Starting a cleaning business in Florida takes five moves: register the business, get your local business tax receipt, sort out sales tax, set up insurance, and put up a bookable website. Florida is one of the cheaper states to start in, because it has no state income tax and no franchise tax. My sister Jen and I built Oak Bay Clean to $2.8M in sales over four years on a model that works in any market, and this is the Florida version, with the actual costs, the licensing rules, and where your first clients come from in Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville.
The model Jen and I use does not require you to buy supplies, a van, or equipment. You hire independent contractors who bring their own supplies, clients book online and leave a card on file, and you pay your cleaners out of money the client has already paid. A Florida business is already running this exact setup: Pembroke Pines Clean takes bookings online with instant pricing across the Miami metro, which I will come back to.
The short answer: how to start a cleaning business in Florida
Here is the whole path in order. The rest of this post backs up each step with Florida numbers.
- Cleaning the houses yourself, lowest cost: start as a sole proprietor for under $300 and add an LLC later.
- Building a company that runs without you: form an LLC ($125), file your annual report each May, get your local business tax receipt and insurance, then put up a bookable website.
- Fastest to your first paying client: email Realtors, property managers, and short-term rental hosts about move-out and turnover cleans while your Google ranking builds.
- The Florida tax detail to know early: residential cleaning is exempt from sales tax, but commercial cleaning is taxable, so the kind of work you take decides whether you register for sales tax.
For most people who want a business rather than a job, the company path is the one Jen and I teach, and it is what the rest of this guide walks through.
How much does it cost to start a cleaning business in Florida?
You can start a cleaning business in Florida for under $300 if you clean the houses yourself, or for roughly $700 to $800 to build a company. Florida has no state income tax and no franchise tax, so your first-year budget stays low compared with a state like California. After year one, your main ongoing cost is your booking software plus insurance.
Here are the Florida line items for the company path:
| Line item | Florida cost |
|---|---|
| LLC filing (Articles of Organization plus registered agent) | $125, one time |
| Annual report (Sunbiz) | $138.75 a year, due by May 1 |
| Local business tax receipt | varies by city and county, often from about $40 a year |
| General liability insurance | about $30 to $100 a month |
| Booking and website software | from $67 a month, often free for the first 30 days |
Two Florida details to plan for. The annual report is due by May 1 every year, and missing it adds a $400 late penalty, so set a reminder the moment you file. And in metros like Tampa and Miami-Dade you can need a business tax receipt from both the city and the county, so budget for two small fees instead of one.
The reason this is so much lower than the $2,000 to $15,000 most guides quote: those numbers assume you buy supplies, equipment, and a vehicle. Your contractors bring all of that, so it never lands on your books. For the full breakdown of where every dollar goes, read how much it costs to start a cleaning business.
Do you need a license or permits to clean houses in Florida?
Florida has no statewide license for house cleaning, because cleaning is not one of the trades regulated by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. What you do need is a local business tax receipt, and sometimes a certificate of use, from the city and county where you work. This is general information and not legal advice, so confirm your own city's rules before you file.
A few Florida specifics worth knowing:
- Business tax receipt. Most Florida cities and counties require a business tax receipt, once called an occupational license, to operate. You apply and pay through your city or county tax collector. In Tampa you need one from the city and one from Hillsborough County. In an incorporated part of Miami-Dade you need one from your city and one from the county.
- Certificate of use. Some cities also ask for a certificate of use that confirms your business is allowed to operate at your address, including home-based businesses.
- Register the business itself with the Florida Division of Corporations at Sunbiz, which is the state's business filing system.
Here is where the largest Florida metros have you register, so you can find yours fast:
| City or county | What to get | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | Local business tax receipt | City plus county if you are inside a municipality |
| Tampa | Two business tax receipts | City of Tampa plus Hillsborough County |
| Orlando | Business tax receipt plus certificate of use | Certificate of use covers home and office businesses |
| Jacksonville | Business tax receipt | Filed through the City of Jacksonville |
| Fort Lauderdale | Business tax receipt | Renews September 30 each year |
Two more notes. Florida requires workers' compensation once you have four or more employees, though on the contractor model your cleaners are independent contractors rather than employees. A janitorial bond is not required for standard house cleaning, and some commercial clients ask for one, so it can make you more competitive for office work.
