Financial Planning for Cleaners
Helping Cleaners to Build Wealth and Prosperity
Running a cleaning business brings together income from the contracts and homes you clean, any staff or helpers you pay, and your own physical work. We help you plan the household side of each, alongside an accountant on tax.
Our Financial Advice Team Is Here to Help You
We Can Help You
- Plan a cash buffer sized to your largest cleaning contract, with each contract’s end or review date in the budget
- Compare income protection options for cleaning work, with your duties described accurately when you apply
- Budget for the super owed to employees, and to any subcontract cleaners paid mainly for their labour
- Choose an amount to pay into your own super from the business’s takings, and review it each year
- Plan the household budget for buying a cleaning franchise, a run or a client book
- Prepare pricing and cashflow for GST registration as turnover grows, with an accountant on the tax
- Plan the move from employed cleaner to running your own cleaning business, including any cover in super
- Build a retirement plan that may include selling your contracts or a run, alongside super
Who We Help
- Cleaners leaving a job with a contract cleaning business to go out on their own
- Domestic cleaners looking after regular homes on a weekly or fortnightly round
- Commercial cleaners with a few large office or building contracts
- End-of-lease and bond cleaners working around tenancy changeovers
- Carpet, window and specialist cleaners with their own equipment and machines
- Cleaning franchisees and cleaners who take work through booking platforms
- Couples cleaning together sharing the rounds, the bookings and the books
- Owners stepping back from the cleaning to supervise a team or sell their contracts
What we advise on
How Our Advice Works for Cleaners
Cashflow & Financial Wellbeing
With regular clients and contracts in place, what could your cleaning income help you build?
A set amount paid to yourself, with a buffer behind it, can let busy months add to savings for your goals.
We can set a buffer and a regular amount you pay yourself around the timing of your cleaning contracts.
Moneysmart suggests keeping some money aside for the unexpected, since being self-employed means no paid holidays or sick leave. When a few contracts carry most of the income, the buffer can be sized to the largest one, and each contract’s end or review date can sit in the budget. Any staff wages and super are planned before your own pay.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A cash buffer sized to your largest contract, so a retender or notice period has savings behind it
- Each contract’s end, renewal or review date marked in the budget, months before the date arrives
- Wages and super for any staff or helpers, funded in the cashflow before your own pay comes out
- Busier and quieter stretches, such as end-of-lease peaks, office shutdown weeks and holiday cancellations, which may vary each year
- Franchise or booking platform fees taken from your takings, counted before the amount you pay yourself is set
- Replacing a van, vacuums or floor machines from savings, compared with finance arranged through a broker
- Your prices, reviewed with an accountant before GST registration, since GST changes what you keep from each clean
- Extra income from a run of bond cleans or one-off jobs, directed to savings rather than to regular spending
Personal Insurance & Protection
What would support your household if illness or injury kept you from cleaning for a while?
Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, so the household has money coming in while you recover.
Together, we’ll weigh the cover options for physical cleaning work, from lifting and ladders to chemicals and heights.
Moneysmart says income protection usually replaces a percentage of your pre-tax income, based on your earnings in the 12 months before an illness or injury. Insurers usually ask about your job when you apply, so the duties you describe can affect what’s offered. The insurer sets the terms and decides any claim.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Lifting, ladder work, chemical use and window work at heights, each described with reasonable care when you apply for cover
- How a policy may define your occupation for physical work, which can differ between insurers and policies
- A waiting period on income protection, set against how many weeks of household costs any reserves could meet
- Any cover in super from employed cleaning work, checked for what happens once that account stops receiving money
- Cover that super is able to hold, owned through your fund or in your own name, weighed on cost, tax and policy definitions
- Life cover and TPD weighed against any debts and household costs, if others rely on the income you earn
- Trauma cover alongside income protection, since a lump sum and a monthly benefit do different jobs
- Public liability for clients’ homes and sites, and workers compensation if you employ staff, arranged separately from personal cover
Superannuation
Alongside running your cleaning business, how would you like your own super to build?
Choosing a regular amount for your super can help your balance build over the years, beside the business you run.
We’ll plan super with you for yourself and, if you employ staff or pay helpers, for your team.
