A deposit with no owner
Thirty payments a week arrive under a husband's name, a wife's or a building's. Without matching each one to a contract, the list of who has not paid lives in your head.
Industry · Cleaning companies
Bookkeeping for a cleaning business in the United States
Twenty houses a week, money arriving by Zelle, check, card and app, and at month end nobody knows which contract paid off.
Bookkeeping for a cleaning business means keeping revenue split client by client in QuickBooks Online, and cost split by service type. Every Zelle, check, card payment and app payout matched to the contract behind it. Supplies, equipment, uniforms and travel in their own categories. A running total paid to each person on the crew, with a W-9 on file for contractors. At month end, a P&L and a Balance Sheet, the two reports that show what you actually keep.
It is the same routine GS Brasil runs for construction, law firms and restaurants, adapted to how a cleaning company gets paid. The platform is QuickBooks, and Gustavo is a Certified QuickBooks PRO Advisor.
Taxes are not part of the service. GS Brasil keeps the books and hands your CPA a ready package, and he handles the filings.
Warning signs
Where the money leaks in a cleaning company
Small costs nobody adds up
Supplies, cloths, a vacuum, uniforms and gas between houses go out in small purchases. Added up over a month, they change the margin of a contract.
Payroll does not cancel with the job
A client travels, an office pushes the cleaning back, and Friday's payroll stays the same. Without weekly cash tracking, a slow month turns into credit card debt.
What is different in this industry
A cleaning company's numbers add up by client, not by month
A cleaning business lives on small recurring revenue. Many small clients, billed weekly, every two weeks or monthly, paying by Zelle, check, card and app. The bank statement shows dozens of similar deposits, usually under the sender's name, which is not the name on the contract. Without splitting revenue by client, nobody knows which contract is profitable or who is late.
It starts with setup. Each client goes into QuickBooks with the agreed price, the frequency and the payment method. From there the receivables report shows names and open balances instead of a list of unnamed deposits.
Residential and commercial do not pay on the same clock
A house usually pays on the day of the service. A contract with a building, an office or a general contractor usually pays in 30 days or more, with an invoice and an approval in between. The two revenue lines have to be separated: the commercial one looks bigger and only becomes cash weeks later. Growing on commercial contracts without tracking that squeezes cash flow right when sales are up.
In QuickBooks that means service by type: residential, commercial, post construction, windows, carpet. Revenue and cost on separate lines show which service line carries the company.
Crew: recording is bookkeeping, classifying is your CPA's call
Whether a worker should be paid as a 1099 contractor or as a W-2 employee is a call for your CPA or an attorney, not for GS Brasil. What bookkeeping does is record each payment correctly, collect the contractor's W-9 before the first payment and keep a year to date total per person, so your CPA can build the 1099-NEC package by January 31.
Two details change that number. The 1099-NEC threshold was 600 dollars for payments through 2025 and moved to 2,000 dollars for payments made from 2026 on, always to be confirmed with your CPA. And what was paid by card or payment platform is usually reported by the platform itself, so it does not go into the payer's 1099-NEC. With W-2 staff there is payroll on top: reemployment tax in Florida, the PFML contribution in Massachusetts.
The cost that disappears between houses
Cleaning products, equipment, uniforms, travel, idle time waiting for a client to open the door, and rework after a complaint. Each one is small, together they decide the margin. In their own QuickBooks categories they show up on the P&L every month. Rework is the most expensive and the most invisible: the crew goes back, the client does not pay again, and the cost of that contract doubles.
Cash flow: season, cancellations and client vacations
Cleaning revenue moves more than it looks. Clients travel, offices postpone, the season changes volume, and in Massachusetts winter cuts outdoor work. Payroll does not follow that drop. So cash flow has to be read weekly, and the month compared against the same month last year. That is how you see whether the drop was volume or price. For weekly projection there is Financial Support Premium.
Payment apps, processor fees and sales tax
A client paying through an app or a card link does not deposit the full amount. The platform takes its fee and sends the net, sometimes bundling several clients into one deposit. Booking only the net hides both revenue and cost. The right way is to record the sale at full value, the processor fee in its own expense account, and reconcile the deposit against the payments that formed it.
On sales tax: in some states and counties certain services are taxable, in others they are not. Classifying and filing is your CPA's job. Bookkeeping keeps collected tax separate from revenue from the moment of entry, so the money is not spent before it is due. Florida charges 6% state sales tax plus the county surtax. Massachusetts charges 6.25%.
