Wisconsin
Routine and repetitive janitorial service isn't taxable in Wisconsin, while carpet, rug, and upholstery cleaning sold on its own is, including carpet cleaning in a home; both rules rest on a June 2015 Department of Revenue report not confirmed against a current source. No DOR source names house cleaning. The minimum wage is $7.25, and Wisconsin has no local minimum wages.
Wisconsin's cleaning rules hinge on whether carpet and upholstery work rides along with routine janitorial service or gets sold by itself. The source for that line is a June 2015 Department of Revenue report, so I keep its date attached. Below I cover sales tax, the six-of-nine employee test, payroll registration, the minimum wage, and what it means for your books.
For commercial customers, routine and repetitive janitorial service is not taxable, and that service may include carpet and upholstery cleaning, per the DOR's Sales and Use Tax Report 2-15 (June 2015). Carpet, rug, and upholstery cleaning sold on its own is taxable as cleaning of tangible personal property. For homes, no DOR source names house or maid cleaning. The not-taxable side rests on the DOR's general statement that services to real property aren't taxable, and the same June 2015 report says cleaning carpets in an individual's home is taxable. The rest is on my page on Wisconsin sales tax for cleaning services.
Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Report, Issue No. 2-15 (June 2015)
Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Publication 248, Hospitals and Medical Clinics (July 2026)
Wisconsin's unemployment insurance test, under Wis. Stat. 108.02(12)(bm), has two parts: the worker is free from the employer's control or direction, and the worker meets at least 6 of 9 listed conditions. I cover how employees and subcontractors each appear in the books in 1099 subcontractors vs. W-2 employees. Whether a particular cleaner is an employee is a question for your CPA or an employment attorney.
Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Worker classification, UI, general private employers
Wisconsin taxes wages, so employers withhold state income tax. Withholding registration goes through the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's online business tax registration. Unemployment insurance is a separate account with the Department of Workforce Development's Unemployment Insurance Division, at its employer portal.
Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Withholding Tax FAQs
Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Withholding Tax Guide, Publication W-166 (January 2026)
Wisconsin's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, effective July 24, 2009. Neither the U.S. Department of Labor's state table (updated July 1, 2026) nor the DWD minimum wage page shows a scheduled change. Wisconsin has no local minimum wages, per Wis. Stat. 104.001, so there's no city rate to track.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws (updated July 1, 2026)
Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Minimum wage poster
Source: Wisconsin Legislature, Wis. Stat. ch. 104 (s. 104.001)
The June 2015 report draws its line inside the same kind of job, so the books have to follow it. Bookkeeping for a Wisconsin cleaning company isn't just recording deposits. It's keeping routine janitorial contracts on one income line, it's keeping standalone carpet, rug, and upholstery jobs on another, it's holding the sales tax collected on that second line as a liability instead of income. Wages go in at the rate actually paid, and the payroll page covers how that's set up.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. I keep the two kinds of work apart; whether a given job is taxable, and how the tax is reported, 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 Wisconsin 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
Routine janitorial contracts and standalone carpet, rug, and upholstery jobs sit on separate income lines in your books, since Wisconsin's June 2015 guidance taxes only the second. Sales tax collected on that work is held as a liability, and payroll is recorded at the wage actually paid. Book a short call below and we'll check how your Wisconsin work is split.
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 your Wisconsin invoices mix janitorial contracts and one-off carpet jobs, send me a note and we'll separate them together. The first conversation doesn't cost anything.
