Cleaning business licence requirements
/ 12 min read
There is no national cleaning licence in the United States. What people mean by 'cleaning licence' is a stack of ordinary business registrations, and the stack differs by state and by city.
Before you quote
- Check the state, the county and the city separately
- Have your entity type decided first
- Know whether you will hire
Before you leave
- Keep every certificate where a client can be sent it
- Diary the renewals
- Re-check when you cross a state line
Four layers, not one
Registration in this trade stacks: the entity at state level, a tax registration, a general business licence which is usually local, and occasionally a specific permit if you handle particular chemicals or waste.
| Layer | Where it is issued | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Entity registration | State (Secretary of State) | Everyone but a sole proprietor using their own name |
| EIN | IRS, online, no fee | Anyone hiring or opening a business account |
| Sales or use tax registration | State revenue department | Where cleaning services are taxable |
| General business licence | City or county | Most operators, in most places |
| Specific permits | Varies | Waste handling, some chemicals, some premises |
Internal Revenue Service, read 2026-09-04
The IRS puts it plainly: You never have to pay a fee for an EIN. Because this stack is local, the only authoritative answer is your own state's Secretary of State and your own city's licensing office. Anyone selling you a 'cleaning licence' as a single product is selling you a filing service, not a licence.
The sales tax trap
Whether cleaning services are taxable depends on the state, and in several states it depends on whether the property is residential or commercial. There is no national rule, which is why our invoice template ships with a tax field rather than a rate.
Get the answer in writing from your state revenue department before you invoice. Getting it wrong for one quarter is a correction; getting it wrong for two years is a liability.
What changes when you hire
Hiring adds workers' compensation, state unemployment insurance registration, and payroll withholding. It also usually moves you into a different insurance conversation and a different licensing bracket in some cities.
Contractor classification is not a way around any of that. State tests differ from the federal one and cleaning work — set hours, supplied equipment, your clients — usually fails them.
What commercial clients ask for
In practice, a commercial client asks for four documents: a certificate of insurance, a janitorial bond, your business registration, and often proof of background checks on staff. That set, kept current in one folder, is what makes you biddable.
Have them ready before you bid rather than after you win. The gap between winning and producing paperwork is where contracts fall over.
Working across a state line
Cleaning across a state line usually means registering as a foreign entity in the second state, and it certainly means a second look at tax and workers' compensation. Neither is difficult; both are expensive to discover late.
If your round crosses a border regularly, price the second registration into the round rather than treating it as an accident.