Georgia
No Georgia Department of Revenue source names house cleaning or janitorial work as taxable, so residential and commercial cleaning are treated as not taxable, inferred from the general rule that services are exempt unless specifically listed. The cleaner still owes sales or use tax on the supplies it buys. Georgia taxes wages, and the federal $7.25 minimum wage applies, with no change announced as of October 20, 2026.
In Georgia, the sales tax that reaches a cleaning company shows up when it buys, not when it bills. The service falls outside the tax by inference, while the supplies you buy to do the work carry sales or use tax. Below I cover sales tax, the unemployment definition of employment, payroll registration, the minimum wage, and what all of it means for your books.
Residential and commercial cleaning are both treated as not taxable in Georgia. That is an inference, not a line from a rule: the Georgia Department of Revenue's general rule is that services are exempt unless specifically listed as taxable, and no Department source names house cleaning or janitorial work. The supplies side is different, because a cleaning business owes sales or use tax on the supplies it buys. The rules behind this, and their limits, are on my page about Georgia sales tax on cleaning services.
Source: Georgia Department of Revenue, What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax?
Georgia's unemployment insurance definition of employment is in O.C.G.A. ยง 34-8-35(f). That cite comes from HB 389, the 2022 bill as passed by the House and Senate and posted with the Governor's signed legislation; the current codified text wasn't read for this page, and this page doesn't describe the test itself. I cover how employees and subcontractors each show up in the books in 1099 subcontractors vs. W-2 employees. Whether a particular cleaner is an employee is a legal question, and it belongs with your CPA or an employment attorney.
Georgia taxes wages, so employers withhold state income tax. The Georgia Department of Revenue handles withholding, and registration runs through its online registration page. Unemployment insurance is a separate account with the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL), which has its own employer registration page.
Source: Georgia Department of Revenue, Employer's Withholding Tax Guide (revised September 2026)
Source: Georgia Department of Labor, Learn About Unemployment Taxes and Benefits
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour applies in Georgia, and it has been in effect since July 24, 2009. No change had been announced as of October 20, 2026.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws (updated July 1, 2026)
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Minimum Wage
Source: Georgia Department of Labor, Minimum Wage
There's no sales tax to collect on the cleaning itself, by inference from the general rule, but the supplies you buy still carry sales or use tax, so supplies get their own expense account with any tax on them kept visible. A supplies account isn't just a place to drop receipts. It's the record of what each job really used, it's the trail behind the tax you paid on what you bought, and it's the number that shows what supplies cost you per job. Labor goes in at the wage each person is actually paid, and the job profitability estimator shows what that wage does to a single job.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. I keep supplies and payroll recorded so the tax picture is clear; how the sales or use tax on your supplies is reported, and whether any of your work falls outside the general rule, is a question for 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 Georgia 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
Georgia leaves cleaning outside the sales tax by inference, but the supplies your crews use still carry sales or use tax, so those purchases get their own account in your books with the tax kept visible. Payroll is recorded at the wage each person actually earns. Book a short call below and we'll look at how your Georgia books are set up.
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
If you clean in Georgia and your supplies and payroll aren't sitting where you can see them, send me a note. We'll go through your books together, and the first conversation doesn't cost anything.
