How to set up a cleaning business in Georgia
How do I set up a cleaning business in Georgia, and in what order?
- Choose the entity type before anything is filed
- Check the name and reserve it if you need time
- File articles of organization with the Secretary of State
- Name a registered agent at a Georgia street address
- Get a free EIN from the IRS
- Open a business bank account in the entity's name
- Register with the Department of Revenue if you will withhold or sell goods
- Apply for the local occupation tax certificate
- Buy the insurance your first contracts will ask for
- Register with the Department of Labor after your first payroll
- Put the April 1 annual registration in your calendar
Pick the entity and check the name before you file
Decide between a sole proprietorship, an LLC and a corporation first. Every later form asks for the entity's exact legal name and type.
A sole proprietorship needs no state filing. You report the profit on Schedule C with your personal return and pay self-employment tax on Schedule SE. It is the cheapest way to start cleaning houses. It also means the business and you are one and the same when a client makes a claim.
An LLC is what most cleaning owners form once commercial work is in sight. It is a separate legal person, so the contract, the insurance and the bank account can all sit in its name. By default the IRS taxes a single-member LLC the same way as a sole proprietor, so forming one does not by itself change your federal return.
A corporation adds officers and more formal records. It suits owners bringing in investors or planning to grow a larger janitorial company. The full comparison, including the S corporation election, is on the business structure page.
The entity matters most on the day a building manager asks who is signing. If you would rather have the filing, the registered agent and the yearly reminders handled in one account, Tailor Brands is one platform that does this. You can also do every step below yourself.
Then search the Secretary of State's records for the name. A reservation holds a name for 30 days for a $25 fee.
Cleaning names cluster around the same few words, so the name you want may be close to one already on file. Search it first, then search variations. A reservation is optional. Filings are accepted without one.
Think about how the name will appear on a certificate of insurance and on a county vendor form. A long name gets cut off in small boxes. A short legal name saves corrections later.
A sole proprietor reports business income on Schedule C with Form 1040 and reports self-employment tax on Schedule SE. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
The IRS treats a single-member LLC as disregarded from its owner unless it files Form 8832 to be taxed as a corporation. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
$25The Georgia Secretary of State charges $25 to reserve a business name, and the reservation lasts 30 days or until the formation filing is submitted. — Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division, retrieved 2026-09-27
File the articles of organization with the Secretary of State
Filing articles of organization creates a Georgia LLC. Online filing costs $100 and takes about seven business days as standard.
Paper filing by mail or in person costs $110 because of a $10 paper service charge. Mail filings take about 15 business days. You can pay more to speed things up: $100 extra for two-day processing and $250 extra for same-day processing if filed before noon.
Most owners file online. The one-hour option costs an extra $1,000 and only makes sense if a contract start date depends on it. A formation service can prepare the same filing for you. The state fee does not change, and the services are compared on the formation-services page.
| Filing route | State fee | Standard time | Faster options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online | $100 | 7 business days | +$100 two-day, +$250 same-day |
| By mail | $110 | 15 business days | +$100, +$250, or +$1,000 one-hour |
| In person | $110 | Varies | +$100, +$250, or +$1,000 one-hour |
$100Georgia charges a $100 filing fee to register an LLC online, or $110 by mail or in person. — Georgia.gov, retrieved 2026-09-27
7 business daysStandard processing for a Georgia LLC filing is 7 business days online and 15 business days by mail. — Georgia.gov, retrieved 2026-09-27
A registered agent with a Georgia street address
Every Georgia LLC and corporation names a registered agent at a street address in the state. A P.O. box does not qualify.
The agent receives lawsuits and official notices for the business. You can be your own agent if you have a Georgia street address and are willing to have it on the public record. Many home-based cleaners choose to pay a service instead, so their house address is not the one listed.
If you use a service, confirm what it charges after the first year. Agent fees are the most common recurring cost that owners forget.
The Secretary of State's filing procedure for Georgia corporations requires the registered office to be a Georgia street address; a post office box is not sufficient. — Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division, retrieved 2026-09-27
Get the EIN directly from the IRS, for free
Apply for the employer identification number on the IRS website once the LLC exists. There is no fee, and the number is issued immediately online.
The IRS warns against websites that charge for an EIN. The application is completed in one session. You need the entity type and the Social Security number of the responsible person.
