Guide · 7 min read
Job pricing, mileage, supplies, subs, and taxes — built for one-person cleaners and crews up to ten.
Most cleaning businesses price like an employee thinks: "I want to make $25/hr." But the customer pays one number that has to cover wages, payroll tax, insurance, supplies, drive time, marketing, and your profit. Without clean books, you're guessing — and usually guessing low.
Even as a solo cleaner. Run every job payment in, every supply purchase out. Personal checking for business = lost deductions and audit risk.
Recurring residential, one-time deep clean, move-out, commercial, Airbnb turnover. Each has a different margin — you need to see which jobs to take more of.
Use an app or a notebook in the truck. Between-job miles only. At 67¢/mile this is real money — most cleaners miss $1,500–$4,000 of deductions per year.
Move 25–30% of every payment to a separate savings account. Pay quarterly estimates April / June / September / January. No surprises.
SnapBooks tracks income per job type, mileage, and supplies — and tells you which jobs actually make money.
Start freeBase rate = (labor hours × fully-loaded labor cost) + supplies + drive time + 25–40% margin. Most new cleaners undercharge by 30%+ because they forget payroll tax, insurance, and unbillable drive time.
Yes — between jobs (not from home to first/last job). At 67¢/mile (2024 IRS rate) a busy solo cleaner driving 300 miles/week saves around $200/week in taxes. Log every trip the day it happens.
Solo cleaners under ~$50k net stay sole prop. Past $50–60k net, S-Corp election typically saves $3–8k/year in self-employment tax — but only if you actually run payroll for yourself. Talk to a CPA before electing.
All of them. Chemicals, vacuums, mops, microfiber cloths, uniforms, gloves, masks, and even the storage tote you carry them in. Equipment over $2,500 may need to be depreciated.
Each 1099 contractor needs a W-9 on file. Pay them via check or ACH (not personal Venmo). Issue 1099-NEC by Jan 31 if you paid them $600+ for the year.