San Francisco
San Francisco's minimum wage is $19.61 an hour, effective July 1, 2026, for employees performing work in the city, part-time and temporary employees included. A separate $17.35 rate applies to Government Supported Employees. The city's historical rate sheet didn't list a 2027 rate as of October 20, 2026.
In San Francisco, the local rules for a cleaning company come down to the city wage and a paid sick leave cap that depends on how many people you employ. This page covers the rate, who it reaches, sick leave, and what it means for your books. Payroll registration and the employee test live on the California page.
Since July 1, 2026, the San Francisco minimum wage is $19.61 an hour. The Office of Labor Standards Enforcement lists a separate rate for Government Supported Employees: $17.35 an hour from the same date. The ordinance covers employees performing work in San Francisco, including part-time and temporary employees, and the city's page doesn't state an hours threshold.
Source: City and County of San Francisco, Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, Minimum Wage Ordinance
No 2027 rate appeared in the city's historical rate sheet as of October 20, 2026. California's statewide rate is $16.90 and rises to $17.40 on January 1, 2027, and Los Angeles sets a city rate of its own.
Source: California Department of Industrial Relations, Labor Commissioner, Minimum Wage FAQ
Source: California Department of Industrial Relations, News Release 2026-66 (August 13, 2026)
Under the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, employees accrue 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, starting on the first day of employment. The accrual cap is at least 72 hours for an employer with 10 or more employees and at least 40 hours for one with fewer than 10.
Headcount matters here, because it decides which sick leave cap you're working with. Ask me cold which cap goes with which headcount and there's a fair chance I'll swap them, which is exactly why I write it down once and check against it instead of trusting my memory. Wages get recorded at what you actually pay, and the payroll page walks through how wages and payroll liabilities land in the books.
On the tax side, residential and commercial cleaning aren't taxable under California's general service-enterprise rule, Regulation 1501. That's inferred from the general rule, since no California Department of Tax and Fee Administration source naming house cleaning or janitorial service was found, and under the same rule the cleaner owes tax on the supplies it buys as their consumer. The conditions are on my California sales tax page.
Source: California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Regulation 1501, Service Enterprises Generally
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. I keep wages and leave balances recorded; whether the ordinance covers a given job 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 San Francisco 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
In San Francisco, the sick leave cap turns on whether you have 10 or more employees, and the city minimum wage is $19.61, with a separate rate for Government Supported Employees. Payroll is recorded at what each person is actually paid, and leave balances are tracked against the cap that fits your headcount. Book a short call below and tell me how many people are on your crews.
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
Have crews in San Francisco and want the books to show what the city rate really costs you? Send me a note about your headcount and how you pay. The first conversation doesn't cost anything.
