snow work is the rare service where the amount of work is genuinely unknowable when you sign the deal. Contract structure is how you manage that — and the contractors who struggle every winter are usually the ones running a single contract type for every client.
The four common structures
Per-push (per-visit)
You bill a set price every time you service the property — each plow, each shovel crew visit. Some contractors tier the price by snowfall depth (2–6", 6–12", and so on), which is sometimes called per-event or per-inch pricing.
- Heavy winter: you're paid for every storm. Great year.
- Light winter: revenue dries up, but your trucks, insurance, and standby crews still cost money.
- Who holds the risk: the client. They love it after a mild winter, grumble after a brutal one.
Seasonal flat rate
One fixed price for the whole winter — often billed in equal monthly installments from roughly November through March — no matter how many storms come.
- Heavy winter: you eat the extra pushes.
- Light winter: excellent margin, and the client paid for certainty, not idleness.
- Who holds the risk: you. Price it off multi-year average event counts for your area — not last year's memory.
Seasonal with a cap (hybrid)
A seasonal rate that covers up to an agreed number of events or inches; beyond the cap, additional service bills per-push. Some deals also include a floor or a two-way "collar" so neither side gets crushed by an extreme year.
- Who holds the risk: shared. This is the structure that keeps both sides happy across several winters in snow-heavy markets.
Time & materials
Hourly equipment and labor rates plus materials (salt, de-icer) at agreed prices. Mostly seen on large commercial and municipal work with sophisticated buyers who audit service logs.
Side by side
| Structure | Your cash flow | Weather risk | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-push | Spiky — follows storms | Client | Residential; clients who want to pay for exactly what happens |
| Seasonal flat | Even monthly installments | You | Commercial lots, HOAs; anyone who budgets annually |
| Seasonal + cap | Even, with upside protection | Shared | Snow-heavy markets, multi-year relationships |
| Time & materials | Follows hours logged | Client | Large commercial/municipal with audited logs |
Build a blended book, not a bet
A winter book that's 100% per-push is a prayer for snow; 100% seasonal flat is a prayer for none. Mixing the two hedges both winters: the seasonal contracts carry your fixed costs through a quiet January, and the per-push work turns a stormy February into a great one. Many established snow operations deliberately keep a majority of revenue seasonal for exactly this reason — steady cash flow is what keeps crews and equipment through the winter.
Pricing either way starts with the same number: what one service visit to that property actually costs you — drive time, push time, shoveling, salt. Per-push, that's your floor plus margin. Seasonal, multiply it by a defensible average event count for your area and add salting events. If you don't know your per-visit cost, neither contract type will save you.
Sell it in September, prove it in January
Two operational truths that matter more than the contract type:
- Renewal timing. Snow contracts are sold and renewed in late summer and early fall — while your maintenance season is still running. If renewals mean digging through last year's spreadsheets in your busiest month, they slip, and slipped renewals become a competitor's new client.
- Service records. The moment a slip-and-fall claim or an invoice dispute appears, the winner is whoever can show when each property was serviced, by whom, during which storm. Auditable per-storm logs aren't paperwork — they're what makes the invoice stick and the insurance call short.
Snow is coming to Estima
Storm dispatch boards, per-storm service logs for every property, and winter contract billing are on the way — built alongside the maintenance and hardscape tools landscape contractors already run on Estima.
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