The cleaning business checklist: everything to set up before your first paid clean

This cleaning business startup checklist covers the business itself. The room-by-room list of what to clean inside each house is the cleaning checklist template. Still deciding whether to start? Read how to start a cleaning business first.

1. The legal shell: name, business type, EIN, local license

You need a name nobody in your state is already using, a business type, a free tax ID from the IRS, and whatever general business license your city or county issues. All four are forms you can file yourself in an evening.

• Search the name. Every state has a free business-name search on its Secretary of State site. Search there, then on Google, then on a domain registrar.
• Choose sole proprietor or LLC. A sole proprietor files nothing to start; if you trade under a name that is not your own, you register it (Florida charges $50, read September 9, 2026). An LLC keeps a claim against the business away from your personal savings; the state fee runs $50 to $300.
• Get an EIN from the IRS. It is free. The IRS page says it plainly: “You never have to pay a fee for an EIN.” Apply online, one per responsible party per day. The bank will ask for it.
• Get the local business license or tax receipt. Ask your city and your county which one applies to a home-based service business.

2. Insurance and a bond: what to buy and what to show the client

Buy general liability insurance before the first clean, add a janitorial bond when a client asks for one, and keep the certificate of insurance on your phone. General liability is the policy that pays when you break something in a client’s home.

Insureon publishes a median of $59 a month, $705 a year. NEXT reports that 52% of its janitorial customers pay $38 to $50 a month. A janitorial bond, which repays a client an employee stole from, runs $9 a month, $112 a year on Insureon. A solo cleaner buys it mostly because property managers ask “are you bonded?” and yes is cheaper than an explanation.

• Get two general liability quotes online (Insureon, NEXT) and buy one. Budget $50 to $60 a month.
• Ask the insurer for the certificate of insurance, a one-page PDF naming you, the policy and the limits. This is what a client or realtor means by “send me your insurance.”
• Add the janitorial bond the first time anyone asks. Skip workers’ compensation until you hire; NEXT’s median is $123 a month.

3. Money set-up: a business account and one way to get paid

Open a separate business checking account, then pick one way to get paid and print it on every invoice. Mixing client money with your groceries is the mistake that costs the most hours at tax time.

• Open the business checking account with the EIN and your formation paper. Relay is $0 a month; Chase charges $15 unless you keep $2,000 in it.
• Pick one way to get paid. A Venmo business profile is the cheapest card-free option; a bank transfer through an invoice is the cheapest overall.
• Set up free invoicing on Wave’s Starter plan. Stop taking client money on a personal Venmo; it leaves no invoice trail.

4. The price sheet: an hourly rate and a flat rate

Write down an hourly rate and a flat rate by house size before you speak to a client, because the first question is always “how much?” and the number should not be invented on the doorstep.

• Charge hourly for the first clean of any house and for deep cleans. You do not know that kitchen yet.
• Charge flat for recurring visits, 10–15% under a one-time clean (Housecall Pro’s guide).
• Write an add-on list with a price on each line (oven, fridge, interior windows). Print it, one page, the same sheet for every client.

5. Supplies and equipment: the list and what it costs

A residential cleaner can buy the whole starter kit for about $400 at one big-box store. Every price below was read on Target.com on September 9, 2026.

6. The paperwork for each house

Every client home gets four pieces of paper: a checklist, a one-page agreement, a line in the key log, and before-and-after photos. Set them up once and copy them per house.

• A per-house checklist. Rooms, tasks, and the two or three things this owner cares about most (the dog bowl, the glass shower door). Start from the template linked at the top.
• A one-page agreement. What is included, what costs extra, the price, how and when you get paid, and the cancellation window. The cleaning contract template is one page for that reason.
• A key log. For every key you hold: which house, where the key lives, who else has one, and the date you took it. Keep alarm codes on a different page from the address.
• Before-and-after photos. Every visit, the same items each time. They settle “you missed the tub” in ten seconds.

7. The first clients: the honest list

Your first five clients come from people who already trust you with a key, not from a lead marketplace. Work this list in order.