As a sole trader or partner, the ATO says you don’t have to pay yourself super, though you can choose to contribute. A business may still have to pay super for subcontract cleaners paid mainly for their labour, even if they have an ABN. From 1 July 2026, employees’ super must generally reach their fund within 7 business days of payday.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A regular amount you choose for your own super, paid on a set day and reviewed when a contract changes
- Your own contributions as a sole trader or partner, lowered in a quieter stretch and raised again when new contracts start
- Any employees covered by the Cleaning Services Award, with their super planned into each pay run
- A subcontract cleaner on a contract mainly for their own labour, who may be owed super despite an ABN, checked with an accountant
- Payday Super from 1 July 2026, under which contributions for each employee follow every pay run closely
- Payments to subcontract cleaners for materials or equipment, which have long been left out of the super owed
- The yearly limit on concessional contributions, which is indexed, checked with you whenever a large contribution is planned
- Two owners in one cleaning business, such as a couple, each with a super balance of their own to plan
Tax & Wealth Strategies
Across a year of cleaning work, how could tax become an easier part of running your business?
Planning for tax through the year can make any bill at the end easier to meet, in quieter years and busier ones.
We can map the tax side of a growing cleaning business, working with an accountant who prepares and lodges your return.
Ryker’s financial advisers plan tax and set tax structure and strategy, working alongside your accountant, who prepares and lodges your return. A cleaning business with an ABN that pays contractors or subcontractors to clean for it reports those payments to the ATO by 28 August each year, in a Taxable payments annual report. Payments to employees aren’t reported.
Together, we’ll work through:
- GST collected on each invoice after registration, kept in a separate account until the amount is paid to the ATO
- The TPAR, an ATO report of what you paid any subcontract cleaners over the year, lodged by 28 August
- Subcontracting to a larger cleaning business, where the business paying you may report those payments to the ATO
- Any subcontract cleaner’s ABN and invoices filed as payments go out, ready for the year-end report
- Running costs for a van, floor machines and cleaning chemicals, with an accountant on which are deductible
- Tax set aside from each contract payment, in an account kept apart from wages and running costs
- Trading through a company if the business grows, a structure decision made with an accountant
- Deductible contributions to your own super, which can reduce taxable income in a strong year, if you’re eligible
Financial Planning & Advice
Beyond the next job or contract, what would you like your cleaning business to give you?
Setting goals for the household and the business together can show the steps towards each, and when to review them.
We can draw up a financial plan, or Statement of Advice, for your household and your cleaning business together.
We can set review points with you for the moments that reshape the plan, such as winning or losing a large contract, taking on a first employee or buying a franchise. Keeping business and household money apart can make each decision easier to see. A solicitor reads any franchise agreement or sale contract, and a broker arranges any loan to buy in.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A new commercial contract signed or an existing one ending, each a point to look again at cashflow and cover
- Buying a franchise, a run or a client book, with the upfront cost set against savings and what the takings could pay you
- Growing the team, compared with staying small, and what each would mean for your income and hours
- A step back from cleaning to supervising, quoting and managing clients, and the change in income that may follow
- Holidays and time off costed into the plan, since there’s no paid leave from your own business
- Business and household money held in separate accounts, so the plan rests on clear figures
- Goals beyond the business, such as travel, study or a home, each costed and placed in order
- Starting out after years as an employed cleaner, with the first year planned around income that is still building
Retirement & Aged Care
After years of cleaning, how would you like to spend the time when you step back?
Super, savings and any sale of your contracts can each play a part in planning when you step back.
We’ll look with you at a retirement that may include selling your contracts or a run, with super alongside.
Some contracts, cleaning runs and client books can be sold, depending on their terms, so a sale may sit beside super and savings in your plan. An accountant can confirm any small business CGT concessions, which continue after the 1 July 2027 CGT change. Preservation age is 60 for anyone born from 1 July 1964, and super can generally only be accessed once you meet a condition of release, such as ceasing employment at 60 or over.
Together, we’ll work through:
- What your contracts, run or client book may sell for, worked through with an accountant before any sale
- Staying on for a handover after a sale, if a buyer asks for one, with that income counted in the plan
- Handing the cleaning to staff and moving into supervising, with what the change could mean for income
- Stepping away from cleaning sooner than planned, if you choose to, with the years before 60 costed
- Super and savings as the main retirement income, if a sale doesn’t happen or brings in less than hoped
- Regular domestic clients passed to a buyer or a trusted cleaner, with the timing of the handover planned
- Contract terms on assignment and notice, read by a solicitor before a sale date is set
- The people you’d like to receive your super and other assets, recorded in a will with a solicitor and a binding nomination where available
Property Investment Advice
Could the income from your cleaning business help you towards a home or an investment property?
