Guide

Keeping cleaning business records that survive a tax review

Nobody enjoys this part, and almost every cleaner who has a painful tax week has the same cause: twelve months of receipts in a shoebox and no idea which of them was for the business. Ten minutes a week prevents all of it.

What to keep, and for how long

Every payment you receive, every job you did, and every business expense with its receipt or invoice. Records are normally kept for several years after the relevant tax year, and the period differs by country — longer than most people assume, and not something to guess at.

The practical rule: keep everything digital and dated, and organise it by month as you go. A photograph of a receipt on the day, in a folder named for the month, is worth an hour of reconstruction later.

The expenses cleaners most often miss

Travel between jobs, and motor expenses — but note that the commute from home to a first job is usually not deductible while travel between client sites usually is. That distinction is worth asking about specifically.
Equipment and its replacement, including cloths and consumables, which are small and constant.
Insurance, business cards and advertising, phone and internet used for the business, and any software you pay for.
Training, and the certification some jobs require.
A proportion of your home costs if you store equipment or run the admin from a room there. The proportion is the part to get right.

Ten minutes a week, on a fixed day

Pick a day, and every week: file the receipts from your phone, mark the jobs you were paid for, and note anything you bought. That is the entire system, and it is the difference between a two-hour year-end and a fortnight of panic.

Then set aside a fixed percentage of every payment the day it arrives, so the tax money is not in the account you spend from. The percentage differs by country and by your own circumstances, which is a question for an accountant rather than for a page.

Questions people ask

Can I claim my cleaning equipment?

Usually yes, as a business expense, including consumables that get used up. Whether a larger item is deducted in one year or spread over several depends on the rules where you are and what the item is. Keep the receipt either way and ask specifically about anything expensive.

Do I need a tax number, an ABN, or to register?

It depends entirely on the country, and the answer is genuinely different in each of the six markets this platform operates in — which is why the platform asks for the local name: an ABN in Australia, an NZBN in New Zealand, a UTR in Britain, an EIN in the States. Ask the tax authority for your own country rather than relying on any general answer, including this one.

I get paid in cash. Does that change anything?

No. It is income when you receive it, and record-keeping is the same whether the money arrived in cash or into an account. The risk with cash is not the tax, it is that you forget to write down a job and then cannot prove what you earned.

House cleaning in Australia

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End of lease cleaning: what the check-out inspection actually looks at · What actually decides the price of an end of lease clean · Airbnb turnover cleaning: what a two-hour changeover actually needs · Getting your first ten cleaning clients without paying for advertising · How to price a cleaning job without undercharging · Reviews and complaints: the two things that decide your next ten jobs · Growing from one cleaner to a small team without losing the standard · Insurance for cleaners: what the policies are and what to check · A cleaning equipment checklist that pays for itself · Keeping the clients you have won · How much does a cleaner cost? What actually moves the number · How often should you clean your house? A schedule that holds · A cleaner or a cleaning company? What you are actually choosing

Practical advice rather than an inspection standard. The standard that matters is whatever your tenancy agreement and entry report say.

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