Cleaning Business Taxes, Insurance and License

This is a great resource website (US Small Business Administration) that provides information on Business License, Taxes, Employees, Loans and much more. http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business/obtain-business-licenses-Insurance and Bonding

Insurance and Bonding

You need to be an honest person and somewhat personable. People will need to trust you to be in their homes. Most clients are concerned about having someone new in their house, with good reason. You should be bonded and fully insured. Liability insurance rates depend on your insurance carrier and where you are located. Each person you hire will increase your liability insurance. It’s well worth the cost. You can pay quarterly or yearly. You can purchase your bond through your local insurance company. You will need to renew the bond every year. *Note: if you hire employees and cover them under your insurance, they must be an employee on payroll and not a sub-contractor. If you employ them as a sub-contractor your insurance will not cover them. If they are a sub-contractor they are required to carry their own insurance. Also, if you hire a sub-contractor your insurance company will need to see their certificate of insurance. If you are going to hire employees, you will need workers comp. Workers Comp rates vary depending on which state you are based in. It can run as much as 2500 to 3000 per year. If you are a new business most companies will require the full years payment in advance. You can obtain Workers Comp from your insurance carrier.
Note* For residential cleaning you should carry at least 1,000,000 in general liability insurance. For insurance and bonding you will just need to check around with different insurance companies to find the best rate.

Business License

You will need to check with your state to see if they require a business license. Some states require that you have a license while others don’t. Below is a link to the Small Business Association where you can find out if your state requires a license. http://www.sba.gov/content/what-state-licenses-and-permits-does-your-business-need

Taxes

Small Business and Self Employed One Stop Resource. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/

Business Taxes

Starting a Business and Keeping Records
Businesses with Employees
IRS Withholding Calculator Introduction to Employee Taxes http://www.womanowned.com/Growing/Employees/TaxIssues.aspx

Free Business Forms

Free Business Forms from Entrepreneur.com FormNet® is a tool designed to save you the time and expense of creating business documents from scratch. You can download and customize each form according to your needs, and immediately put them to work in your business–all for free.

Accounting, Human Resources, Sales, Legal Forms and much more. http://www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/index.html

Buzgate: http://www.buzgate.org/index.htmlFree Small Business Help

Independent Contractor vs Employee Know the Difference