Sales tax
Routine and repetitive janitorial service is not taxable, and carpet, rug, and upholstery cleaning sold on its own is taxable, including carpet cleaning in a home. Both rules come from a June 2015 Department of Revenue report that hasn't been confirmed against a current source. No DOR source names house or maid cleaning; the not-taxable side for homes rests on the general rule that services to real property aren't taxable.
The Wisconsin answer for cleaning is built from a 2015 newsletter and a general rule about real property, not from a ruling written about cleaning companies. That's the footing this page stands on. It covers residential cleaning, commercial cleaning, the conditions and exceptions, what it means for your books, and where your CPA comes in.
No DOR source names house or maid cleaning. The not-taxable side comes from the DOR's general statement that services to real property are not taxable, in Publication 248 (July 2026) and Publication 207 (January 2019). The taxable side is named: the June 2015 report says cleaning carpets in an individual's home is taxable as cleaning of tangible personal property.
Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Publication 248, Hospitals and Medical Clinics (July 2026)
Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Report, Issue No. 2-15 (June 2015)
Routine and repetitive janitorial service is not taxable, and it may include carpet and upholstery cleaning, per 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. The general real property rule comes from DOR publications on hospitals (July 2026) and contractors (January 2019), and neither one names janitorial or building cleaning.
Source: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Report, Issue No. 2-15 (June 2015)
Exception: landscaping and lawn maintenance are taxable exceptions to the general rule that services to real property are not taxable.
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)
Since the line falls between janitorial work and standalone carpet and upholstery jobs, each gets its own income account. Then I go looking for the invoices that break the rule. A carpet cleaning that rides along with a routine contract one month and gets billed by itself the next is exactly the kind of job that lands on the wrong line, so I check those against the account before the month closes. Sales tax collected goes to a liability account, separate from income. Payroll and the minimum wage are on my Wisconsin page.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. I can tell you what the June 2015 report and the DOR publications say, and where they stop. Whether a particular 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
Wisconsin's guidance separates routine janitorial service from carpet, rug, and upholstery cleaning sold on its own, so the two live in different income accounts and get checked before each month closes. Sales tax collected on the taxable side stays in a liability account. Set up a short call below if those jobs share a line in your books now.
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 carpet and upholstery jobs ride along with your Wisconsin contracts some months and stand alone in others, tell me how they're billed. We'll get each one on the right line together, and the first conversation doesn't cost anything.
