Los Angeles
The City of Los Angeles minimum wage is $18.42 an hour, effective July 1, 2026, and the city's wage schedule lists one rate for all employers. It covers anyone who performs at least two hours of work in a week within the city's boundaries. California's statewide rate is $16.90, rising to $17.40 on January 1, 2027.
For a Los Angeles cleaning company, the city wage and the city's paid sick leave rules sit on top of the state rules. This page covers the rate, who it reaches, when the next figure gets announced, paid sick leave, California sales tax, and how it all lands in your books. Payroll registration and the employee test are on bookkeeping for California cleaning businesses.
Since July 1, 2026, the minimum wage in the City of Los Angeles is $18.42 an hour. The Office of Wage Standards schedule lists a single rate for all employers, so there's no size tier to sort out. Coverage reaches any individual who, in any particular week, performs at least two hours of work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Los Angeles for any employer.
Source: City of Los Angeles, Office of Wage Standards
The next rate wasn't stated on the city's site as of October 20, 2026. The city says the adjusted rate is announced February 1 each year and takes effect July 1. Statewide, California's minimum wage is $16.90 and goes to $17.40 on January 1, 2027. Other California cities set their own rates too; I cover San Francisco and San Diego on separate pages.
Source: City of Los Angeles, Office of Wage Standards
Source: California Department of Industrial Relations, Labor Commissioner, Minimum Wage FAQ
Source: California Department of Industrial Relations, News Release 2026-66 (August 13, 2026)
The city runs paid sick leave together with its minimum wage ordinance. Employees accrue 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, or the employer can front-load at least 48 hours. Carryover may be capped, but not below 72 hours, and use may be limited to 48 hours a year.
Source: City of Los Angeles, Office of Wage Standards
Under California's general service-enterprise rule, Regulation 1501, residential and commercial cleaning aren't taxable. That's the general rule rather than a ruling about cleaning, since no California Department of Tax and Fee Administration source naming house cleaning or janitorial service was found. The same rule treats the cleaner as the consumer of its supplies, so it owes tax on the supplies it buys. The conditions are on my California sales tax page.
Source: California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Regulation 1501, Service Enterprises Generally
The city adjusts its rate every year, effective July 1. A default pay rate typed in at onboarding and never touched again. It's the worst, because the city's rate moves each July and that default doesn't move with it. I record wages at what each person is actually paid, keep sick leave balances by employee, and the job profitability estimator shows what $18.42 does to a single job.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. I keep wages, leave, and supply costs recorded; which jobs the city ordinance covers is a question for the city or an employment attorney, and sales tax questions go to your CPA.
Rules checked against the sources above as of October 20, 2026. Rates and rules change; confirm current figures with the agency or your CPA.
About Figure Eight Financial
Figure Eight Financial is Dave Gordon’s bookkeeping practice for residential and commercial cleaning companies. I work with owners in Los Angeles and across the country, and I’m a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor.
Before bookkeeping I studied computer science at Penn State and spent a career at IBM as an engineer, so I build the books as a system: data comes in once, lands in the right place, and ties back to a statement. I’m a bookkeeper, not a CPA or Enrolled Agent. I keep the books your CPA works from, and the tax decisions stay with your CPA.
Credentials and memberships reported by Figure Eight Financial.
More about DaveHow I Help
The Los Angeles rate gets adjusted every July 1, and sick leave accrues at 1 hour for every 30 worked unless it's front-loaded, so payroll has to keep up with both. Wages are recorded at what each person is actually paid, sick leave balances are kept by employee, and supplies go in at their full cost, tax included. Book a short call below and walk me through how your Los Angeles crews are paid.
The core service. Transactions recorded and categorized, every account reconciled so the books and the bank agree, and monthly reports that arrive explained, split by residential and commercial and sliceable per contract.
The full picture of how this works for a cleaning companyFor the months where nothing got entered at all. I fill in the missing periods from the ground up, pulling bank feeds, statements, and receipts until every month has a complete set of records.
How catch-up bookkeeping worksFor books that exist but can’t be trusted. I audit what’s there, fix the unreconciled accounts, duplicate transactions, and wrong categories, and tie every balance back to a statement.
How cleanup bookkeeping worksYour crews paid on time, every pay period, with each payroll run recorded in the books so labor shows up against the jobs it belongs to.
How payroll worksRecurring invoices that match your contracts, an aging report you can trust, and follow-up on slow payers handled by a process instead of your evenings. Built for net-60 commercial accounts.
How invoicing and receivables workA file built right for a cleaning company from day one, or rebuilt after the DIY version drifts, and then I teach you to run it. I’m a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, and this is honestly my favorite part of the job.
How a proper setup worksWe start with a short call about your business and where the books stand. The first conversation doesn’t cost anything.
I take a look at what you’ve got, your QuickBooks file, your spreadsheet, whatever exists.
You get a written proposal with the price, so the decision is yours with the number in hand.
Let's Connect
Cleaning in Los Angeles and want your books to follow the city rate every July? Tell me how your crews are paid today. The first conversation doesn't cost anything.
