Monthly bookkeeping & close
Accurate categorization of labor, supplies, equipment costs, and recurring vs one-time revenue. Full monthly close with P&L and balance sheet split by service type — residential, commercial, one-time, and deep clean.
Bookkeeping for cleaning companies
Bookkeeping built for cleaning companies.
Worker classification done right, hourly crew payroll, supplies COGS tracking, recurring contract revenue, and a live dashboard — so you know which clients and teams are profitable, and whether your cleaners should be employees or 1099s before the IRS decides for you.
Ricky West — Founder, TurnkeyCFO
We work with cleaning companies on the classification and compliance questions that create the most IRS risk — and on the monthly books that show you your real client-level and team-level profitability. We coordinate with your CPA on tax filings.
Solo–50+team operations
100%client retention
Fastresponse times
QuickBooks Online · Gusto · Ramp — professional liability insured — month-to-month, 30-day notice
Book your 15-minute intro call.
Pick a time right here — no prep required.
Generic bookkeepers miss the IRS exposure in cleaning company accounting.
The cleaning industry has one of the highest rates of worker misclassification in the country. Cleaners paid as 1099 contractors when they legally qualify as W-2 employees creates back payroll tax liability, penalties, and interest — often for multiple years. Most bookkeepers don't flag it. We do.
What changes with TurnkeyCFO
What TurnkeyCFO handles
- Worker classification reviewed from day one — cleaners who work your schedule, use your supplies, and follow your procedures are almost always employees, not 1099 contractors
- Hourly crew payroll with minimum wage compliance, overtime tracking, and correct FICA withholding
- Supplies and cleaning product costs tracked as job-level COGS — not lumped into general expenses
- Recurring client contracts tracked by frequency so you see true MRR and client churn
- Client-level profitability: which clients take more time than they pay for
What most bookkeepers miss
- Cleaners classified as 1099 contractors when they legally qualify as employees — biggest IRS risk in this industry
- Supplies expensed as general overhead — no cost per job or client
- No client-level profitability — can't identify which accounts are worth keeping at current pricing
- Overtime not tracked — wage and hour violations building up with hourly workers
- Recurring contract revenue mixed with one-time jobs — no visibility into real MRR
Everything your cleaning business needs. Nothing it doesn't.
Worker classification review
The behavioral control, financial control, and type-of-relationship test determines whether your cleaners are employees or independent contractors. Cleaners who follow your schedule, use your equipment and supplies, and work exclusively for you almost always fail the contractor test — even if they sign a 1099 agreement. We review your arrangements from day one and document classification correctly.
Hourly crew payroll
Weekly or bi-weekly payroll for cleaning teams — minimum wage compliance per pay period, overtime tracking for hours over 40 in a workweek, correct FICA withholding, Gusto integration, quarterly 941 reconciliation. Payroll done right protects you from wage and hour claims as the business grows.
Client-level profitability
Recurring contracts tracked by client — frequency, time per visit, supplies per visit, and revenue per visit — so you know which clients are profitable, which need a price increase at renewal, and which are costing you money at current rates.
Supplies & COGS tracking
Cleaning products, chemicals, and disposable supplies tracked as job-level cost of goods sold. Knowing your true cost per job lets you set prices that actually produce margin — not just revenue.
Bill pay & AP
Supplier invoices and vendor bills tracked and paid on schedule so your AP is current and your supplies cost data is accurate for margin analysis.
Live financial dashboard
MRR by service type, client-level margin, payroll-to-revenue ratio, supplies cost per job, and cash flow forecast — updated monthly so you run the business on real data.
Tax filings and legal matters — coordinated with your CPA or attorney. TurnkeyCFO is a bookkeeping firm; we don't provide tax or legal advice.
Deep working knowledge of cleaning company finances.
Worker misclassification risk
Cleaning companies have the highest misclassification rate of any service trade.
The IRS, DOL, and most state labor departments apply a behavioral and economic reality test — not what you call the relationship. Cleaners who work your set schedule, use your supplies and equipment, and don't work for other companies are almost always employees under the law. Misclassification exposes you to 3+ years of back FICA, penalties, and interest — often the most expensive mistake a cleaning business owner makes.
Client profitability analysis
Some clients take three times as long as they pay for.
Recurring clients that require extra time, specialty products, or travel time outside your normal zone erode your margin without showing up in revenue. We track labor hours, supplies, and drive time per client account so you know which clients to keep, reprice, or politely release at renewal.
Overtime compliance
Hourly cleaners who work over 40 hours are owed 1.5x for every hour beyond 40.
Overtime is calculated per workweek — not per pay period and not as an average. If a cleaner covers an extra shift on Wednesday and hits 45 hours by Friday, those 5 hours are overtime — even if the next week is only 30 hours. We track weekly hours through payroll and flag overtime before it creates wage and hour claims.
Supplies COGS per job
Cost of product is a direct cost, not overhead.
Cleaning products, microfiber cloths, mop heads, and disposable supplies are direct costs tied to specific jobs. Lumping them into general overhead makes it impossible to calculate true gross margin per client type — and impossible to know whether your move-out cleaning rate covers the extra product cost that job requires.
Recurring contract MRR
How much reliable, recurring revenue does your business actually generate?
Weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly clients generate predictable, recurring revenue. One-time deep cleans and move-outs are project revenue. Tracking them separately shows you your true MRR baseline — the revenue you can count on — vs the project revenue that varies month to month. This distinction matters for staffing decisions, pricing strategy, and business valuation.
Payroll-to-revenue ratio
Labor is 50-60% of revenue in most cleaning businesses. Tracking it matters.
The cleaning business is a labor business — payroll is your largest cost by far. We track payroll as a percentage of revenue by team and by service type so you know when you're over-staffed for your current revenue, or under-priced for your current labor cost. This ratio, tracked monthly, is the single most important operational metric in a cleaning business.
Onboarding takes days, not months.
15-min intro call
We learn your business — team size, client mix, employee vs contractor question, current software, and where the books are a problem.
Books & access review
We connect to QuickBooks, clean historical data, and set up client-level tracking and payroll classification correctly from day one.
Live visibility
Monthly close, client profitability dashboard, MRR tracking, and payroll-to-revenue ratio — running clean every month.
Questions cleaning companies ask us first
Do you replace our CPA?
No — we work alongside your CPA. We keep books clean and filing-ready year-round. If you need a CPA who understands service businesses, we can refer one.
My cleaners are paid as 1099 — is that a problem?
It depends on how your operation actually works. If your cleaners work a schedule you set, use your supplies and equipment, and work primarily for you — they almost certainly qualify as employees under IRS and DOL standards, regardless of what the contract says. We review your specific arrangements on the intro call and give you a straight answer. If reclassification is warranted, we help you manage the transition in a way that minimizes back-tax exposure.
Can you track which clients are most profitable?
Yes. We set up client-level job costing so you can see labor hours, supplies cost, and revenue per client — and calculate margin per visit. Knowing which clients to keep, reprice, or release at renewal is one of the highest-value outputs for a cleaning business.
Do you work with Jobber, ZenMaid, or HouseCall Pro?
Yes. We integrate your cleaning software with QuickBooks so client revenue, job data, and schedules sync correctly without double entry.
How do you handle overtime for hourly cleaners?
Overtime is tracked per workweek — hours over 40 in any single workweek are paid at 1.5x, regardless of the pay period. We track weekly hours through payroll and flag overtime before each payroll run so there are no surprises and no wage-and-hour exposure building up.
Is our data secure?
Everything lives in QuickBooks Online, Gusto, and Ramp — enterprise-grade platforms with role-scoped access per team member. We maintain professional liability insurance.
Can we cancel?
Month-to-month, 30-day notice. No multi-year contracts.
How much does this cost?
Our instant estimate takes about 60 seconds and gives you a real price range based on your team size, client count, and transaction volume. Tap any "Instant Estimate" button on the page.
Ready to clean up your books — for real?
Get your instant estimate, then book a 15-minute call. No pressure, no sales pitch.