# Cleaning Business Bookkeeping: Clients and Crews - Author: AutoBankConvert (https://www.autobankconvert.com) - Published: 2024-10-22 - Updated: 2024-10-22 - Category: Industry bookkeeping - Canonical: https://www.autobankconvert.com/blog/cleaning-business-bookkeeping > Cleaning business bookkeeping: recurring client payments, supply runs, crew pay and vehicle costs, sorted from the bank statement each month in order. Cleaning business bookkeeping sorts each month's bank statement into four groups: payments from recurring clients matched to their invoices, supply purchases, crew pay, and vehicle costs. Match every deposit to a client first, code supplies and vehicle lines by vendor rule, keep crew payments in their own accounts, then reconcile and send the owner a short summary. ## Which cleaning business deposits come from recurring clients? Most cleaning business revenue comes from recurring clients: homes cleaned weekly or every other week, and offices on a contract. Their payments arrive as card payments, bank transfers, payment app deposits and checks. Matching each deposit to a client and an invoice shows who has paid and who is behind. The deposit lines are the hard part. A payment app transfer might name the client, or it might name the client's spouse. A card processor payout bundles several clients into one deposit. Office clients often pay by ACH with a reference number and nothing else. Keep a simple client list with the name each client's payments appear under on the statement. When a new name shows up, ask the owner once and add it. For processor payouts, use the processor's report to see which client charges are inside each deposit. Recurring work also means recurring invoices. If the owner bills a fixed amount per visit, compare the month's deposits per client against the number of visits on the schedule. A client who was cleaned four times and paid for three is easy to miss when the deposits are mixed. ## Cleaning business supply runs and vehicle costs A cleaning business buys supplies constantly: chemicals, microfiber cloths, vacuum bags, paper towels and trash liners, often from a big-box store on the way to a job. Vehicles are the other large cost: fuel, insurance, maintenance and loan or lease payments on vans. Both should have their own expense accounts. Supply receipts from general stores are mixed. One trip can include cleaning products for jobs and groceries for the owner's household. Ask the owner to keep business purchases on one card, and to send the receipt for any trip that mixed the two. Code the business part to cleaning supplies and the personal part to owner draws. Vehicle lines are steadier. Fuel stations, an insurance premium and a loan payment repeat every month and can be coded by rule. The loan payment needs a split between principal and interest from the lender's statement, since only interest is an expense. Seasonal service businesses face a similar mix of crews, vehicles and supplies. The post on [landscaping business bookkeeping](/blog/landscaping-business-bookkeeping) covers the same cost groups in a business with busy and slow seasons. ## Are cleaning business crews employees or contractors? Cleaning crews are paid either as employees through payroll or as independent contractors by transfer or check. Which one applies is a legal question about the working relationship, and the owner or their tax adviser makes that call. The bookkeeper's job is to code each payment the way the owner has set the crew up. The IRS page on [independent contractors and employees](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee) says the key is to look at the entire relationship and consider the extent of the right to direct and control the worker. If the owner sets the schedule, supplies the chemicals and tells crews how to clean each room, that question deserves a careful look. In the books, keep the two apart: - **Employee pay**: wages, payroll taxes and benefits, from the payroll provider's reports. The bank shows net pay and tax deposits, not gross wages. - **Contractor pay**: one account for contract labor, with the payee on every line so year-end forms can be prepared. A payment app transfer to a person named only by first name is the line to chase. Ask who it was and what it was for, every time. ## Cleaning business card disputes from unhappy customers A card dispute starts when a customer tells their card issuer they did not get what they paid for, such as a clean they say was skipped. The processor pulls the payment back from the cleaning business, often with a fee. On the bank statement it shows as a debit from the processor, or as a smaller payout than expected. Do not code that debit as an expense. Reverse the sale it relates to, and code the dispute fee to merchant fees. If the business wins the dispute and the money comes back, a second entry restores the sale. The guide to [recording a chargeback and its reversal](/blog/how-to-record-a-chargeback) has both entries. Other appointment-based businesses deal with the same kind of reversed payment. The post on [bookkeeping for therapists in private practice](/blog/bookkeeping-for-therapists) looks at session payments in a practice where clients also pay per visit. ## A monthly cleaning business statement checklist Work a cleaning business's month in the same order each time, so nothing gets skipped: 1. Convert the business checking and card statements and confirm each passes its balance check. 2. Match every deposit to a client, using the processor report for bundled payouts. 3. Compare each recurring client's payments with the visits on the schedule. 4. Code supplies, splitting any mixed receipts. 5. Code vehicle costs and split loan payments into principal and interest. 6. Tie crew pay to the payroll report or the contractor list. 7. Record any card disputes and their fees. 8. Reconcile and send the owner a list of unpaid visits. [AutoBankConvert](/) handles the first step in a batch for each client and codes the repeating supply and vehicle lines from the client's own rules, so the month starts with the deposits that need a person.