What it costs to start a cleaning business in Georgia

The government fees are the small part

The fixed state and local fees to start a Georgia cleaning LLC come to a few hundred dollars. Insurance, supplies and equipment cost far more.

The state charges $100 to form an LLC online. The IRS charges nothing for an EIN. A county certificate in a place like Gwinnett starts at an $80 flat fee, plus a small tax on revenue.

Those figures are the floor. They are also the part you can look up in advance. The rest depends on the accounts you chase, which is why this page separates the fixed fees from the variable costs.

$100Georgia charges a $100 filing fee to register an LLC online. — Georgia.gov, retrieved 2026-09-27

$0The IRS never charges a fee to issue an employer identification number. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27

Fixed startup fees for a Georgia cleaning LLC

A single-member cleaning LLC filed online, with you as registered agent, pays roughly $180 in fixed government fees in Gwinnett. That excludes the revenue-based part of the local tax.

The table lists each fee and who charges it. Add $25 if you reserve the name first. Add $100 or more if you pay to expedite the LLC filing.

A formation service adds its own fee on top, from $0 up. The state fee is the same whichever route you take. The services and their published prices are on the formation-services page.

$25The Georgia Secretary of State charges $25 to reserve a business name for 30 days. — Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division, retrieved 2026-09-27

$80Gwinnett County charges an $80 flat fee to issue an occupation tax certificate, plus $0.65 to $1.30 per thousand dollars of gross revenue. — Gwinnett County Planning and Development, retrieved 2026-09-27

Costs that come back every year

The recurring fees are small but easy to miss. Plan for the April 1 annual registration, the local renewal and any registered agent fee.

Georgia's LLC annual registration is due between January 1 and April 1. A late filing adds a $25 fee. Gwinnett's certificate renews by February 15, with a $25 penalty after that.

A paid registered agent is the recurring cost that varies most. Some services include the first year and bill after that. Read annual registration and taxes for the full yearly calendar.

$25Georgia LLCs must file their annual registration by April 1 to avoid a $25 late fee. — Georgia.gov, retrieved 2026-09-27

February 15Gwinnett County business licenses must be renewed by February 15, with a $25 penalty after that date. — Gwinnett County Planning and Development, retrieved 2026-09-27

Insurance is the biggest early cost for commercial work

Insurance premiums depend on your agent's quote, so no page can give you the number. The limits your clients require are what drive it.

Commercial buyers publish those limits. A Douglas County courthouse cleaning bid wanted $1,000,000 in general liability per occurrence and $1,000,000 in auto liability. It also asked for professional liability of $2,000,000 per claim.

A policy sized for house cleaning will often fall short of that. Get a quote at the contract's limits before you set your price. The certificate process is explained in how a certificate of insurance works.

$1,000,000A Douglas County, Georgia courthouse janitorial solicitation required general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and auto liability of at least $1,000,000. — Douglas County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

$2,000,000The same Douglas County solicitation asked for professional liability of at least $2,000,000 per claim and $3,000,000 in the annual aggregate. — Douglas County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

Payroll costs once you hire

Hiring adds employer taxes on top of wages. Budget for your share of Social Security and Medicare, Georgia unemployment tax, and workers' compensation at three employees.

Georgia assigns new employers a 2.70 percent unemployment tax rate on the first $9,500 of each worker's wages. That is at most $256.50 a year per employee at the new-employer rate.

Wages have a floor too. Employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act pay at least $7.25 an hour, even though Georgia's own rate is lower. The details are in hiring cleaners.

2.70%New Georgia employers pay 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

$7.25Georgia employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. — U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, retrieved 2026-09-27

Your own tax bill as the owner

Profit you take as a sole proprietor or single-member LLC carries self-employment tax of 15.3 percent. Set money aside from the first invoice.

That rate covers Social Security at 12.4 percent and Medicare at 2.9 percent. It applies once net earnings reach $400. Georgia income tax sits on top, at a flat 4.99 percent.

If you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year, the IRS expects quarterly estimated payments. Missing them is how new owners end up with a surprise bill in April. Start the payments in your first profitable quarter, then read the business structure page to see whether an S corporation election changes the math.

15.3%The self-employment tax rate is 15.3 percent, made up of 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27

4.99%Georgia's individual income tax rate has been reduced to a flat 4.99 percent. — Georgia Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27

$1,000Sole proprietors generally must make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe $1,000 or more when they file. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27

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