In the UK
Owners of UK cleaning businesses: contract cleaners for offices, schools, healthcare and soft FM subcontracts, domestic cleaning firms, agencies and apps, and specialists in after-builders, end-of-tenancy, window, carpet and biohazard cleaning.
- Pricing a cleaning contract that still pays after holidays, on-costs and next April's riseBuild a contract cleaning price up from the specification, so holiday weeks, employer costs, supervision, margin and next year's wage rise are paid for rather than absorbed.Read the lesson
- Paying cleaners every week while clients take 45 days to payWhy a growing contract cleaner runs short of cash, how much working capital the wage gap needs, and the forecast, payment terms and funding that close it.Read the lesson
- Why the builder took tax off my sparkle clean, and the VAT scheme that costs cleaners moreAn after-builders clean is a construction operation, so the main contractor deducts CIS and may need a reverse-charge invoice, and a labour-only cleaner on the Flat Rate Scheme usually pays more VAT, not less.Read the lesson
- The safety, waste and key rules that apply on every cleaning siteThere is no licence to clean in the UK, but chemicals, work at height, sharps, asbestos, waste and keys all carry rules, and an accident or a lost key is when you find out whether you followed them.Read the lesson
- Winning or losing a contract when the cleaners come with itWhen a cleaning contract changes hands, TUPE usually moves the cleaners with it on their existing terms and history, so your bid, your timetable and the contract all have to allow for them.Read the lesson
- Paying cleaners for every minute the minimum wage countsTravel between houses, unpaid set-up minutes, uniform deductions and the wrong kind of holiday pay are how cleaning firms underpay without meaning to.Read the lesson
- Bidding for school, council and NHS cleaning when the tender is scored, not just pricedPublic and facilities work is won on a scored tender: registration on the Central Digital Platform, social value you can prove, the standards buyers check and an answer library kept ready.Read the lesson
- HMRC says VAT is due on the whole fee, and a cleaner says she was a workerA domestic cleaning agency or app that sets the price, takes the money and promises the clean is usually the principal and often the employer, whatever the paperwork says, and the VAT and pay bills follow.Read the lesson
In the US
Owners of US cleaning businesses: janitorial and custodial contractors for offices, medical buildings, schools and property managers, residential and maid services, and specialty cleaners doing post-construction, move-out, window, carpet and biohazard work.
- Bidding a janitorial account by the square foot without losing moneyBuild a janitorial bid from cleanable square feet and production rates up to a fully burdened labor cost, overhead and margin, then protect it from the next wage increase.Read the lesson
- Making payroll every week while accounts pay in 45 daysWhy a growing janitorial business runs short of cash, how much working capital the payroll gap needs, and the forecast, terms and funding that close it.Read the lesson
- Does my state charge sales tax on cleaning, and what do I file for subcontractors?Whether janitorial work is taxable depends on the state and the type of building, and the 1099-NEC threshold for paying subcontractors changed for 2026.Read the lesson
- The registrations and OSHA rules a cleaning company actually has to meetMost states do not license cleaning, but registration, hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens, injury reporting and a few state rules apply to janitorial and specialty cleaners, with a HazCom date this fall.Read the lesson
- The janitorial contract clauses that decide whether an account makes moneyEscalation, termination, indemnity, insurance and payment terms decide an account's margin long after the bid, and recurring residential plans carry their own auto-renewal rules.Read the lesson
- Paying cleaners right for drive time, per-house pay and overtimeDrive time between houses, flat per-house pay, state minimums and pay-frequency rules are where cleaning businesses underpay without meaning to.Read the lesson
- Winning janitorial accounts from property managers, public buyers and federal agenciesCommercial buyers choose on readiness, records and a credible start-up plan, public bids add registrations and wage determinations, and taking over an account can bring the previous crew with it.Read the lesson
- Our cleaners are on 1099s and someone is asking whether they are really employeesPaying your own cleaners as independent contractors, or running cleaning teams as franchisees or app workers, can fail state and federal tests and bring back payroll tax, wages and penalties.Read the lesson
What Greymill knows about cleaning and facilities · Every Academy lesson