• Neighbors and friends who will hand you a key. Offer the first clean at your hourly rate, not free. A free clean teaches them the price is zero.
• Realtors. Every listing needs a clean before photos and every sale needs a move-out clean. Bring the price sheet and the certificate of insurance; that is the whole pitch.
• Home watch operators. They check empty second homes and get asked for a clean before the owner flies in.
• HOA and neighborhood newsletters. Three lines with your name, number and “insured” reach every mailbox that already pays a lawn service.
• One Google Business Profile. Free, per Google’s own page. Fill in every field, add photos of real work, and ask the first five clients for a review.

8. The day-to-day system

Before the first clean, decide four things: where the schedule lives, how the reminder goes out, how the invoice goes out, and where the miles get written down.

• Schedule. One calendar, every house on a cadence, entered as a recurring appointment.
• Reminder. A text the evening before: “Tomorrow 9am, back door key, see you then.” It is the cheapest fix for the locked-door morning.
• Invoice. Send it from the driveway before you pull away. The longer the gap between the clean and the invoice, the longer the gap before the money.
• Mileage log. Date, start, end, miles, which house. The IRS standard mileage rate is 76 cents a mile from July 1 to December 31, 2026 (72.5 cents for January to June 2026). At 200 business miles a week that is $152 off your taxable income, but only if the log exists.

House Matters does those four items for a small cleaning business: client homes on a cadence, a per-home checklist with a photo on every item, the owner’s report as a link with no account, and the invoice or Venmo request sent from your own Stripe, Wave or Venmo with no cut and no lead fees. Your first three client homes are free, then $19 a month. See cleaning business software, or compare it in best cleaning business software.

The whole checklist on one screen

• Name searched; sole proprietor or LLC filed: $0, or $50–$300 by state
• EIN: $0
• Local license or tax receipt: $30–$73 a year in the examples above
• General liability insurance: about $59 a month; janitorial bond when asked, about $9
• Certificate of insurance on your phone: $0
• Business checking: $0 a month at Relay
• One way to get paid, on every invoice: 1% to 3.3% per payment; free invoicing on Wave
• Price sheet, hourly and flat, printed: $0
• Starter supply kit: $401.13
• Per-house checklist, agreement, key log, photos: $0
• First-client list worked in order; Google Business Profile live: $0
• Calendar, reminder text, invoice routine, mileage log: $0

First-month total from the figures above: about $540 with an Arizona LLC and a county tax receipt, about $835 with a Texas LLC and a Seattle license.

Questions people ask

What do I need to start a cleaning business?

A registered name or entity, a free EIN, general liability insurance, a business bank account with one way to get paid, a price sheet, about $400 of supplies, a one-page agreement, and a first-client list.

How much does it cost to start a cleaning business?

About $540 to $835 in the first month: $50 to $300 for the state filing, $30 to $73 for the local license, about $59 for the first month of insurance, and $401 of supplies. A sole proprietor skips the state filing and starts closer to $490.

Do I need an LLC before my first client?

No. Take the first client as a sole proprietor with insurance in place and file the LLC once the business is real; Arizona charges $50 and Texas $300. Insurance is the part that cannot wait.

What is on a cleaning business supplies list?

An upright vacuum, a spin mop and bucket, 50 microfiber cloths, two caddies, nitrile gloves, an extendable duster, a toilet brush, scrub brushes, a broom and dustpan, all-purpose, glass and tub-and-tile cleaners, and shoe covers. Priced at Target on September 9, 2026 that is $401.13, half of it the vacuum.

Sources, read September 9, 2026

1. Get an employer identification number — IRS
2. Fees — Florida Division of Corporations
3. Form 205, Certificate of Formation for an LLC — Texas Secretary of State
4. Schedule of Fees, Limited Liability Companies — Arizona Corporation Commission
5. Local Business Tax Receipt — Osceola County Tax Collector
6. Business Licenses — City of Seattle
7. Cleaning Business Insurance and Bonding Costs — Insureon
8. Janitorial Insurance Cost — NEXT Insurance
9. Business Profile Transaction Fees — Venmo
10. Processing Fees — Square
11. House Cleaning Prices — Thumbtack
12. Standard Mileage Rates — IRS