Testing repayments against your leanest months can show what a purchase could look like and the steps to get there.
We can plan a home or investment purchase around your cleaning income, with lending arranged through a broker.
Each lender sets its own approach to self-employed income, so a broker compares what lenders ask for and arranges the loan. Borrowing to invest can magnify losses as well as gains, and the loan must still be repaid if values fall. From 1 July 2027, negative gearing on residential property is limited to new builds, though property held on 12 May 2026 is exempt.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A short trading history after leaving an employed cleaning job, and what lenders may ask to see
- The timing of a loan application, planned around when your larger contracts are due for renewal
- Home loan repayments tested against a quieter month, such as an office shutdown period or a contract ending
- Space at home for a van, machines and cleaning supplies, and any tax effect on a later sale, confirmed with an accountant
- Home deposit savings kept apart from the GST, tax and any staff super the business holds until each is paid
- An investment property weighed against putting the same money into the business, such as extra equipment to take on more contracts
- Proof of cleaning income for a lender, collected with a broker’s guidance on what each lender wants to see
- Cover amounts revisited when a home loan is added, so each amount reflects the new debt the household carries
Your Cleaning Business Finances, Worked Through Together
A Buffer for Your Contracts
Savings sized to your largest contract, with each end or review date in the budget.
Cover for Physical Work
Income protection and other cover weighed for cleaning duties, with the insurer setting the terms.
Super for Your Team
Super for any employees, and subcontract cleaners paid mainly for their labour, planned into each payday.
Super for You as the Owner
A regular amount you choose for your own super, reviewed as your contracts change.
A Franchise or Run Decision
The household side of buying a franchise, run or client book, weighed before you commit.
GST as Your Business Grows
Pricing and cashflow planned for GST registration, with an accountant advising on the timing.
Leaving an Employed Cleaning Job
Any cover in super, a buffer and your own super planned before you go out on your own.
Selling Your Contracts
A retirement plan that may include a sale, alongside super, with an accountant on the concessions.
Proactive, Holistic, and Experienced Financial Planning
A cleaning business is often built one client at a time, with early starts and late finishes fitted around the hours your clients keep. You may be cleaning in the morning, quoting in the afternoon and doing the books at night. We’ll take the time to understand how your business runs and what you want from it. Then we can help you plan your income, cover and super around the life you’d like outside the work.
For many people, the reason for starting a cleaning business sits at home: more time with family, hours they choose, or a business of their own. One day you may want to step back from the cleaning itself, to run a team, to sell your contracts or to slow down. We’ll work with you on a plan built around those reasons, and review it with you as the business changes, so you can prepare for that step when it suits you.
Every financial decision impacts the next
Your Financial Life Is Connected
Great advice starts with understanding the bigger picture. Every stage of life presents new opportunities and challenges, from buying property and changing careers to growing your family, planning for retirement and protecting what matters most. At Ryker, we help connect every piece of your financial world into one clear strategy.
Your
Wealth
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
Frequently Asked Questions
We’re invested in your long-term success. What we do is personal, and we take it personally.
Your financial decisions connect, so we consider the parts of your financial life that are relevant to the advice you need:
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
This is how we help you make decisions today with your longer-term goals in view.
Everybody’s situation is different, so we listen first, understand what matters to you and explain your options clearly before we make a recommendation.
It depends on how they’re paid, not on the ABN. The ATO says contractors paid mainly for their labour are employees for super purposes, and it doesn’t matter if they have an ABN. That generally means a contract mainly for their labour, paid for their own work rather than a result, and work they do themselves. If you contract with their company, trust or partnership, you don’t pay super for the person doing the work.
From 1 July 2026, super for employees must generally reach their fund within 7 business days of payday. Whether a cleaner is an employee or a contractor can be confirmed with an accountant, and the ATO and Fair Work Ombudsman publish guidance. We can plan it into your cashflow with you.
Your accountant and financial adviser bring different expertise to the same decisions. Your accountant can advise on tax reporting, structures and consequences; we help you plan how cashflow, debt, super, investments and protection work towards your goals. We can coordinate before important decisions.
