How to start a cleaning business in California: 2026 guide

What are the steps to open a cleaning company in California?

To open a house cleaning company in California, choose between a sole proprietorship with a county fictitious business name and an LLC with the Secretary of State, register with your city’s business tax office, buy liability insurance and price your cleans. Before your first hire, buy workers’ comp and register with the EDD.

This guide is about what California does differently: the $800 LLC tax, county name filings with newspaper notices, city business taxes, high local minimum wages, workers’ comp from the first hire and the ABC test. For the parts that are the same everywhere, such as choosing services, buying equipment and doing your first cleans, read our general guide on how to start a cleaning business.

A sensible order for California:

1. Decide where you will work. City lines change your business tax and, often, your minimum wage.
2. Choose a structure. Remember the $800 a year before forming an LLC.
3. File a fictitious business name with your county if you use a name that isn’t your own.
4. Register with the city where your business is, such as the Los Angeles Office of Finance.
5. Buy general liability insurance, and check your auto policy covers driving to jobs.
6. Price your cleans from your real labor cost, then set up booking and payments.
7. Before your first hire: workers’ comp, EDD registration, new-hire reporting and a paid sick leave policy.

If you need a name, the cleaning business name generator gives you options to check against your county’s records. To see whether California’s costs still leave you a profit, run your numbers through the cleaning business plan template.

Sole proprietor or LLC: what do California filings cost?

A sole proprietor who uses a business name files a fictitious business name (FBN) statement with the county, which costs $26 in Los Angeles County plus newspaper notices. An LLC costs $70 to form with the Secretary of State, plus a $20 Statement of Information within 90 days and every two years after.

Fictitious business name with the county

Los Angeles County’s FBN fee page lists $26 for one business name and one registrant, the same $26 to renew, and $5 for each extra name or registrant. Its FBN FAQ says the statement expires five years from the date of filing, and that a new statement must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks in an adjudicated newspaper in the county, starting within 30 days of filing. The newspaper charges for that, so ask a few papers for prices.

Other counties have their own clerks and fees, so check yours. Trading as “Maria Gomez” needs no FBN, but “Golden State Sparkle” does. A sole proprietor’s personal assets are exposed to business debts and claims.

California LLC

The Secretary of State’s LLC forms page lists $70 for the Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1) and $20 for the Statement of Information (Form LLC-12), due within 90 days of registering and every two years after. That part is cheap. The real cost is the yearly tax in the next section.

Is the $800 California LLC tax still waived in the first year?

No. The first-year exemption only covered LLCs for tax years beginning in 2021, 2022 and 2023. For 2026, every LLC whose articles are accepted by the Secretary of State owes the $800 annual tax, including in its first year, every year until it is cancelled. Sole proprietors don’t pay it.

The Franchise Tax Board’s report on the first-year annual tax exemption describes it as applying to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2024. The FTB’s 2026 instructions for Form 3522 list no first-year exemption, and say every LLC with articles accepted by the Secretary of State, or doing business in California, owes the $800 tax for each taxable year until it files a certificate of cancellation.

When the $800 is due

The same instructions say the tax is due by the 15th day of the 4th month after the start of the LLC’s taxable year (April 15, 2026 for calendar-year LLCs), and that an LLC’s first taxable year begins when it files its articles. So an LLC formed in the fall can owe its first $800 early the next year and the following year’s $800 by April 15, close together. Ask your accountant to map your dates before you file.

The LLC fee on top, at higher income

LLCs also pay a separate fee once total California income reaches $250,000. The Form 568 booklet lists:

For a new solo cleaner, $800 a year is a lot of cleans. Many start as a sole proprietor with good liability insurance and form an LLC once they hire or sign larger contracts. Insurance, not the LLC, is what pays a client for damage.

Do you charge sales tax on house cleaning in California?

No. California sales tax applies to sales of goods, not to services like cleaning. Instead, you pay sales tax when you buy the products and equipment you use on the job. You only need a seller’s permit if you also sell goods, such as cleaning products sold to clients.

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s Regulation 1501 (service enterprises) says people in the business of rendering services are consumers, not retailers, of the property they use incidentally in rendering the service, and that tax applies when that property is sold to them. For a cleaner, that means the sales tax is in the price of your vacuum, cloths and products, and you don’t add any to your cleaning bill.

The CDTFA’s seller’s permit FAQ says you need a permit if you are engaged in business in California and intend to sell or lease tangible personal property that would ordinarily be taxable at retail. If you start reselling products, for example a branded cleaning kit, ask the CDTFA about a permit before your first sale.

Because there is no sales tax to add, the price on your website is the price the client pays. Leave sales tax switched off in any booking or payment software.

Do California cities require a business license for cleaners?

Many do, usually as a business tax registration rather than a cleaning license. In Los Angeles, every business doing business in the city needs a Business Tax Registration Certificate (BTRC) from the Office of Finance. Small businesses under $100,000 in gross receipts can owe no tax, but only if they renew on time.

Los Angeles

The Office of Finance’s page on how to register for a BTRC says all individuals or entities doing business in the City of Los Angeles must apply for one. Its small business exemption FAQ says a business with no more than $100,000 in worldwide gross receipts pays no tax, provided it files a timely renewal, which is due by the last day of February. The city’s old new business exemption expired at the end of 2017, so plan on the small business exemption, not a first-year pass.

Two habits keep that exemption: register when you start, and file the renewal every February even when you owe nothing. Miss the renewal and the exemption can be lost for that year.

