How to become an independent house cleaner in Australia

Contractor or employee?

You can clean as an employee of a cleaning company or as an independent contractor running your own business. Employees are paid award wages and leave by their employer. Contractors invoice for their work, look after their own tax and insurance, and keep control of when, where and for whom they work. Cleaners on Ousie are independent contractors.

Set up the paperwork

• ABN: register for an Australian Business Number for free through the Australian Business Register. A sole trader is the simplest structure to start with.
• GST: you only have to register for GST once your turnover reaches $75,000 a year. Below that it is optional.
• Tax: your cleaning income goes on your tax return. Keep records of what you earn and what you spend on products, equipment, travel between jobs and your phone, and set aside part of each payment for tax. The ATO has guides for sole traders.
• Super: nobody pays super for a contractor, so decide how you will put some aside.
• Insurance: as a contractor it is your own responsibility. Many independent cleaners take out public liability cover.
• Police check: a National Police Check from an accredited provider or your state police. Ousie requires one before you can take jobs; see what a police check covers.

Equipment and products to start with

• Microfibre cloths, in a few colours so kitchen and bathroom cloths never mix
• All-purpose cleaner, bathroom cleaner, glass cleaner, degreaser and floor cleaner
• Scrubbing brushes, non-scratch scourers and a grout brush
• Mop and bucket, and a vacuum for when the customer does not supply one
• Gloves, a caddy to carry it all, and spare bin liners

On Ousie, regular cleans use the customer’s products and equipment by default, with an optional supplies add-on that goes to you. For deep and end of lease cleans you bring everything, and that is built into the price.

Pricing your time

Working on your own, your hourly rate has to cover travel between jobs, products, tax, insurance and the unpaid time spent quoting and booking. Most independent cleaners also set a minimum visit length so short jobs are worth the trip.

On Ousie the prices are set by the platform and shown to customers before they book, so there is no quoting. Before you apply for a job you see what the customer pays, Ousie’s fee and your take-home for that job. Rates differ by type of clean, and every clean has a minimum number of hours.

Finding work through Ousie

1. 1Download the Ousie app and create a cleaner account (“Earn money cleaning”).
2. 2Verify your identity and add your ABN.
3. 3Set up payouts. Card payments reach you through Stripe Connect.
4. 4Upload your National Police Check and accept the contractor terms.
5. 5Work through the short training modules in the app.
6. 6Once approved, browse jobs in your area and apply for the ones that suit you. The customer compares applicants and chooses; you confirm, do the clean, and are paid after the customer confirms it, by card through the app or in cash if that is what they chose.

Everything about the job, from the address to the customer’s notes and messages, lives in the app. The cleaners wanted page has more on how it works.

Habits that build a reputation

• Be on time, and message early if anything changes.
• Stick to the scope you were booked for. If the job needs more time, ask in the app rather than leaving things half done.
• Take before-and-after photos for your own records.
• Be consistent. Customers who get the same standard every visit set up regular bookings, and regular bookings are what make the work steady.
• Customers rate each clean, and those ratings are what the next customer sees when they compare applicants.