Top Software for Growing Cleaning Businesses

If you’re in the commercial cleaning services space, you’re no stranger to bringing order and clarity to mess and chaos — if you have the right tools, that is. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best cleaning business apps to help you and your team reach their full potential. These cleaning services apps can help you track time, build schedules, deliver excellent customer service, and find and win new business. That said, there’s an overwhelming number of options.

Fortunately, we’ve done the leg work for you to pick the best tools available. But first, let’s explore some common challenges for cleaning companies and try to pinpoint where you need the most help.

As the cleaning industry grows, companies turn to software to save time and better serve clients Click To Tweet

Understanding the Cleaning Business Landscape in 2024

Like any field, the cleaning landscape continues to grow and evolve in 2024. Before you make choices on what cleaning service app you’ll choose to manage cleaning tasks, it’s best to understand the latest trends.

Recent Market Trends and Growth

In 2024, there’s a lot of uncertainty around the future of the cleaning industry. That said, there are a few things that most are in agreement with. According to the 2024 Commercial Cleaning Industry Trends Report from Aspire, the three biggest concerns for the cleaning industry are: 

• Increasing revenue. 63% of those surveyed cited increasing revenue as their primary goal. Honestly, same. It’s hard to argue with that.
  
• Improving cash flow. 57% of those surveyed felt that revenue itself wasn’t their biggest issue but rather the cash flow issues connected to payroll, invoices, and expense reports.
  
• Hiring and retention. 54% cited hiring and retention issues as their biggest concern in 2024.

All of these financial challenges are also being exacerbated by a growing need to emphasize sustainability with new technology. 

Evolving Needs of Cleaning Businesses

For many, the biggest priorities for cleaning companies in 2024 are sustainability and cost savings. Unfortunately, those two things aren’t always synonymous. Luckily, there are some ways to be cost-efficient while still prioritizing the environment like: 

• E-water 
• On-site generation
• Salt-free solutions

The switch to more cost-effective, greener solutions opens up room in your budget to add new technology. Even a small home cleaning service can find new tools to enhance scheduling, time tracking, customer satisfaction, and other aspects of your business. 

Common challenges for cleaning companies

Cleaning service businesses can fulfill a range of needs, which means they may have employees, cleaning service contractors, and crews all working at once.

You might be a residential cleaning company with a small crew and a client list that keeps you moving from site to site. Or, you could run a larger operation. Maybe you manage a commercial crew, which comes with its own challenges: scheduling maintenance and cleaning appointments, hiring and paying large teams, and so on.

No matter the size or focus of your business, it can be difficult to manage and monitor teams at different locations. As you grow, you may find it takes up more of your time than you’d like.

This is where cleaning business apps can help. For every challenge you face, there’s a software solution that can make your life easier.

Choosing the Right Software for Your Cleaning Business

When it comes to choosing the right software for your cleaning business, the most important thing to remember is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best tool for you is the one that’s truly the best on the market.

When it comes to choosing the right software for your cleaning business, the most important thing to remember is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best tool on the market is the one that works best for you.

That said, there are a few things to keep in mind that we’ll address:

• Pricing. After reading statistics from the 2024 Commercial Cleaning Industry Trends Report, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include the cost-benefit analysis for popular cleaning business apps.
• Business size. The size of your business will have a huge impact on which tool you choose. Consider your current team size and potential growth.
• Unique needs. The unique needs of your business are also crucial. Looking for built-in invoices? Shift scheduling? What about a mobile app? Do you need to bring employee timesheet capabilities up to par in 2024? These are all things to consider.

Solutions and apps for running a successful cleaning business

1. Know the exact location of your team in real time

Did your team arrive on time? Was there a holdup because of traffic or a late start? How much time was spent at a certain client site? If a client calls and says your team was late, how do you know for sure? With the right software, you’ll never have to wonder about any of this again.

Solution: GPS time tracking apps

With accurate GPS location monitoring and geofencing technology, cleaning company owners and managers can see where their crew is without having to constantly check in. Here’s how you can use a GPS tracking app:

1. Location tracking: The locations of the individual employees in a team can be accurately tracked in real-time using lightweight mobile apps. You can use this information to estimate arrival times for your clients and plan ahead for future appointments.
   
2. Job needs assessment: See which sites get the most attention and adjust estimates if needed. If you know a client prefers your crew to arrive early or leave by a certain time, you can make sure those needs are met.

Suggestions:

• Hubstaff – Starts at $7 per user/month
• Vonigo – Starts at $98 per user/month.
• Fergus – Paid plan starts at $40 per month.

