Starting a cleaning business is one of the lowest-cost ways into self-employment in Australia. You don't need a degree, an office, or much capital, a few hundred dollars of supplies and a reliable car can get you earning within a couple of weeks. But the operators who actually build something profitable get a handful of things right early: the right registrations, proper insurance, pricing that leaves a margin, and a steady way of finding clients. Here's the practical, step-by-step version.
1. Choose your business structure
Most cleaners start as a sole trader, it's the simplest and cheapest structure, you report business income on your personal tax return, and you can register everything yourself online in an afternoon. The trade-off is that there's no legal separation between you and the business: if something goes wrong, your personal assets are exposed (which is exactly why insurance matters, more on that below).
As you grow, hire staff, or take on bigger commercial contracts, you might move to a company (Pty Ltd) for liability protection and a flat company tax rate. You can start as a sole trader and restructure later, don't over-engineer it on day one.
2. Register your business
The essentials, in order:
- Get an ABN, it's free from the Australian Business Register, and you'll need it to invoice clients and to be taken seriously by commercial customers. You can check any ABN with our free ABN lookup tool.
- Register a business name with ASIC if you trade under anything other than your own legal name (e.g. "Sparkle Clean Co"). It's currently $47 for one year or $108 for three years.
- Register for GST once your turnover reaches, or you expect it to reach, $75,000 in any rolling 12-month period. Below that, GST registration is optional. Once registered, you add 10% GST to your prices and lodge a quarterly BAS. Use the GST calculator to add or remove GST on any figure, and the BAS calculator to sanity-check your quarterly statement.
A quick note on GST: many cleaners deliberately stay under $75k in year one to keep prices competitive for price-sensitive residential clients. Once you're chasing commercial and strata work, registering is usually worth it, those clients claim the GST back, so it doesn't cost them anything, and it makes you look established.
3. Get insured
Public liability insurance isn't strictly mandatory under the law, but in practice it is, almost every commercial cleaning contract requires it, body-corporate and strata managers demand it, and a growing number of residential clients ask for proof of cover before they'll let you into their home.
The Australian cleaning industry has settled on three cover levels:
- $5M, the minimum advisable cover. Some entry-level residential operators carry this, but most commercial contracts won't accept it.
- $10M, the standard for residential operators. Premiums are typically $400 to $700/year for a sole trader.
- $20M, required for most commercial, body-corporate and government contracts. Premiums run $700 to $1,500/year, scaling with turnover.
If you're bidding for commercial or strata work, $20M is effectively the floor. Beyond public liability, consider personal accident / income protection (you can't earn if you're injured), and if you hire employees you'll legally need workers' compensation insurance in your state. Read our deeper guide on public liability insurance for cleaners for the detail.
4. Sort your equipment and supplies
Startup supplies for a domestic cleaner are modest, most operators spend $300 to $800 to begin:
- Vacuum (a good cordless or a commercial backpack vac), mop and bucket system, microfibre cloths in colour-coded sets
- Cleaning chemicals (all-purpose, glass, bathroom, floor), or eco/green products if you're targeting that niche
- Caddy, gloves, spray bottles, scrapers, extension dusters
- A reliable car and, eventually, branded signage
Track these purchases, they're tax-deductible, and items over the relevant threshold can be depreciated. Keep the receipts.
5. Set your prices properly
This is where most new cleaners leave money on the table. There are three common pricing methods, and the right one depends on the job:
- Per hour, common for residential. Rates typically run $35 to $55/hour depending on your city, experience and whether you supply products. Remember this rate has to cover your super, downtime, travel, insurance and supplies, not just your time.
- Per room or flat-rate, gives the client price certainty (e.g. "$180 for a standard 3-bedroom clean"). Better for repeat domestic work once you know how long a job takes.
- Per square metre, standard for commercial and end-of-lease work, where you're quoting a defined area.
Whatever method you use, quote consistently and always include supplies and travel. Our cleaning quote calculator builds a GST-ready quote from any of those three methods in seconds, handy for quoting on the spot.
A worked example: a 2.5-hour standard house clean at $45/hour is $112.50 labour, plus say $8 supplies and a $10 travel fee = $130.50, then +10% GST if registered = $143.55. Round it, present it clearly, and you've got a quote you can defend.
6. Find your first clients
You don't need a marketing budget to start, you need to be findable and referrable:
- Set up a Google Business Profile. It's free and it's the single biggest driver of "cleaner near me" searches. Add photos, your service area, and ask happy clients to leave a review.
- Ask every client for a referral and a review. Word of mouth is the lifeblood of cleaning businesses; a simple "if you know anyone who needs a cleaner, I'd love a referral" works.
- Pick a niche so your marketing is specific: end-of-lease/bond cleans, NDIS clients, Airbnb turnovers, commercial offices, or builders' cleans. A specific message ("Bond cleans, bond-back guaranteed") converts far better than "cleaning services".
- Partner with adjacent businesses, real estate agents (for bond cleans), property managers, Airbnb hosts, and builders all refer cleaners constantly.
- List in local directories and consider a small amount of local Facebook/Google advertising once you know your numbers.
7. Get paid and stay compliant
Looking professional is what turns a side hustle into a business:
- Send a GST-compliant tax invoice for every job, your ABN, the GST amount (if registered), a clear description, and your payment terms. Get paid faster with card/online payment links rather than waiting on bank transfers.
- If you're registered for GST, set aside the 10% as you go so BAS time isn't a shock, and lodge your quarterly BAS on time.
- Track every expense, supplies, fuel (cents-per-km), equipment, insurance, phone, so you claim every deduction at tax time.
- As you grow, understand the Cleaning Services Award (MA000022) before you put on employees, and budget for super (12% from 1 July 2025) and workers' comp.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Underpricing to win work. It's a trap, you end up busy and broke. Price for profit and compete on reliability, not on being the cheapest.
- Skipping insurance until a contract demands it, then scrambling.
- No systems. Chasing bookings and invoices in your phone's notes app falls apart fast.
OneBookPlus is built for exactly this, bookings, GST invoicing, quotes, client records and reminders in one Australian app, so the admin doesn't eat your evenings. See OneBookPlus for cleaning businesses, and when you're quoting, the cleaning quote calculator does the maths for you.
