Cleaning services
Books and taxes for deep cleaning and spring cleaning specialists.
A full-day job with a four-person crew, baseboards and inside-appliance add-ons, a holiday rush that dwarfs a normal week, and referrals from your own regular cleaning clients. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
November came in at $8,800. Pre-holiday bookings were up sharply, and the inside-appliance add-on is turning into real money on almost every job.
- Full-day deep clean, SquarePremium deep cleans
- Referral job from regular clientReferral jobs
- Crew payroll, full-day jobCrew wages
- Restaurant supply orderCleaning supplies
- Instagram ad spendMarketing
Why your books are different
Deep cleaning books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and payroll. Your business is premium one-time jobs that need a full crew for a full day, seasonal surges around the holidays, and add-ons that push a ticket well past a regular cleaning price. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell if a job priced right.
-
1
A full crew day costs more than the job price shows
A deep clean often needs three or four people for six or eight hours, far more labor than a standard weekly cleaning, but if labor is not tracked against the specific job, it is easy to underprice the next one.
What we doKeeps crew wages tied to the job they were for, so you can see the true labor cost behind a premium deep clean. -
2
Add-ons blur into one big job total
Baseboards, inside the oven, inside the fridge, and interior windows are usually billed as one large number with the base deep clean, making it hard to see which add-ons customers actually pay for.
What we doKeeps add-on services visible against the base job so you can see which upsells are worth pushing hardest. -
3
Holiday season surges make the rest of the year look weak by comparison
A business that books most of its year around Thanksgiving and Christmas will show a handful of huge months and several quiet ones, which can make normal months look like something is wrong.
What we doKeeps the seasonal pattern visible month to month so a normal slow stretch does not get mistaken for a real problem. -
4
Referral jobs from regular cleaning clients go untracked
A one-time deep clean often comes from a referral by a client who already uses a different, recurring cleaning service, and that referral relationship is easy to lose track of if it is not recorded separately.
What we doKeeps referral job revenue in its own line so you can see how much of your business comes from word of mouth versus paid marketing.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a deep cleaning specialist.
Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Premium deep cleansFull-day, full-crew jobs booked as one-time premium services.
- Referral jobsDeep cleans that come from a referral by a regular cleaning client.
- Add-on servicesBaseboards, inside appliances, and interior windows billed on top of the base job.
- Move-related deep cleansDeep cleans booked around a move, distinct from routine seasonal jobs.
Money out
- Crew wagesFull-crew pay for full-day jobs, kept tied to the specific job.
- Cleaning suppliesHeavier-duty products used for baseboards, appliances, and buildup other cleanings skip.
- Vehicles and fuelThe vehicle hauling a larger crew and more equipment to each job.
- MarketingInstagram and Google ads aimed at booking premium one-time jobs.
- Scheduling softwareSoftware used to manage crew scheduling around seasonal surges.
What we watch for you
- Add-on attach rate
How often a base deep clean turns into an upsell. It shows how much extra revenue the add-on pitch is worth.
- Labor cost per job
Full-crew wages against each job's price. It shows whether the price still covers a real crew day.
- Referral share
How much of the month comes from word-of-mouth referrals versus paid marketing.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things deep cleaning specialists ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
I keep crew wages tied to the specific job, so you can see the real labor cost behind the price and know for sure.
No, that is expected in this trade. I keep the set-aside steady across the year so a slow January does not throw off what you owe in April.
I keep add-on revenue visible against the base job, so you can see the real dollar value of those upsells instead of guessing.
The tax side
The tax side of a deep cleaning business.
Most of what goes wrong here is labor cost against a premium price and a schedule that swings hard by season. Get those tracked and the rest tends to be steady.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Employee or contractorA crew member working your schedule with your supplies on a full-day job is usually an employee. Gus flags it if a pay pattern starts looking like that.
- Vehicle costsThe vehicle hauling crew and equipment to jobs can deduct business mileage at 72.5 cents a mile from January through June 2026 and 76 cents a mile from July through December 2026, or actual vehicle costs instead.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
- Self-employment taxAn owner who takes profit directly instead of a paycheck owes 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of regular income tax, up to the Social Security wage base.
Deductions deep cleaning and spring cleaning specialists miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Heavy-duty cleaning supplies
- Oven and appliance degreaser
- Vehicle fuel and repairs
- Liability insurance
- Marketing and advertising
- Scheduling software fees
- Uniforms and gloves
- Phone for scheduling
- Background check fees for crew
- Business licenses
- Workers compensation premiums
- Storage for equipment and supplies
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A deep cleaning year, kept every month.
The holidays bring the biggest rush by far. Your taxes come on a schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled, even through the quieter start to the year.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the spring cleaning rush changed the number.
- October
Before the holiday surge
Before the pre-holiday booking rush, Gus looks at equipment worth buying and moves worth making before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for deep cleaning and spring cleaning specialists. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions deep cleaning specialists ask first.
My business is huge around the holidays and slow the rest of the year. Is that a problem for taxes?
No, but it is exactly why the set-aside matters. Gus tracks it every month so the holiday rush does not turn into a tax bill you were not ready for in a quiet month.
How do I know if my full-crew jobs are still priced right?
Gus keeps crew wages tied to the specific job, so you can see the true labor cost behind each premium price and catch it if a job type needs to go up.
A lot of my business comes from referrals by clients who use a different cleaning company for regular service. Does that matter for the books?
Gus keeps referral job revenue in its own line, so you can see how much of your business comes from word of mouth versus what you spend on marketing.
Do baseboard and appliance add-ons need separate tracking from the base job?
It helps a lot. Gus keeps add-on revenue visible against the base job, so you can see which upsells actually earn their keep.
My books are behind because the holiday rush took over my whole schedule. Can you catch up?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
More in cleaning services
We keep books for the business next door too.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever