How to start a cleaning business in Ohio: 2026 guide

What makes Ohio different for a new house cleaner?

Two things: sales tax and workers’ comp. Ohio taxes residential cleaning (states such as North Carolina and Georgia don’t tax maid service), and it runs workers’ comp through a state agency instead of private insurers. Everything else (a cheap LLC, no annual report, no state cleaning license) is simpler than in most states.

This guide sticks to the Ohio rules. For the parts that work the same in every state, such as choosing services, buying supplies and booking your first homes, start with our general guide on how to start a cleaning business. For the federal pieces (EIN, general registrations) see what licenses are needed to start a cleaning business.

Here is the Ohio checklist, with the agency and the fee for each step:

Still choosing a name? The cleaning business name generator gives you ideas to check against the Ohio business search before you file. If you want to see whether the numbers work first, the cleaning business plan template turns your prices and costs into a 12-month forecast.

LLC, trade name or fictitious name: which Ohio filing fits?

If you clean under your own name (“Jenna Kowalski”), Ohio doesn’t require any filing. If you use a business name, you either form an LLC for $99 or register a trade name or fictitious name for $39. Most solo cleaners pick one of the two and add the other later if they need it.

When you need to register at all

The Secretary of State’s business FAQ says any business using a name other than a personal name must register, and that sole proprietorships and general partnerships are not required to file but may need a trade name or fictitious name. Its example: “Bob Smith” needs nothing, “Bob Smith’s Automotive Shop” does. The same applies to “Jenna’s Spotless Homes”.

Trade name vs fictitious name

Ohio has two kinds of name registration, which is unusual. Both cost $39 on the Secretary of State’s fee schedule. The difference, per the FAQ:

• Trade name: must be distinguishable from names already on file, and gives you exclusive use of it in Ohio once registered.
• Fictitious name: doesn’t have to be distinguishable and gives no exclusive rights. Someone else can later form “Your Name, LLC” on top of it.

If you plan to build a brand, the trade name is worth the same $39. Either one is effective for five years, and you renew in the six months before it expires. The renewal is $25. Miss it and the name is cancelled.

The Ohio LLC

Articles of Organization for a domestic LLC cost $99, filed online at Ohio Business Central. Two things make Ohio an easy LLC state for a small cleaning company:

• No annual report. The Secretary of State’s FAQ lists regular reporting only for professional associations, LLPs, nonprofits and name or mark renewals. An LLC is not on that list, so there is no yearly state fee to keep it alive.
• The name comes with it. Forming an LLC protects its name, so you don’t need a separate name registration unless you trade under a different name.

You do need a statutory agent: an Ohio resident or a qualifying business with an Ohio street address (no P.O. box) who accepts legal papers for you. You can name yourself. If your agent’s address changes, file an update within 30 days or risk cancellation.

An LLC separates business debts from your personal ones, but it doesn’t pay for a broken vase or a scratched floor. Insurance does that, which is why we cover it before hiring.

Do Ohio cleaners have to charge sales tax?

Yes, once your cleaning sales reach $5,000 in a calendar year. Ohio taxes “building maintenance and janitorial service”, and the Department of Taxation lists housekeeping (maid) service as part of it. You need a $50 vendor’s license, and you charge the rate of the county where each home is.

What Ohio counts as taxable cleaning

The department’s information release ST 2002-04, Building Maintenance and Janitorial Services (last updated April 2025) says the service generally includes washing, vacuuming, dusting, polishing and waxing “in offices, houses, and other buildings”. Its examples include disinfecting, carpet and upholstery cleaning, cleaning windows, walls and blinds, and housekeeping (maid) service. So a weekly house clean, a deep clean and a move-out clean are all in scope.

Some related work is not taxable as janitorial service, per the same release:

• Cleaning outdoor pools, and clearing leaves or debris from lawns and patios.
• Repairs, painting and “miscellaneous maintenance”.
• Hauling away unwanted items (only the hauling part).

If you sell a nontaxable service along with a clean, list it as a separate line. If you don’t, the release says the whole invoice is taxable.