You can only apply for one EIN per responsible party per day. That rarely matters, but it will if you are forming two companies on the same afternoon. An LLC with employees needs an EIN. Most banks and commercial clients will ask for one even before you hire.
$0The IRS does not charge a fee for an EIN and issues it immediately when an online application is approved. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
The IRS limits EIN applications to one per responsible party per day. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
Open a bank account that belongs to the business
Open the account in the LLC's legal name, using its EIN. Pay every business cost from it and deposit every client payment into it.
Keeping money separate is what makes an LLC worth having. If rent, groceries and mop heads all come out of one account, the line between you and the company gets blurry. It also makes the year-end tax return far harder than it needs to be.
Bring the filed articles, the EIN confirmation letter and your ID. Some banks also ask for an operating agreement, even for a one-member LLC.
Set up the account before the first commercial invoice goes out. Commercial clients often pay by ACH on net-30 or net-45 terms. Their vendor forms ask for bank details in the business's name, and a personal account will not match the W-9.
Keep receipts for supplies, mileage and equipment in one place from the start. A cleaning business spends in small amounts, many times a week. Those small amounts add up to real deductions only if you can show them.
The IRS issues a confirmation letter with the EIN that the applicant can print for their records. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
State tax accounts through the Georgia Tax Center
Register with the Georgia Department of Revenue through the Georgia Tax Center. Online registration returns a tax account number by email, usually within 15 minutes.
Which accounts you need depends on what you do. Cleaning labor is not on Georgia's short list of taxable services, which covers things like accommodations, admissions and in-state transportation. A cleaning company that only sells its labor may never need a sales tax number.
You do need a withholding account once you have employees in Georgia. Register it before the first payroll. If you also sell products to clients, ask the Department of Revenue about a sales tax account for those sales.
15 minutesA new business registering online through the Georgia Tax Center should receive its tax account number by email within 15 minutes. — Georgia Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
Georgia taxes accommodations, in-state transportation of individuals, admissions, and charges for games and amusement activities. — Georgia Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
Georgia requires employers with employees who live in Georgia, or a company located in Georgia, to register for a withholding account. — Georgia Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
The local occupation tax certificate
Apply to your city, or to the county if you are unincorporated. The application asks for the legal entity name, formation date, tax ID and projected revenue.
That is why it sits after formation and the EIN in this order. In Gwinnett the flat fee is $80, plus a tax based on your gross revenue. Other counties and cities set their own figures.
You will also sign a SAVE affidavit, and an E-Verify affidavit if you have 11 or more full-time employees. The details are in the cleaning business license guide.
$80Gwinnett County charges an $80 flat fee to issue a business occupation tax certificate, plus a tax on gross revenue. — Gwinnett County Planning and Development, retrieved 2026-09-27
Buy the insurance the contracts will ask for
Buy general liability before you take commercial work. Add auto liability if you drive to jobs, and workers' compensation once the head count requires it.
General liability covers bodily injury and property damage claims, such as a slip on a freshly mopped floor. Commercial clients will ask for proof of it on a certificate of insurance. Many want a limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence.
Workers' compensation becomes required in Georgia at three regular employees. LLC members count toward that number. Read workers' compensation in Georgia for how the count works.
Some contracts also ask for a bond. A surety bond guarantees your performance to the client. A fidelity bond covers theft by your staff. They are different products, bought through different channels, and many cleaning contracts ask for neither.
Buy the policies in the LLC's name, not yours. The insured name on the certificate has to match the name on the contract. If you formed the LLC after buying a policy, ask the agent to change the named insured before you send any certificate out.
SBA describes general liability insurance as protecting against financial loss from bodily injury, property damage, medical expenses, and defending lawsuits. — U.S. Small Business Administration, retrieved 2026-09-27
3 employeesGeorgia requires workers' compensation benefits from businesses that regularly employ three or more persons. — Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation, retrieved 2026-09-27
Register with the Department of Labor after the first payroll
Georgia employers file form DOL-1A with the Department of Labor right after paying their first Georgia wages. That opens the unemployment insurance tax account.
Liability starts with a quarterly payroll of $1,500, or one worker in 20 different calendar weeks. New employers pay a total rate of 2.70 percent on the first $9,500 of each employee's wages.
