Cleaning Services

The cleaning is the easy part. It's the payroll, 1099s, and contract tracking that nobody warned you about.

It Looked Simpler From the Outside

You started cleaning because you were good at it. You picked up a few clients, hired some help, landed a commercial contract or two. Before long you were managing crews, buying supplies in bulk, and figuring out how to bid a 40,000 square foot office building. The actual cleaning you can handle. The business side is where things start to pile up.

Now there’s payroll every week or two, contractor payments to track, supply costs eating into margins you thought were solid, and commercial clients who take 30 or 60 days to pay. Tax season means scrambling for receipts and hoping the numbers are close enough. You didn’t get into cleaning to become a bookkeeper.

Who We Work With

Commercial janitorial companies, residential house cleaning services, pressure washing operators, and window cleaning businesses throughout Wisconsin. Solo operators who are starting to scale and established companies running multiple crews.

The Common Thread

Revenue comes in through recurring contracts but expenses hit at unpredictable times. Supplies, equipment repairs, vehicle costs, and crew wages all need tracking. Without clean books, it is genuinely hard to know which contracts actually make money and which ones just keep you busy.

Still on the Job Site

Most cleaning business owners aren’t sitting in an office reviewing financials. You’re still on job sites doing walk-throughs, training new hires, handling callbacks, picking up supplies, and filling in when someone calls out sick. The business runs because you show up every day.

That means bookkeeping gets pushed to the weekend. Or it just doesn’t happen for a few months. QuickBooks sits untouched. Receipts live in the center console of your truck. When it’s time to file taxes, you’re handing over a pile of bank statements and hoping your accountant can sort it out. Sound familiar?

Recurring Revenue, Hidden Complexity

Monthly contracts look like steady income on the surface. But each contract has different labor requirements, supply costs, and travel time between sites. Without tracking what each contract actually costs you, profitability is just a feeling, not a number.

Growth Without Visibility

You add contracts because the top-line revenue looks good. But if a $3,000 per month janitorial contract costs you $2,800 in labor and supplies, you’re working hard for almost nothing. Clean books show you which contracts to keep, which to renegotiate, and which to walk away from.

Where It Gets Messy

Cleaning businesses have specific bookkeeping challenges that a general bookkeeper might not catch. The mix of W-2 employees and 1099 contractors is extremely common in this industry, and the IRS pays close attention to how cleaning companies classify their workers. Getting it wrong creates real problems that go beyond a simple correction.

Cash flow timing is another pain point. Commercial clients often pay on net 30 or net 60 terms, but your crew expects their paycheck every two weeks regardless. Supplies need restocking, vehicles need fuel, and insurance premiums don’t wait for your clients to pay their invoices. The gap between earning the money and actually collecting it can squeeze a profitable business until it feels like you’re barely getting by.

Employee vs. Contractor Classification

Using 1099 contractors for regular crew members is tempting because it saves on payroll taxes and simplifies things in the short term. But if those workers use your equipment, follow your schedule, and work exclusively for your company, the IRS considers them employees. Misclassification leads to back taxes, penalties, and interest. We help you understand the distinction and keep your records straight.

Bidding Without Real Numbers

If you don’t know what a contract actually costs in labor, supplies, drive time, and overhead, every bid is a guess. Some owners win contracts that barely break even and don’t realize it until the end of the year when the numbers come together. Tracking true costs per contract changes how you price your work and which jobs you pursue.

Clean Books, Clear Decisions

When your books are current and organized, you stop guessing. You know which contracts are profitable, which ones need renegotiating, and whether you can realistically afford to hire another crew member or buy that new pressure washer. Decisions that used to keep you up at night become a lot more straightforward when the numbers are there in front of you.

We handle the monthly bookkeeping so you don’t have to. Bank reconciliations, expense categorization, payroll system setup if you need it, and 1099 preparation at year-end. Your tax preparer gets clean records instead of a box of receipts. You get your evenings and weekends back to spend however you want.

Monthly Bookkeeping

Books closed every month with transactions categorized and bank accounts reconciled. You always know where the business stands financially. No more end-of-year scramble trying to reconstruct months of activity from memory and bank statements.

Payroll and 1099 Support

Whether you have W-2 employees, 1099 contractors, or a mix of both, we help you set up your payroll system properly and prepare contractor filings when the year wraps up. Everything stays organized, everything stays compliant, and you stop worrying about it.

Wisconsin's Small Business Bookkeeper