Cleaning payroll software that gets the hours right

Paying a cleaning crew has two halves. The first is working out what each person earned: hours on each job, tips, commission, corrections. The second is actually paying them: withholding taxes, making direct deposits, filing payroll tax returns and year-end forms.

BroomBook does the first half. A payroll provider such as Gusto, ADP or Wave Payroll does the second, and so can your accountant or bookkeeper. BroomBook does not run payroll, withhold or file taxes, or pay anyone. We also do not have a direct integration with any payroll provider today: you export a CSV and enter or import the numbers.

Keeping the halves separate is normal for small cleaning companies. The part that goes wrong most often is the first one: a forgotten clock-out, a tip that went to the wrong person, a commission worked out on a napkin. That is the part a cleaning-specific tool should fix.

Each cleaner gets a private link to the crew app (no download), where they see their jobs, checklists and route, and clock in and out of each visit. Hours come straight from those clock-ins, linked to the visit and the client, so you can see who worked where and for how long.

Cleaners forget to clock out. It happens every week. If a cleaner clocks in to their next job while still clocked in to the last one, the open entry is closed at that moment instead of counting twice. Anyone still clocked in at the end of a pay period is flagged on the payroll page so you can fix the time before you pay, and you can set the clock-out yourself.

Optional logins for cleaners and managers come at no extra cost on every plan. If you need a time clock app for cleaning employees and nothing more, this may be more than you need; if you also want the jobs, checklists and route in the same place, it saves a second app. See the cleaning business app page for the full crew side.

The timesheet shows each clock-in and clock-out by cleaner, date and client. You can change a time or add time for a missed clock-in, and each change asks for a reason. The original time, the new time and the reason stay on record.

That trail matters. If a cleaner asks why their hours changed, you can show them. If you ever need to explain your records to an accountant or an auditor, you have more than a number someone typed in. The timesheet also exports as a CSV, with a column listing the changes.

When a client tips on a card charge or at checkout, BroomBook splits the tip evenly across the cleaners on that visit. If the split leaves a stray cent, it goes to the first cleaner listed so the total always adds up.

Commission is optional. You set a percentage for each cleaner, and on each completed visit the price (after any discount, before tax and tip) is split evenly across the crew, and each cleaner gets their own rate on their share. An add-on can have its own commission rate, for example a higher cut for inside the oven or interior windows, and it is paid at that rate instead.

Commission is paid on top of hours, so you can pay hourly, hourly plus commission, or commission only (set the hourly rate to zero). A fixed dollar amount per visit is not a setting today; owners who pay per job usually use a percentage instead. To check whether your pay rates leave room for profit, try the cleaning business profit calculator.

There are three common models, and many companies mix them. None is right for everyone; the honest trade-offs are below.

Whether your cleaners are 1099 contractors or W-2 employees is not a label you get to pick on your own. The IRS looks at the whole relationship, grouped into behavioral control (do you direct how the work is done), financial control (who sets pay, supplies and tools) and the type of relationship (contracts, benefits, whether the work is core to your business). Read the IRS guidance on independent contractors and employees before you decide.

If it is still unclear, the IRS lets either side file Form SS-8 to ask for an official determination. Rules also differ by state and in Canada, so ask an accountant or employment lawyer where you work. Our guides on starting a cleaning business and cleaning business insurance cover workers’ comp and the other costs of hiring.

BroomBook works the same either way: hours, tips and commission are calculated the same, and how you pay and report them is up to you and your payroll provider.

Pick a pay period, and the payroll page shows one line per cleaner: hours, hourly rate, wages, tips, commission, total and number of jobs. Export it as a CSV, and enter or import those numbers in your payroll provider.

For the bookkeeping that goes with payroll, see our cleaning business accounting guide.

Staff management covers more than pay. Managers can have their own login to run the dashboard, while the team and billing stay with the owner. You choose whether each cleaner sees prices and client phone numbers, and you can let a cleaner book visits for their own clients. If a cleaner cannot make a visit, they can ask the team to take it: free teammates get a text in their language and take it from their app. For the calendar side, see cleaning scheduling software.

All of this is on every plan: $29/mo for up to 2 cleaners or $59/mo for unlimited cleaners, with no per-cleaner fee. The free trial is 14 days with no credit card, and the live demo has a sample crew and timesheet to click through.