2. Collecting employee timesheets

At the end of a work week, the last thing you want to do is hound your team to get their hours in. However, timesheets are a crucial step in billing clients and paying teams. There’s a better (and more accurate) way to track work hours than texting, calling, or emailing your staff.

Solution: Automated time tracking apps

Time tracking software allows you to easily track the work hours of an individual on your team. Here are a few benefits of time tracking:

1. Accuracy: Whether it’s time spent driving to a client location or time spent at the destination, the app should show you how much time was spent vs. estimated. From there, you can assess time spent working on various locations and know when a client needs more staff or hours to get the job done.
   
2. Timesheets and reports: Being able to generate timesheets within the app will save time because your employees won’t have to manually log time or report back on hours. Customized reports give managers a clear view of where time was spent. Weekly and monthly reports allow for quick assessment of employee work history and performance.

Suggestions:

• Swept – Starts at $5 per location/month, with 10 minimum locations.
• QuickBooks Time – Starts at a base of $40 per month, plus $10/user month.

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3. Paying your team

For hourly employees, many cleaning companies choose to manage payroll manually. This involves daily work logging by the employee, in addition to the number of hours you spend managing and issuing payments.

Solution: Simple payroll software

Manual administration tasks like managing payroll can be time-consuming. Here are a few perks of using an app that can handle payroll on your behalf:

1. Automatic payroll: Ensures that all your employees get paid according to their billable hourly rates. It means that payroll is on time for your team all the time. This feature allows you to manage payroll with ease so you can focus on more important aspects of your cleaning business.
   
2. Downloadable timesheets: If you prefer to pay your crew on your own, you can easily export timesheets and save yourself the time of gathering work hours.
   
3. Simple job costing and accounting: If you choose time tracking software with third-party accounting/payment software integrations like QuickBooks or PayPal, you can connect your existing tools and work seamlessly across your business apps.

Suggestions

PayPal – For domestic transactions through PayPal, you’ll pay a fixed fee and a rate somewhere between 2.29% – 3.49%.

Bitwage – Starts at 0.50% + .50 USD per payroll when using ACH debit. Premium plans start at $7.99/user per month.

Payoneer – Making payments is free.

4. Scheduling shifts

Between your schedule, your clients, and your teams,’ finding a quick way to assign people and make sure the work gets done can be tough. Add in a last-minute cancellation or extra appointment, and everything gets thrown off.

Solution: Easy-to-use cleaning management software

It should be easier to see who is working when and know that your clients are getting the attention they deserve. A scheduling app can save you time by making it easy to book jobs and assign team members.

Some tools even send you alerts when a member of your team doesn’t clock in by the start time or misses a shift. These alerts can keep you from having to check in all the time or track down your team.

Suggestions

Launch27 – Base plan starts at $59 per month.
HouseCallPro – Starts at $69 for one user per month.

5. Invoicing clients

The only thing better than a job well done is payment quickly received. Instead of manually preparing invoices or sending them out weeks after a job is done, you can create invoices easily using your time tracking software and hourly rates.

Solution: Accounting software (bonus points for a time tracking integration)
Depending on the level of complexity you’re after, you can completely streamline your bookkeeping using software, or simply rely on a couple tools for invoicing and estimating.

Either way, the right invoicing software can save you time and make it easier for your clients to pay you. No more waiting for checks in the mail or delayed payments.

Suggestions

FreshBooks – Starts at $19 per month.
Wave – There’s a free plan available, as well as paid services that include online payments and payroll for additional fees.
Jobber – Starts at $69 for up to two users per month.

Do it all with Hubstaff: cleaning service time tracking, invoicing, payment processing, and much more

You could choose one product for each challenge you face. You can also choose cleaning business software that incorporates all the features you need while integrating with the tools you already use.

Hubstaff comes equipped with everything mentioned above:

• Accurate time tracking
• Team payments
• GPS tracking
• Geofences
• Customer management,
• Simple timesheets
• Missed shift reminders

Hubstaff makes managing a residential or commercial cleaning business much easier. Streamline administrative tasks in just a few clicks with our high-end scheduling software. Everything can be managed and recorded through one easy-to-use app.
Many cleaning service apps take the pain out of cleaning jobs for small cleaning business owners and large commercial cleaning companies alike. This could come in the form of:

• Improving business operations
• Improving customer relationship management
• Job management
• Automated reminders
• Improving cash flow
• Enhancing customer communication

What tools have helped you do this? Let us know in the comments.
This post was originally published on February 5, 2016, and was updated in February 2024.