How it starts
How the routine starts in a cleaning business
Remote service, based in Florida. Video meetings and a direct line to Gustavo, in Portuguese, English or Spanish.
01
Clients
Set up one contract at a time
Each client goes into QuickBooks with price, frequency, service type and payment method. That is what lets us match every Zelle, check or app payout to the right contract.
02
Costs
Split supplies, equipment and travel
Categories that repeat every month, with uniforms, supplies, gas and equipment upkeep out of the general expense pile.
03
Crew
Review who got paid and with which paperwork
A list of every payment to individuals this year, who has a W-9 and who is missing, and what went through a card or a platform. Details on 1099 and W-9 bookkeeping.
04
Routine
Close the month and read margin by contract
Bank, card and payment platform reconciliation, uncategorized cleared, P&L and Balance Sheet, plus the list of contracts that carry margin and the ones that do not.
What you get
What becomes visible at month end
Revenue client by client
Each contract with what it billed this month, recorded at full value, with the payment platform fee kept separate as an expense.
Margin by service type
Residential, commercial, post construction and extras with revenue and cost side by side. You see which line carries the company and which only fills the schedule.
Receivables with each client's terms
Who pays on the day and who pays in 30 days, what is open and for how long, without opening the banking app.
Supply, equipment and travel cost
Supplies, uniforms, gas, tolls and upkeep in their own categories, to see the real cost of serving each area.
Year to date totals per person and W-9s on file
How much each person was paid this year, by which method, with paperwork on file and what is still missing, ready for your CPA to prepare the 1099-NEC forms.
Cash flow read month by month
A monthly close with a P&L and Balance Sheet, showing how much a full month needs to set aside to cover cancellations, client vacations and slow months.
The line with your CPA.
GS Brasil does not decide whether your crew is 1099 or W-2, does not issue 1099s as a tax service, does not classify whether your cleaning is a taxable service, and does not file sales tax or income tax returns. That belongs to your CPA. What we deliver is reconciled books, revenue split by client and by service type, the total paid to each person and organized W-9s, which usually makes his work faster, with less back and forth.
Frequently asked
Questions from cleaning business owners
Have you worked with cleaning companies before?
Not yet. The industries where GS Brasil has hands on experience are construction, law firms and restaurants. What repeats in a cleaning company is the shape of the finances: many recurring clients, payments in small pieces, a crew that changes and steady small costs. The routine is the same one, adapted to how your revenue comes in, and the platform is QuickBooks.
I get paid by Zelle, check, card and app. Can that be organized?
Yes, as long as each deposit is matched to a contract. The bank only shows the sender's name, which often is not the client's name. During the first cleanup we build that mapping with you, and after that it is routine. App payments are recorded at full value, with the processor fee in a separate account.
Do I need to send 1099s to the people who clean with me?
Your CPA answers that, because it depends on how the person works, how much was paid and by which method. For payments starting in 2026 the 1099-NEC threshold moved to 2,000 dollars, to be confirmed with him. What was paid by card or platform is usually reported by the platform. GS Brasil hands over the finished list, with W-9s and totals per person.
How do I find out which client is actually profitable?
By putting each contract's direct cost next to its revenue: crew hours, supplies, travel and rework. A high value commercial client that needs two people, a long drive and an invoice on 30 day terms can return less than three houses close together. The report by client and by service type is what shows it.
My books are months behind. How does it start?
First the fix: bank and card reconciliation, duplicates removed, uncategorized cleared and Opening Balance Equity corrected, in the QuickBooks cleanup format. Then the monthly routine starts, usually Strategic Bookkeeping Basic. Pricing is quoted based on transaction volume. Send a message telling us where your business is today.
Keep reading
Related pages
Bookkeeping in Florida
Portuguese speaking bookkeeping for Florida businesses.
Fort Lauderdale and Pompano
Cleaning, remodeling, marine and restaurants in Broward and Boca.
1099 bookkeeping
W-9s, contractor totals and a 1099 package for your CPA.
Strategic Bookkeeping Basic
The monthly routine that keeps the books current.
QuickBooks cleanup
When QuickBooks is in use but the numbers are wrong.
Bookkeeping in Massachusetts
Monthly books in Portuguese, English or Spanish for MA companies.
First step
Start with the first conversation
Twenty minutes, no commitment, to understand where your company is and point the way.