What an accountant does
- Prepares and lodges tax returns, BAS and financial statements
- Advises on tax structures such as companies, trusts and partnerships
- Manages bookkeeping, payroll and ATO compliance
- Provides tax advice on the consequences of a transaction
What a financial adviser does
- Sets a long term strategy across retirement, investing and cash flow
- Builds wealth from early in a working life, starting with cash flow, a first home and super
- Recommends specific super funds, investments and personal insurance
- Operates under an Australian Financial Services Licence, which is required to give personal advice on financial products
- Handles retirement planning, Centrelink and aged care strategy, and estate planning considerations
Professional roles and authorisations matter. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and work with your accountant for specialist tax advice and lodgements.
Where they work together
- Tax position. Your accountant confirms your marginal rate, deductions and carried forward losses, which shapes decisions on super contributions, investment structures and the timing of asset sales.
- Business and entity structures. Your accountant advises on the structure itself and your financial adviser works within it for investments, insurance and succession planning.
- Cash flow. Your accountant’s figures can help us understand what’s available for debt repayment, protection and longer-term goals.
- Before key decisions. We can coordinate with your accountant on contributions, asset sales and other material choices in time to consider relevant tax consequences.
Start with the dates. A contract may set out a term, a notice period or a review or retender date, and knowing each one lets you plan well before any change. A buffer sized to your largest contract, a clear view of fixed costs and any staff wages, and a regular amount you pay yourself can give you time to win new work or adjust your costs.
It also helps to know how much of your income each contract provides, so the plan reflects what rests on each one. A solicitor can explain a contract’s terms. We can build the buffer and the cashflow plan with you, and review both as contracts come up for renewal.
It depends on the policy, and the two kinds of cover do different jobs. Business.gov.au explains that public liability insurance covers you if someone is injured or has their property damaged because of your negligence, while income protection covers part of your income if you’re unable to work because of sickness or an accident. Workers compensation, if you have employees, is separate, through a state, territory or Commonwealth scheme.
Your policy wording shows what a business policy includes, and a general insurance broker can arrange liability cover. We can look at personal cover with you, such as income protection, and how it fits with any cover you already hold. The insurer sets the terms and decides any claim.
Start with the household side. Buying in can mean money paid up front, ongoing fees or a share of takings, and what’s left to pay yourself once those are met. It helps to know how a purchase would affect your savings buffer, any loan repayments and the cover you’d want in the first months. Any income figure you’re shown is worth checking with an accountant before you rely on it.
A solicitor reads the franchise agreement or sale contract, an accountant can look at the figures and the tax, and a broker arranges any loan. We can work through the household side with you before you commit, so the decision fits your wider plan.
It may be possible, depending on the terms of each contract and whether clients accept a new provider. Commercial contracts, cleaning runs and client books are bought and sold, and what they may sell for can depend on the contract terms and the time left to run. A solicitor can explain whether a contract can be assigned, and an accountant can look at the value and confirm any small business CGT concessions, which continue after the CGT change for gains accruing after 1 July 2027.
We can plan with you how a sale would sit beside super and savings, and what retirement could look like if a sale brings in less than you hoped.
Yes. We begin with your business as it stands today, whether you’re still employed by a cleaning business or have run your own for years.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first.
It helps to bring a list of your regular contracts or clients with a rough monthly figure from each, any staff or subcontractor costs, your latest super statement and tax return, and any insurance policies. You can meet us in person or online.
Who We Help
Advice for All Stages of Life
From first job to retirement, we help you build wealth, protect it, and live well.
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First jobs, first home, first super, HECS debt, budgeting and more.
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First home buyers, new parents, school fees, single incomes, young families and more.
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Doctors, dentists, pharmacists, allied health, nurses and more.
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Lawyers, accountants, brokers, engineers, consultants and more.
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Electricians, plumbers, builders, sole traders, franchisees and more.
Corporate & Executive
Executives, senior managers, directors, board members and more.
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Police, firefighters, paramedics, ADF personnel, teachers and more.
Approaching Retirement
Pre-retirees, transition to retirement, Age Pension, aged care, estate planning and more.
Other Stages
Any income, any stage, career changers, separation, second opinions and more.
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Whatever’s on your mind, we’re here to help. You’ll speak with an authorised financial adviser who’ll listen first and get to know what matters to you.
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