What does Kansas actually require before your first paid clean?
Very little from the state. Kansas has no license for house cleaning, no statewide trade name filing, and no sales tax on ordinary cleaning labor. What you do need is a federal EIN if you hire or form an LLC, insurance, and, if you work in or around Kansas City, a city occupation tax registration or license.
That makes Kansas one of the simpler states to start in, but two things catch people out. First, the absence of a DBA registry means there is no cheap way to lock in a business name except forming an LLC. Second, many Johnson County and Wyandotte County cleaners also take jobs across State Line Road, and Kansas City, Missouri has its own license and earnings tax.
A sensible order of steps
- Pick a name and decide between a sole proprietorship under your own name or an LLC.
- If you choose an LLC, file the Articles of Organization online with the Secretary of State and calendar the April 15 annual report.
- Get an EIN from the IRS and open a business bank account.
- Check the city rules for every city you plan to clean in, starting with Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.
- Buy general liability insurance before the first job, and line up workers’ comp before your payroll approaches $20,000 a year.
- Price your services. You won’t be adding sales tax to a normal clean, so the price on the quote is the price the client pays.
This page covers the Kansas-specific pieces. For services, equipment and the first-year plan that apply in any state, start with our general guide on how to start a cleaning business, and see what licenses are needed to start a cleaning business for the federal side.
Why Kansas cleaners pay sales tax on supplies but not on the clean
Because Kansas treats you as the end user of what you buy, not as a seller of a taxable service. Cleaning a home or office is not on Kansas’s list of taxable services, so you don’t charge tax on it. The soap, mops and vacuum you buy to do the work are taxable when you buy them, like any other consumer purchase.
What the Department of Revenue says
Kansas taxes services that install, apply, repair, service or maintain tangible personal property. The Department of Revenue’s Publication KS-1510 on sales and use tax lists “cleaning” among the services that are not taxable because they don’t involve that kind of work, alongside services such as mowing, snow removal and child care.
The department’s janitorial services self-audit fact sheet is more specific. It is an older document (composed in 2006), but it is still published and it spells out the line item by item:
| What you charge for | Sales tax? |
|---|---|
| Labor to clean a building: sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, trash removal, washing windows | Exempt |
| Labor performed on a facility that qualifies as a residence | Exempt |
| Carpet shampooing | Exempt |
| Applying wax or polishing floors, and the charge for the wax | Taxable |
The same fact sheet says janitorial businesses pay tax when they buy cleaning products, tools, safety gear and supplies left at the client’s site, such as paper towels and toilet paper. That tax is a cost of doing business, so build it into your prices.
When you would need a sales tax registration
If you only clean, you generally don’t. If you offer floor waxing or polishing, or you sell products to clients, register with the Department of Revenue and collect tax on those charges at the state 6.5% rate plus any local rate. Bill the waxing as a separate line so the rest of the clean stays untaxed, and confirm the setup with the department or an accountant before you advertise it.
No DBA registry in Kansas: how do you protect a business name?
You can’t register a trade name with the state, so the realistic options are trading under your own name or forming an LLC whose legal name is the brand. Kansas simply doesn’t run a DBA filing system.
The Secretary of State’s register a business page is clear that its name reservation form “does not register an assumed, fictitious, trade, or DBA (doing business as) name.” A reservation only holds a name for an entity you are about to form.
What that means in practice
- Sole proprietor under your own name: “Maria Lopez Cleaning” style names are the simplest. There is nothing to file with the state, but you still need any city license where you work.
- Sole proprietor with a brand name: you can use one, but no Kansas office records it, and another company could form an LLC with the same name. Ask your bank what it needs to open an account in that name, since there is no state certificate to show them.
- LLC: the name becomes the company’s legal name in the Secretary of State’s records, which is the closest thing Kansas offers to name protection.
Before you print shirts or buy a domain, search the Secretary of State’s business entity database for the name and check that the domain and social handles are free. The cleaning business name generator can give you a list of ideas to check.
What does a Kansas LLC cost after the 2026 fee cut?
$85 to form online, or $90 on paper, then $53 a year for the online annual report. Kansas cut its LLC formation fee in 2026, which makes it one of the cheaper states to run an LLC in.
Formation
The Secretary of State’s Articles of Organization instructions list the fee as $85 online and $90 on paper. You need a resident agent with a Kansas street address (you can be your own) and a name ending in LLC, L.L.C. or a similar word of formation. The office announced the cut in a May 26, 2026 press release, saying it aligned the LLC fee with the $90 corporations pay and that it was possible because the office replaced its old filing system with the new Kansas Business Operating System (KBOS).
The annual report
The LLC annual report instructions set the fee at $53 online or $55 on paper. Reports are filed after the tax year ends: for a business whose tax year ends December 31, the filing window runs from January 1 to April 15. Domestic LLCs list each member who owns 5% or more of the capital.
Is it worth it for a solo cleaner?
At $85 plus $53 a year the cost is small, so the question is mostly about separation and the name. An LLC keeps business debts apart from your personal ones and gives you the legal name, but it does not pay for a broken vase or a scratched floor: liability insurance does. Our guide to LLCs for cleaning businesses walks through the trade-offs, and the insurance guide covers the policies homeowners and property managers ask about.
Cleaning around Kansas City: KCK, KCMO and Overland Park
Local rules depend heavily on which side of State Line Road the house is on. Kansas City, Kansas charges an annual occupation tax, Kansas City, Missouri requires a business license from anyone working there, and Overland Park doesn’t license home-based businesses at all.
Kansas City, Kansas (Wyandotte County)
The Unified Government’s occupation tax page says all entities engaging in business activity in KCK must register and file an occupation tax application, including businesses not located in the city but working there. The fee depends on the type of business. For 2025 it listed “Janitorial/Disinfecting/Exterminating” at a flat $188, and carpet and upholstery cleaning at $135. You register every year for as long as the business exists. If you run the business from a home inside KCK, expect a zoning approval step before the occupation tax application.