The $5,000 threshold

Ohio law leaves out anyone with less than $5,000 a year in sales of this service. Once your sales reach $5,000 in a calendar year, you must register and collect, and the department’s taxability page adds that the threshold doesn’t reset: you keep collecting on all sales until you close the business. At $150 a clean, $5,000 is about 34 cleans, so most full-time cleaners cross it in their first few months. Plan to register from the start rather than scramble later.

Getting the vendor’s license

The release says anyone providing these services must be licensed as a vendor, unless they are the customer’s own employee. You apply through the Ohio Business Gateway or at your county auditor’s office, and the application fee is $50. Returns are due on the 23rd of the month after each reporting period.

One consequence for hiring: if you pay cleaners as independent contractors rather than employees, ask your accountant whether they need vendor’s licenses of their own, since the license rule exempts only employees.

Which rate to charge

The rate is set by the county where the customer gets the benefit of the service, meaning where the house is, not where you are based. The department’s sales tax FAQ puts the state rate at 5.75%, with counties and transit authorities adding up to 3% between them, and caps the combined rate at 8.75%. If you clean in two counties with different rates, each clean takes its own county’s rate. Look up exact rates with the department’s rate finder.

For example, if a home’s county has a 7.25% combined rate, a $160 clean carries $11.60 of sales tax and the client pays $171.60. Say clearly on your website and quotes that prices are before tax.

Do Ohio cities require a license or a local tax return?

Ohio has no state license for house cleaning, and the one big-city licensing list we checked doesn’t include cleaning. The local obligation most Ohio cleaners do have is municipal income tax on business profit.

City licenses

Columbus’s License Section lists the businesses it licenses: alarm dealers, arcades, billiard rooms, carnivals, commercial sales, hotels, itinerant vendors, massage establishments, mobile food vending, scrap metal dealers, short-term rentals and vehicles for hire, among others. Cleaning services are not on it. We did not check every Ohio city, so look at your own city’s licensing page and ask about home-business zoning if you will store supplies or meet staff at home.

Municipal income tax on your profit

Many Ohio cities tax business profits. The Department of Taxation’s page on the municipal net profit tax explains that each city that levies it has historically collected it itself or through an administrator. Since tax year 2018, businesses can opt in to have the state administer it instead and file one return through the Ohio Business Gateway, with the state passing the money on to each city. If you clean in several cities, your net profit is split between them with a formula based on property, payroll and gross receipts. Ask your accountant which cities you owe and whether central filing makes sense for you.

The CAT doesn’t apply to you yet

You may hear about Ohio’s Commercial Activity Tax. Under the department’s CAT page, from tax year 2025 only businesses with more than $6 million a year in Ohio taxable gross receipts pay it, so a startup cleaning company can ignore it.

How does Ohio’s state-run workers’ comp work for cleaners?

In Ohio you can’t shop for workers’ comp. The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) is the only provider, you need coverage from the day you hire your first employee, and the application fee is $120. As the owner, covering yourself is optional.

Why Ohio is different

In most states you buy workers’ comp from a private insurer, often bundled with your liability policy. In Ohio, the BWC’s agency overview describes it as “the exclusive provider of workers’ compensation insurance in Ohio”. Premiums go into the state insurance fund, and only employers who qualify for self-insurance (not a realistic option for a small cleaning company) do it any other way. So when a broker quotes you a business package, workers’ comp won’t be in it. You apply to BWC directly.

When you need it

BWC’s page on getting coverage says every Ohio employer with one or more employees must have workers’ compensation coverage. That is a lower bar than in North Carolina or Georgia, where the requirement starts at three employees. Its applying for coverage page adds that coverage is required from the date you first hire, and that independent contractors with employees need their own. You file the Application for Ohio Workers’ Compensation Coverage (U-3) and pay the $120 non-refundable fee, then pay premiums based on your payroll and industry.

