What does North Carolina require from a new cleaning business?
Less than most states. North Carolina has no state cleaning license, no sales tax on maid service and no city business license. What it does have is a county filing for business names, a yearly $200 report if you choose an LLC, and employer rules that start when you hire.
This page covers the North Carolina rules only. The parts that are the same everywhere (choosing services, buying supplies, landing first clients) are in our general guide on how to start a cleaning business, and federal registrations such as the EIN are in what licenses are needed to start a cleaning business.
The order that works for most NC cleaners:
- Pick your services and the towns you will cover (Triangle, Triad, Charlotte area, coast or mountains).
- Choose a name, then file an assumed business name certificate, or form an LLC.
- Check your city or county zoning rules for running a business from home.
- Buy general liability insurance before your first paid clean.
- Set prices without sales tax on top (maid service is exempt), and set up booking and payments.
- When you hire: open an unemployment account with DES, report each new hire, and add workers’ comp at three employees.
For the name itself, try the cleaning business name generator, then search the Secretary of State’s database before you file. To test your numbers first, the cleaning business plan template builds a 12-month forecast from your prices and costs.
Is an NC LLC worth $200 a year for a solo cleaner?
Sometimes. Forming a North Carolina LLC costs $125, and every year after that you file a $200 annual report. That recurring fee is what makes the choice matter in NC: over three years an LLC costs $525 in state fees, against $26 once for an assumed name in Wake County.
The fees
The Secretary of State’s LLC fee schedule lists Articles of Organization at $125 and the annual report at $200. The annual report FAQ says an LLC’s report is due on April 15th of each year after the year of creation, and costs $200 on paper or $203 online (the extra $3 is the card fee; ACH is $2).
| State fees | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Three-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLC | $125 (formation) | $200 (report due April 15) | $200 | $525 |
| Sole proprietor with an assumed name (Wake County fee) | $26 | $0 | $0 | $26 |
| Sole proprietor under your own name | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
What the extra $500 buys
An LLC keeps business debts separate from your personal assets, and some commercial clients prefer to contract with one. It does not pay for damage in a client’s home: general liability insurance does. For a solo house cleaner in year one, insurance protects you more per dollar than an LLC. Many cleaners start as sole proprietors and form the LLC once they hire or sign commercial contracts. If you form one, put April 15 in your calendar every year, and ignore mailers that offer “priority” annual report filing for an extra fee: the Secretary of State’s business registration page warns that these vendors charge fees on top of the filing fees set by law.
An LLC that trades under a different name (say “Blue Ridge Home Care, LLC” trading as “Blue Ridge Maids”) also files an assumed business name certificate for that name.
How do you file an assumed business name in North Carolina?
You file it with a county register of deeds, not the Secretary of State. One certificate can cover every county you work in, the fee doesn’t change with the number of counties, and it never expires.
The Secretary of State’s assumed business names FAQ gives a cleaning-friendly example: a sole proprietor named John Smith who runs a lawn care business as “Smith Lawn Maintenance” must file a certificate for that name. The same goes for “Smith Home Cleaning”. Key points from the FAQ:
- Where: your local register of deeds. The certificate is recorded in that county and added to a statewide database at the Secretary of State’s office.
- How many counties: since December 1, 2017, one certificate can list several counties or all 100. You pay the same fee whether you name one county or 100.
- No exclusive rights: assumed names don’t have to be unique, and registering one doesn’t stop someone else using the same name. Search the database first, and consider a trademark if the name matters to you.
The state’s certificate form asks for the name (up to five per form), your legal name, the nature of the business, a street address (no P.O. boxes) and the counties. Its instructions say certificates don’t expire or need renewal, but you must file an amendment within 60 days if any of that information changes. Moving your home base counts, so does adding counties you didn’t list.
Fees are paid to the register of deeds. Wake County’s assumed name page lists $26 to record, amend or withdraw an assumed name, and takes filings online. Check your own county’s register of deeds before you file.
Do NC cities still require a business license?
Not a general one. The General Assembly took away cities’ power to charge privilege license taxes, effective July 1, 2015, so a cleaning business in Raleigh, Charlotte or Durham has no city business license to buy. Zoning and home-business rules still apply.
Before 2015, many North Carolina cities charged a yearly privilege license tax just for doing business there. The UNC School of Government’s explainer on the new privilege license law describes how Session Law 2014-3 eliminated these local privilege licenses as a revenue source, with cities losing the power to levy them as of 2015. Raleigh’s starting a new business page confirms the result: effective July 1, 2015, the City of Raleigh no longer requires a business license to operate within city limits. It adds that federal, state and local permits may still apply depending on the business.
For a house cleaner, the local items that can still apply are:
- Home occupation rules. If you run the business from home, your city or county zoning code may limit signs, parking for staff, and storing supplies or equipment.
- Sign permits, if you put up a sign at a storefront or office.
When a client asks if you are “licensed”, the honest NC answer is that there is no license for house cleaning. Show your assumed name certificate or LLC filing and your certificate of insurance instead.
Is house cleaning taxable in North Carolina?
No. The NC Department of Revenue lists custodial, janitorial and maid services as exempt, along with window washing, carpet cleaning and power washing. A few cleaning jobs are taxable, and short-term rental cleaning has one wrinkle worth knowing.
North Carolina taxes many repair, maintenance and installation services to homes, so it is fair to ask. The department’s services to real property taxability chart has a “Cleaning Real Property” section. It lists as exempt:
- Custodial, janitorial and maid services
- Window washing
- Carpet cleaning, including stain removal (area rugs are a separate matter)
- Dryer vent and ductwork cleaning, and gutter cleaning
- Power washing buildings, patios, driveways, decks and sidewalks (not pools)
It lists fish tank, pool and similar aquatic feature cleaning as taxable. If you add pool cleaning or other repair and maintenance work to your menu, check the chart line by line before you quote.