Kansas City, Missouri
Many Johnson County cleaners end up with clients in Brookside or the Northland. KCMO’s business license FAQ says all businesses operating in the city need a license, including businesses located elsewhere. Licenses run to December 31, renewals are due by the last day of February, and fees depend on the type of business and gross receipts. The same FAQ notes that businesses with workers in the city may owe the profits tax and the 1% earnings tax. If you only plan a handful of Missouri clients, price that paperwork in before you say yes.
Overland Park and the rest of Kansas
Overland Park’s business license page says the city does not license home-based businesses, and its list of required licenses covers things like massage, pawnbrokers and taxis, not cleaning. We didn’t check every Kansas city. For Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Olathe and the rest, call the city clerk and ask whether a mobile cleaning service based at home needs a license or registration, then write down who you spoke with.
Hiring in Kansas: $7.25, the $20,000 workers’ comp line and a 1.75% UI rate
Kansas’s wage floor is the federal $7.25, workers’ comp becomes mandatory once gross annual payroll passes $20,000, and new employers pay 1.75% unemployment tax on the first $15,100 of each employee’s wages in 2026. Report every new hire within 20 days.
Minimum wage and overtime
The Department of Labor’s workplace laws page says the Kansas Minimum Wage and Overtime Law guarantees $7.25 an hour, with overtime after 46 hours a week, but it doesn’t cover employers and employees who fall under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Federal law requires overtime after 40 hours. Plan your schedules on the 40-hour rule unless an accountant tells you the state law applies to you. And plan to pay well above $7.25: cleaners who drive between homes all day won’t stay for the minimum.
Workers’ compensation: the $20,000 payroll test
The Workers Compensation Division overview says an employer in a non-agricultural business with more than $20,000 in gross annual payroll in a calendar year must secure workers’ comp coverage and file reports of work accidents. Two part-time cleaners at 20 hours a week and $16 an hour cross that line in under eight months, so buy the policy when you hire, not when you notice. Cleaning is physical work with lifting, ladders and chemicals.
Unemployment insurance
The employer services page lists the 2026 numbers: a new employer rate of 1.75% (5.55% for new construction employers) and a taxable wage base of $15,100, up from $14,000 in 2025. That works out to at most $264.25 per employee per year at the new employer rate. You register through the Employer Self Service Portal.
New-hire reports
The same page says that within 20 days of each new hire, rehire or return from an extended layoff, you report the employee’s name, address, Social Security number and hire date, plus your federal ID number, to the Kansas New Hire Directory. Electronic reporting is encouraged.
Calling cleaners independent contractors doesn’t change any of this if you set their schedules, supply the products and send them to your clients. Our guide on how much house cleaners make helps you set a wage that works with your prices.
What it costs to open a Kansas cleaning company
State fees are low: $0 for a sole proprietor under your own name, or $85 for an online LLC plus $53 a year. Insurance, supplies and any city occupation tax are the real costs.
Government fees below come from the official pages linked above, checked on October 9, 2026. Rows marked “estimate” are our ranges, not quotes.
| Cost item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Trade name (DBA) | $0 | Kansas has no state DBA filing. |
| LLC Articles of Organization | $85 online, $90 paper | Optional. Filed with the Secretary of State. |
| LLC annual report | $53 online, $55 paper | Due by April 15 for a calendar tax year. |
| Sales tax registration | Usually not needed | Only if you wax floors or sell products. |
| Kansas City, Kansas occupation tax | $188 (2025 janitorial rate) | Only if you work in KCK. Renewed yearly. |
| Kansas City, Missouri business license | Based on receipts | Only if you work in KCMO. |
| State unemployment tax | Up to $264.25 per employee per year | 1.75% of the first $15,100 for new employers in 2026. |
| Workers’ comp | Get quotes | Required once gross annual payroll tops $20,000. |
| General liability insurance | Get quotes | Compare two or three quotes for the same limits. |
| Starter supply kit, tax included | $200 to $500 (estimate) | Remember the 6.5% state rate plus local tax on what you buy. |
| Scheduling and payment software | Your choice | BroomBook is $29 a month for up to 2 cleaners, with a 14-day free trial. |
A solo cleaner trading under their own name in Wichita could realistically start for the cost of supplies and a first insurance payment. A Johnson County LLC with clients on both sides of the state line adds $85, $53 a year, the KCK occupation tax and a KCMO license.
Winning your first Kansas clients, and where BroomBook fits
Start close to home and quote fast. In Kansas suburbs, referrals, neighborhood groups and a Google Business Profile are the usual first channels, and a quick written quote beats a callback two days later.
- Price each home before you visit with the house cleaning price calculator, then adjust on site.
- Keep your first service area tight. Fewer miles between homes is the cheapest raise you can give yourself.
- Ask every happy client for a review and a referral the same week. Our guide on how to get clients for a cleaning business has scripts.
We make BroomBook, scheduling, online booking and a crew app for residential cleaning businesses. Clients book online inside a service area you set by distance or ZIP code, which helps if you want to keep bookings on the Kansas side until your KCMO license is sorted. Cards are saved at booking and charged after the clean through your own Stripe account, tips included, and each cleaner gets a private link with the day’s visits, checklists and clock-in. Hours and tips export to CSV for your payroll provider. Sales tax is optional, which suits Kansas, where most cleans carry none. It doesn’t file Kansas or city tax returns, and it doesn’t sync with QuickBooks.
Plans are $29 a month on Solo (up to 2 cleaners) or $59 a month on Team (unlimited cleaners), with a 14-day free trial. See how it works on the cleaning scheduling software page.