Covering yourself

Sole proprietors, partners and LLCs taxed as a sole proprietorship or partnership are not required to cover themselves, but they can choose to, according to BWC’s page on elective coverage. If you do, you report a minimum amount of earnings even if you made less. For the policy year July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 that minimum is $33,332 a year ($641 a week), and the maximum is $99,944. For a solo cleaner, compare that cost with a private disability policy before deciding.

Workers’ comp is the only Ohio-specific piece of your insurance. General liability, bonds and commercial auto work as in other states, and our guide to cleaning business insurance explains each one, with national price data.

Hiring in Ohio: minimum wage, new-hire reports and unemployment

Pay at least $11.00 an hour if your business grosses more than $405,000 a year, or $7.25 if it grosses less. Report each new hire within 20 days, set up an unemployment account with ODJFS, and get BWC coverage before the first shift.

Two minimum wages, depending on your size

The Ohio Department of Commerce announced that from January 1, 2026 the minimum wage is $11.00 an hour for non-tipped employees, up 2.8% from $10.70. It rises every January 1 with the CPI-W. The $11.00 rate applies to businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $405,000. For businesses at $405,000 or less, the state minimum wage stays tied to the federal $7.25.

Most new cleaning companies start below $405,000, so the legal floor is $7.25. In practice you will struggle to hire at that rate. Price your cleans so you can pay a wage that keeps good cleaners, and remember you move to the $11.00 floor the year your receipts pass the threshold.

New-hire reports

Ohio’s new hire reporting rule says all employers must report every employee and independent contractor working in Ohio to the Ohio New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of the date of hire. Note the word contractor: in Ohio, 1099 cleaners get reported too.

Unemployment insurance

New employers register for an unemployment account with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) through The SOURCE, the state’s employer portal, and then file quarterly reports there.

Employee or contractor?

Calling cleaners contractors doesn’t make them contractors. If they work your schedule, with your supplies, on your checklist, for your clients, they look like employees. In Ohio the label also touches sales tax (a contractor may need their own vendor’s license) and new-hire reporting (contractors are reported either way), so the paperwork savings are smaller than people expect. Ask an accountant before you decide.

What does it cost to start cleaning houses in Ohio?

State fees are low: $39 for a trade name or $99 for an LLC, plus the $50 vendor’s license. Insurance and supplies cost more than the filings. BWC’s $120 application waits until you hire.

Government fees below were checked on official Ohio pages on October 5, 2026. Rows marked “estimate” are our rough ranges, not quotes, so replace them with your own numbers.

A realistic minimum for a solo cleaner with a trade name: $39 for the name, $50 for the vendor’s license, roughly $200 to $500 for supplies (our estimate), and your first insurance payment. Set prices with the sales tax in mind: the house cleaning pricing guide shows how to build a price list from your costs, and you add the county’s tax on top.

How do you win your first Ohio clients and keep the schedule straight?

Start with neighbors, friends and a free Google Business Profile that lists the towns you serve, then give people a way to book without calling. Pick a tight service area early: fewer counties means less drive time and fewer sales tax rates to keep track of.

Our guide on how to get clients for a cleaning business covers referrals, partners, flyers and reviews. For showing up in local search, read 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 an Ohio business, including the limits:

• Sales tax on receipts. Sales tax is off until you turn it on. For a US business you type in your rate, and it is added to each clean and shown on the receipt. It is one setting for the whole business, not a lookup by county, so if you clean in counties with different rates, ask your accountant how to handle it.
• Online booking with instant prices. Clients pick bedrooms, bathrooms, type of clean and extras, see a price and choose an open time. You can limit bookings to a distance or a list of ZIP codes, which keeps you inside the counties you know.
• Card on file, charged after the clean. Through Stripe, with tips. BroomBook takes no cut of payments.
• Crew app and payroll export. Each cleaner gets a private link with their jobs, checklists and clock in and out, no download needed. Hours, tips and commission export to CSV for your payroll service. BroomBook does not calculate tax withholding or BWC premiums.

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 how the calendar works 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 mainly bid on commercial janitorial contracts or run a multi-trade field service company.