The short-term rental wrinkle
The maid service exemption carries a condition: it applies “provided such are not part of the gross receipts derived from the rental of an accommodation charged by the facilitator or retailer”. In plain terms, a cleaning fee that a host or booking platform charges guests as part of a rental counts as part of the taxable rental, on their side. Your own bill to the host for cleaning is a separate maid service. If you do Airbnb turnovers, keep your invoices to hosts separate from anything guests pay, and ask the Department of Revenue or an accountant if a host wants you to collect fees from guests. Our Airbnb cleaning business guide covers how to run turnovers.
Supplies
Because you don’t charge sales tax on cleaning, you pay sales tax when you buy your own supplies and equipment, like any consumer. That cost goes into your prices.
Hiring in North Carolina: wages, new-hire reports and workers’ comp
Pay at least $7.25 an hour, report each new hire within 20 days, open an unemployment insurance account with the Division of Employment Security (DES), and buy workers’ comp from a private insurer once you regularly employ three people.
Minimum wage
The NC Department of Labor’s minimum wage page says the state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and employers doing business in North Carolina must pay at least that to all employees. Like everywhere else, few cleaners will work for the minimum, so treat it as a legal floor, not a pay plan.
Workers’ comp at three employees
The NC Industrial Commission’s insurance requirements page says, in general, businesses employing three or more employees on a regular basis must carry workers’ compensation insurance or qualify as self-insured. How the count works matters for small cleaning companies:
- Sole proprietors, partners and LLC members are not automatically counted as employees. They can elect to cover themselves on the policy.
- Corporate officers are counted, though they can exclude themselves from coverage. A corporation with two officers and one cleaner already has three.
So a sole proprietor or LLC owner can have two cleaners without a policy, and needs one with the third. Part-timers on a regular schedule count. Unlike Ohio, you buy it from a private insurer: the Commission says to contact an insurance agent. Many owners buy it with the first hire anyway, because one injury claim can cost far more than a year of premiums. Our guide to cleaning business insurance covers liability, bonds and how comp is priced.
New-hire reports and unemployment insurance
The North Carolina New Hire Directory requires employers to report new and rehired employees within 20 days of hire, including employees who work just one day. The report asks for your state unemployment insurance number, so set up your employer account first: DES handles that through its employer services, where you create an NCSUITS account and file quarterly tax and wage reports.
What does it cost to start cleaning homes in North Carolina?
As little as $26 in government fees for a sole proprietor with a business name, or $125 for an LLC plus $200 a year. No sales tax permit and no city license are needed for house cleaning, so insurance and supplies are most of your startup cost.
Government fees below were checked on official pages on October 5, 2026. Rows marked “estimate” are our rough ranges, not quotes.
| Cost item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Assumed business name certificate | $26 in Wake County | Filed with a register of deeds. No renewal. Not needed under your own name. |
| LLC Articles of Organization | $125 | Optional. |
| LLC annual report | $200 a year ($203 online by card) | Due April 15 each year after the year you form. |
| City business license | $0 | NC cities can’t charge privilege license taxes since July 1, 2015. |
| Sales tax registration | Not needed for maid service | Check the NCDOR chart if you add pool cleaning or repairs. |
| Workers’ comp | Get quotes | Required at three regular employees. |
| General liability insurance | Get quotes | Ask two or three agents with the same details. |
| Starter supply kit | $200 to $500 (estimate) | Sales tax applies when you buy them. |
| Phone, simple website, printing | $0 to $300 (estimate) | A free Google Business Profile and a booking link are enough to start. |
| Booking, scheduling and payment software | Your choice | BroomBook is $29 a month for up to 2 cleaners, with a 14-day free trial. |
Once you know your costs, the house cleaning pricing guide walks through hourly, flat and per-room pricing, and the house cleaning price calculator turns your hourly cost into a price list. Since you don’t add sales tax, the price you publish is the price clients pay.
How do you find clients in NC and run the schedule?
Start with people you know, a Google Business Profile listing the towns you serve, and a booking link. Make move-in and move-out cleans easy to book too: they bring in new clients who may stay on for regular cleaning.
For referrals, partners with realtors and property managers, flyers and reviews, read how to get clients for a cleaning business. For local search, see cleaning company SEO.
Running it with BroomBook
We make BroomBook, a scheduling, online booking and crew app for residential cleaning businesses. Here is how it fits a North Carolina business, and where it doesn’t:
- No sales tax by default. Sales tax is off until you turn it on, which matches NC maid service.
- Online booking with instant prices. Clients choose bedrooms, bathrooms, type of clean and extras, including move-out cleans, see the price and pick an open time. Limit your area by distance or ZIP code.
- Airbnb turnovers you can bill to hosts. There is a turnover service type, properties hold access notes and lock codes, and crews get checklists with photos. There is no live sync with Airbnb or VRBO calendars: hosts book through your link, or you enter the turnovers.
- Crew app and payroll export. Cleaners get a private link with jobs, checklists and clock in and out. Hours, tips and commission export to CSV for your payroll service.
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 and no credit card. See the calendar and routing on our cleaning scheduling software page.
Pick something other than BroomBook if
- You need automatic QuickBooks sync. BroomBook doesn’t sync with accounting software.
- You bill clients by invoice with net terms. BroomBook charges cards after the job and sends receipts.
- You want a native app from the App Store or Google Play. BroomBook runs in the phone’s browser.
- You need turnovers to appear automatically from Airbnb or a channel manager.