Other cities and counties

Other California cities set their own business tax or license rules, and we only checked Los Angeles, so call your city’s business tax office and ask: do I register where my home office is, or also in each city where I clean, what does a residential cleaning business pay, and do I need a home occupation permit? If you live outside city limits, ask your county the same questions.

Our guide to what licenses are needed to start a cleaning business explains the other registrations that people group under “license,” such as your EIN and employer accounts.

Hiring in California: wages, EDD and paid sick leave

Pay at least $16.90 an hour, or your city’s higher rate. Register with the EDD within 15 days of paying more than $100 in wages in a quarter, report each new hire within 20 days, and give at least 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave a year. Your real cost per hour is about $19 before workers’ comp at the state minimum.

Minimum wage, state and local

The Labor Commissioner’s minimum wage FAQ sets the 2026 state minimum at $16.90 an hour for all employers not covered by a higher industry or local rate, and says employers must follow whichever rate pays more. Cities can set higher rates. In Los Angeles, the Office of Wage Standards raised the city minimum to $18.42 an hour on July 1, 2026, for employees who do at least two hours of work within city limits. A crew that cleans in several cities may owe different rates for different hours, so check each city you work in.

Registering with the EDD

The EDD’s page on registering as an employer says a business must register within 15 days once it pays more than $100 in wages in a calendar quarter. Its required filings page says you report new or rehired employees to the New Employee Registry within 20 days of their start date (Form DE 34). You also report independent contractors on Form DE 542 within 20 days once you pay or contract for $600 or more with an individual.

What a minimum-wage hour costs you

Using the EDD’s 2026 payroll tax rates (DE 202) for a new employer:

The EDD notes the 2.1% federal rate is a projection because of California’s outstanding federal loan. State unemployment, ETT and federal unemployment only apply to the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages per year, so the yearly average is a little lower. At Los Angeles’s $18.42, the same math gives about $20.87. Employees also have 1.3% withheld for State Disability Insurance, with no wage limit since 2024, which comes out of their pay, not yours.

Paid sick leave

The Labor Commissioner’s paid sick leave FAQ says that since January 1, 2024, employers must generally provide at least 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave a year, and that the law covers employees who work 30 or more days for the same employer within a year in California, including part-time workers. Build that time into your prices.

Workers’ comp from the first hire, and the ABC test

California requires workers’ comp as soon as you have one employee. And under the ABC test, a cleaner who cleans for a cleaning company is presumed to be an employee, so you can’t avoid the requirement by calling your crew contractors.

Workers’ comp

The Division of Workers’ Compensation’s employer page says California employers are required by law to have workers’ comp insurance, even if they have only one employee. Have the policy in place before the first shift, not after the first injury. Our guide to insurance for cleaning businesses explains how workers’ comp, general liability and bonds fit together.

The ABC test

The Labor Commissioner’s independent contractor FAQ explains the ABC test that AB 5 put into law. A worker is an employee unless the hiring business proves all three of these:

1. A: the worker is free from your control and direction in doing the work, both under the contract and in fact.
2. B: the worker does work outside the usual course of your business.
3. C: the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade or business of the same kind.

Part B is the problem for a cleaning company. A cleaner who cleans your clients’ homes is doing exactly what your business does, so it is very hard to show the work is outside your usual course of business. Plan to hire cleaners as employees, with payroll, workers’ comp and sick leave, and price for it. If you think a specific arrangement qualifies as contracting, get advice before you rely on it.

What does it cost to start in California?

A solo sole proprietor in Los Angeles can start for $26 plus newspaper notices, a city business tax registration, insurance and supplies. An LLC adds $70 to form, $20 every two years and $800 every year. Labor is the big cost once you hire.

Government fees below were checked on official pages on October 5, 2026. Rows marked “estimate” are our own rough ranges, not quotes.

A realistic minimum for a solo sole proprietor in Los Angeles County: $26 plus the newspaper notices, roughly $200 to $500 of supplies (our estimate) and the first insurance payment. If you form an LLC, add $890 in the first year: $70 to form, $20 for the Statement of Information and $800 of annual tax.

How do you find clients in California and run a crew?

Start with people you know, a free Google Business Profile and a booking link with clear prices. Keep your service area tight: traffic between homes is unpaid time, and in California that time costs at least $19 an hour per cleaner.

Our guide on how to get clients for a cleaning business covers referrals, partners and reviews. Because labor costs more here than in most states, build prices from your real hourly cost with the house cleaning pricing guide, not from national averages.

Running it with BroomBook

We make BroomBook, a scheduling, online booking and crew app for residential cleaning businesses. Here is how it fits a California business, including what it doesn’t do:

• Hours you can prove. Cleaners clock in and out from their own private link, and the owner can correct a timesheet with the reason kept. That record helps when you check minimum wage across a pay period.
• Less unpaid drive time. The day’s route shows drive times, the booking page keeps drive time free between visits, and you can limit your service area by distance or ZIP code.
• Your crew in their language. Job notes can be translated into Spanish, French or Portuguese for each cleaner.
• Payroll export. Hours, tip splits and commissions go into a CSV for your payroll service. BroomBook does not calculate withholding, file EDD reports or track sick leave balances.

BroomBook costs $29 a month on Solo (up to 2 cleaners) or $59 a month on Team (unlimited cleaners), with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. See how scheduling works on our cleaning scheduling software page, or compare plans on pricing.

Pick something other than BroomBook if

• You need full payroll with tax filing and sick leave tracking built in. Use a payroll service alongside it, or instead.
• You need automatic QuickBooks sync, or invoices with net terms.
• You want a native app from the App Store or Google Play. BroomBook runs in the phone’s browser.
• You mainly bid on commercial janitorial contracts, or run a multi-trade field service company.