For the general version of this question that applies in any state, read do I need a license to start a cleaning business.
Do you charge sales tax on cleaning services in Florida?
Residential cleaning is exempt from Florida sales tax, and commercial cleaning is taxable at the state rate of 6% plus any local surtax. The deciding factor is what you clean, not who pays, so a house clean is exempt while an office clean is taxable. This is general information and not legal advice, so confirm your situation with the Florida Department of Revenue.
What this means in practice:
- Residential cleaning: no sales tax to collect on standard house cleans, which is most of what a new cleaning business does.
- Commercial or office cleaning: taxable. If you take commercial work, you register for a sales tax certificate with the Florida Department of Revenue, which is free to do online, then charge 6% plus your county surtax and send it in.
- A few specialty services, like carpet cleaning and furniture cleaning, are treated separately and are exempt for both home and commercial clients.
The simple read for someone starting out: begin with residential cleaning, and you have no sales tax to deal with. Add commercial later, and register for sales tax before you take that first office.
How do you register your cleaning business in Florida?
You register a Florida cleaning business through Sunbiz, the Division of Corporations site, by filing Articles of Organization for an LLC at $125, then filing a $138.75 annual report by May 1 each year. Most cleaning owners choose an LLC because it separates personal assets from the business for a low yearly cost.
The order Jen and I would follow:
- Pick your name. Use your city plus the word clean or cleaning, like Tampa Bay Clean or Orlando Cleaning Services. That is what gets you found on Google and AI search. We walk through this in how to name a cleaning business.
- File the Articles of Organization on Sunbiz, $125 including the registered agent designation.
- Get an EIN from the IRS, which is free and takes a few minutes online.
- Get your local business tax receipt from your city and county tax collector.
- Set up general liability insurance before you take on clients.
- File your annual report on Sunbiz by May 1 every year to keep the LLC active.
You can clean as a sole proprietor first and form the LLC once the money is coming in. There is no wrong order as long as you have your local tax receipt and insurance before you take clients.
Where do you find your first cleaning clients in Florida's cities?
Your first clients in Florida come from two places: Realtors and property managers who need move-out cleans, and Google once your business name and profile are set up. Florida adds a third that most states do not have at this scale: short-term and vacation rental turnovers.
Move-out and turnover cleans are the fastest opening, because most cleaners avoid them. Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville move a huge volume of rentals, and Orlando and the coasts run on vacation rentals that need a clean between every guest. Property managers and Airbnb hosts book these constantly. One relationship like that did a lot for us. One email to a Realtor named Danielle turned into 47 cleans over the following years, which is $16,718.34 in revenue from a single email.
Three things to get right before you spend a dollar on ads:
- Answer the phone. About 70% of cleaning companies do not answer on the first try, and only 30% call back after a voicemail. Answering puts you ahead of most of your competition in any Florida city.
- Put your prices online. About 95% of cleaning companies have no transparent pricing on their site. Flat-rate prices a client can see are the biggest thing standing between a lead and a booking.
- Let people book at 10pm. A live booking widget that takes the card means you capture clients while they are interested, without a phone call.
The tool Jen and I use for both of these is ConvertLabs. It puts an instant-quote form on your site, so a client picks their options, sees a flat-rate price on the spot, and books with a card in about 60 seconds. Our own widget turns about 33% of the people who fill it out into paying clients. You can get 30 days free at convertlabs.io/blueprint. That is an affiliate link, so Jen and I earn a fee if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.
For the full playbook, read how to get clients for a cleaning business.
Where do you find cleaners in Florida?
You find cleaners in Florida the same way you find clients, by posting where people already look for work and screening for reliability over experience. You are screening for dependable people who will represent your brand well.
Indeed, Facebook groups, and Craigslist still work across Florida's metros, and the state's large service workforce means there are people looking. Florida does not have a worker-classification law as strict as California's, so the independent contractor model is straightforward here, though you still follow the federal IRS rules on who counts as a contractor. This is general information and not legal advice. Hire for reliability and communication, pay your cleaners well, which on our model is 60% of the job, and treat the relationship as a partnership. We cover the full process in how to find cleaners for a cleaning business.
New owners worry about three things with contractors. Here is how the model answers each.