New hires also go to the Georgia New Hire Reporting Center within 10 days of the hire date. The full hiring checklist is on the hiring cleaners page.
| Registration | Trigger | Key figure |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment insurance (DOL-1A) | First Georgia payroll | 2.70% on first $9,500 per employee |
| New hire report | Each new or rehired employee | Within 10 days of hire |
| Withholding account | Employees in Georgia | Through the Georgia Tax Center |
$1,500Georgia employers are liable for unemployment tax with a quarterly payroll of $1,500 or at least one worker in 20 different calendar weeks. — Georgia Department of Labor, retrieved 2026-09-27
2.70%New Georgia employers are assigned a total unemployment tax rate of 2.70 percent, on a taxable wage base of $9,500 per employee. — Georgia Department of Labor, retrieved 2026-09-27
10 daysGeorgia employers must report each new employee within 10 days of the hire date. — Georgia New Hire Reporting Center, retrieved 2026-09-27
Decide whether the LLC should elect S corporation status
Most new cleaning LLCs should wait on an S corporation election. It can lower self-employment tax once profit is steady, but it adds payroll for the owner.
An LLC elects S status by filing Form 2553, signed by every owner. From then on, the owner who works in the business is an employee of it. The IRS expects that owner to be paid reasonable compensation as wages before taking distributions.
That means running payroll for yourself, filing quarterly payroll returns and paying an accountant to keep it straight. For a one-van business clearing modest profit, the cost can eat the saving. Revisit the question once the business has a full year of steady commercial accounts.
An S corporation can have no more than 100 shareholders, and they must generally be individuals, certain trusts or estates. That limit rarely matters for a cleaning company. It matters more if a partner wants to own their share through another company.
A business elects S corporation status by filing Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation, signed by all shareholders. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
Payments by an S corporation to a corporate officer must be treated as wages to the extent they are reasonable compensation for services rendered. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
100An S corporation may have no more than 100 shareholders. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
Expect W-9 requests and 1099-NEC forms from commercial clients
Commercial clients will ask for a W-9 before they pay you. Businesses that pay you $2,000 or more in a year may send a Form 1099-NEC.
The W-9 gives the client your legal name, entity type and tax ID. Fill it out exactly as the LLC appears on the Secretary of State record. Use the EIN, not your Social Security number, once the LLC has one.
The 1099-NEC threshold was $600 for years. For payments made after December 31, 2025, it rose to $2,000. The form reports what the client paid you. It does not change what you owe, but your books should match the totals clients report.
Keep every client's 1099 with your year-end records. A mismatch between what they report and what you report is the kind of thing that draws a letter.
$2,000Form 1099-NEC reports nonemployee payments totaling $600 or more, rising to $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27
Put the April 1 annual registration on the calendar now
Every Georgia LLC files an annual registration between January 1 and April 1. Missing it costs a $25 late fee and can lead to dissolution.
Check your record on the Secretary of State's site for the first year you owe. You can file for one, two or three years at a time. Filing by mail adds a $10 service charge, so file online.
A dissolved LLC cannot sign contracts in good standing, and a county buyer may check. The yearly calendar, including federal estimated taxes, is on annual registration and taxes. That page is the next thing to read.
April 1A Georgia LLC must file its annual registration by April 1 to avoid a $25 late fee. — Georgia.gov, retrieved 2026-09-27
The Georgia Secretary of State may administratively dissolve an LLC that does not file its annual registration or pay its fees. — Georgia.gov, retrieved 2026-09-27
Questions
Can I start cleaning houses before the LLC is approved?
You can work as a sole proprietor in the meantime, as long as you have the local certificate. Just remember that contracts signed in your own name stay yours, so hold commercial agreements until the LLC exists.
Do I need an operating agreement for a one-person LLC in Georgia?
The state does not collect one, but it is worth having. Banks sometimes ask for it, and it records who owns the company and how decisions are made if a partner joins later.
Should I pay for expedited filing?
Usually not. Standard online filing takes about seven business days. Expedite only if a contract start date depends on having the entity before then.
Is my cleaning service subject to Georgia sales tax?
Cleaning labor is not on Georgia's list of taxable services. Sales of products are a different question, so ask the Department of Revenue if you plan to sell supplies to clients.
What if I move the business to a different county?
The local certificate belongs to the jurisdiction where you are based, so you will need a new one from the new city or county. Update the Secretary of State record through the annual registration too.