The end of the season feels like a finish line. The crews are tired, the trucks need work, and everyone wants a break.
But the way you close the season decides how next season starts. Unpaid invoices from October are harder to collect in December. Notes nobody wrote down are gone by spring. And clients who never heard from you over the winter are easy pickings for someone else.
The short version
- Collect every final invoice before the crews go home.
- Record what each property needs next year, while it is fresh.
- Set up renewals now, to send before next season.
- Pause your software with a seasonal hold instead of paying the full plan, or cancelling and losing your data.
1. Collect every final invoice
- [ ] Send final invoices the day the last visit is done
- [ ] Turn on automatic reminders for anything overdue
- [ ] Follow up on anything over 30 days by phone
- [ ] Settle damage claims and touch-ups before the season ends
- [ ] Make sure clients can still pay online through the winter
2. Record what each property needs
Your crews know things now that nobody will remember in March:
- [ ] Recommendations for next year: overseeding, a new liner, a pump on its way out, the eavestrough that needs replacing
- [ ] Access changes: new gate codes, a new dog, a fence
- [ ] Problem properties to re-price or drop
- [ ] Photos of anything you will quote in spring
3. Set up next year's renewals
- [ ] Decide next year's prices
- [ ] Prepare renewal quotes or agreements, to send in late winter
- [ ] Note which clients want more next year, and which want less
- [ ] Ask your best clients for a review and a referral while the season is fresh
4. Equipment and crew
- [ ] Winterize mowers, pumps, blowers and trucks
- [ ] List repairs and order parts over the winter, when suppliers are quieter
- [ ] Thank the crew, and ask who is coming back
- [ ] Final timesheets, expenses and commission approved and paid
5. Pause, do not cancel
If your business stops for the winter, you have three choices for your software:
| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| Keep paying the full plan | Everything stays, but you pay for months you do not work |
| Cancel | You save money now, but your data is deleted after the retention period, and you start from zero in spring |
| Seasonal hold | A flat $15 a month: your data and logins stay, clients can still pay, and the plan comes back on the day you pick |
On crewduo, start the hold from Plan & subscription, choose your return date, and decide whether to keep your phone numbers ($5 a month each). The first hold fee is charged when the month you already paid for ends. (See what a seasonal hold saves.)
How crewduo helps close the season
- Final invoices with pay links, and automatic reminders for anything overdue.
- Clients keep paying through the winter, from their portal, even while you are on hold.
- Recommendations saved on each property, ready to quote in spring.
- Seasonal hold for $15 a month instead of the full plan, for up to 12 months.
See the pricing page for the details.