- Quality control. You bring on cleaners who already know how to clean, so quality comes from feedback rather than training. Clients rate every clean, you pass that straight to the cleaner, and anyone who slips stops getting offered work. Your standard travels through the feedback loop.
- Will a cleaner take my clients? The client books, pays, and keeps a card on file through your system, so the relationship and the billing stay with your brand. Your contractors get a steady stream of pre-sold jobs they never had to find or quote, which is what they would give up by going around you. A non-solicitation clause in your contractor agreement backs it up.
- Could I get in trouble for treating employees like contractors? You keep them genuine independent contractors through how the work runs. You offer gigs through ConvertLabs and they accept or decline, they wear their own clothes, drive their own cars, and bring their own supplies, and you set what a finished home should look like while they choose how to get there. Put that in a written contractor agreement and it holds up to the control test above.
Is a cleaning business profitable in Florida?
A cleaning business is profitable in Florida, and you can see the model running in the state right now. Pembroke Pines Clean serves homeowners across Pembroke Pines, Davie, and Weston in the Miami metro, takes bookings online with instant pricing, and runs residential-first with cleaners who bring their own supplies. That is the same setup Jen and I teach. You can see it live at Pembroke Pines Clean.
Our own numbers come from outside Florida. Jen and I built Oak Bay Clean to about $2.8M in sales since July 2021 at roughly a 28% margin, running it with 18 cleaners, and we run it from Canada. The same model works for the owners we coach across Florida, because profit comes from the model, not the zip code. The way we set prices is to charge flat-rate packages by square footage and number of bathrooms, landing around 75 to 80% of the most expensive cleaner in your market. Clients pay at the time of the clean, your contractors are paid out of that same money, and you keep the spread.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to start a cleaning business in Florida? Under $300 if you clean houses yourself, or about $700 to $800 to build a company. Florida has no state income tax and no franchise tax, so it is one of the cheaper states to start in. The main costs are a $125 LLC filing, a $138.75 annual report, a local business tax receipt, insurance, and booking software.
Do I need a license to start a cleaning business in Florida? There is no statewide cleaning license, but most Florida cities and counties require a local business tax receipt to operate, and some require a certificate of use. Check your city and county tax collector. This is general information, not legal advice.
Do I charge sales tax on cleaning in Florida? Residential cleaning is exempt. Commercial cleaning is taxable at 6% plus any local surtax. The deciding factor is what you clean, not who pays. If you take commercial work, register for a sales tax certificate with the Florida Department of Revenue.
Do I need an LLC to clean houses in Florida? No, you can start as a sole proprietor, but many owners form an LLC to separate personal assets from the business. A Florida LLC costs $125 to file plus a $138.75 annual report.
How do I get my first cleaning clients in Florida? Email Realtors, property managers, and short-term rental hosts about move-out and turnover cleans, set up your Google Business Profile, and put transparent prices and a booking widget on your site. One Realtor relationship was worth $16,718.34 to our business over time.
Do I need to buy supplies to start a cleaning business in Florida? No. On the contractor model, your cleaners bring their own supplies and equipment, which is the main reason Florida startup costs stay low.
How much can a cleaning business make in Florida? There is no structural cap once you have a team. Our own business has done about $2.8M since July 2021 at a 28% margin. Florida's large metros and steady stream of rental turnovers give you a deep pool of clients to price against.
Should I start with residential or commercial cleaning in Florida? Residential. Clients pay at the time of the clean, so the money funds the business, and residential cleaning is exempt from Florida sales tax. Commercial pays slower and is taxable. Add commercial later, once your cash flow can carry it.
Where to start
The steps are the easy part. Getting your first clients and keeping good cleaners is the work, and that is exactly what Jen and I walk through in the free 22-Day Cleaning Business Master Checklist and the 22-Day Blueprint ebook. A few guides that pair well with this one:
- How to start a cleaning business in 2026 (step-by-step guide)
- How much does it cost to start a cleaning business
- How to start a cleaning business in California
- How to get clients for a cleaning business
About the author
Victoria Westcott co-founded Cleaning Company Blueprint with her sister Jen. Together they built Oak Bay Clean, their cleaning company in Victoria, BC, to $2.8M in sales since 2021, running it with a team of contractors. Vic writes these guides from inside the business, sharing the model and the numbers behind it. More about Vic and Jen.
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