Best Revenue-Based Financing for Cleaning Businesses

The best revenue-based financing for a cleaning business is the kind that respects its real cash flow: payroll every week or every two weeks, residential clients who pay per visit, and commercial contracts that pay in 30 days or more. For fast capital approved on your deposits, our recommended funder is Merchant Fund Express; if you bill businesses that pay slowly, invoice factoring fits better; and if you are just starting or want the lowest cost, look at an SBA microloan or a CDFI.

Plenty of cleaning companies, including many Hispanic-owned ones, have good clients and good work but a short credit history. Revenue-based financing looks at what lands in your account. Below we compare six options on clear criteria. To understand the product itself in depth, read our guide to revenue-based financing for cleaning businesses.

The 6 best options for cleaning companies

1. Merchant Fund Express (recommended funder). Best when you land a contract and need to hire and outfit three people before the first payment, or when you want to buy a carpet extractor, a floor burnisher or a second van. It reviews your sales and deposits as well as credit, accepts scores from FICO 500, handles $5,000 to $5,000,000 and often decides in 2–4 hours. In most cases no collateral is required. It accepts applicants with an ITIN (no SSN needed), applying is free with no impact to your credit, and Spanish-speaking support is available.
2. Percentage-of-sales financing. Best if your sales swing: end-of-month move-out cleans, spring deep cleans, post-construction work when building is busy. In slow months you pay less. Ask whether there is a minimum payment.
3. Payment processor advance. Best if nearly all your residential clients pay by card through your payment system or booking app. Some processors offer advances to their merchants and collect automatically from your sales. It is convenient; compare the cost before you accept.
4. Invoice factoring. Best for commercial and janitorial cleaning that bills offices, schools, clinics or property managers. The factor advances part of the invoice and collects from your client. It works best with clients who pay reliably but slowly.
5. Deposit-based line of credit. Best for stable companies that want a cushion for payroll and supplies. You draw what you need and pay interest only on that.
6. SBA microloan or CDFI. Best for starting out or growing step by step at a lower cost. According to the SBA, microloans go up to $50,000 through nonprofit intermediaries that often provide coaching. CDFIs are certified by the U.S. Treasury, and some serve owners in Spanish.

How we chose. We use no ratings, scores or invented statistics. We compare only on verifiable criteria: speed, minimum time in business, minimum credit, whether it accepts ITIN or no-SSN owners, documents, amounts and collateral. Here we gave extra weight to how each option lives alongside a weekly payroll. The full method is in how we rank business funding options.

Comparison table for cleaning businesses

Confirm with each funder whether it accepts an ITIN and which documents it needs; we do not assume it except where we say so.

About SBA microloans: according to the SBA, they can be used for working capital, inventory, supplies, furniture, fixtures, machinery and equipment, but not to pay existing debts or buy real estate. The intermediaries that make them decide on credit and set their own requirements, so two of them can ask you for different things.

Before you sign any offer, ask:

• Is the payment daily, weekly or a percentage of my sales?
• What happens if I lose a big commercial client halfway through?
• Is there a personal guarantee or a charge for paying early?
• Can you explain it to me in writing, in plain language (or in Spanish)?

Residential, commercial or mixed: what changes

Cleaning companies do not all get paid the same way, and that changes the right option:

• Residential (houses and apartments): you get paid per visit, often the same day, by Zelle, card or cash. Your deposits are frequent and small. Deposit-based or percentage-of-sales financing fits well.
• Commercial and janitorial: monthly invoices to offices, schools or buildings, paid in 30 or 60 days. Your deposits arrive in chunks. Factoring or a line of credit keeps payroll from depending on the day the client pays.
• Specialty (carpet, windows, post-construction, Airbnb turnovers): equipment matters more. Pair equipment financing for the machine with working capital for everything else.
• Mixed: use fast capital to grow and a line of credit for the gaps between invoices.

If you are mostly billing commercial accounts, compare with invoice factoring for cleaning businesses. If your main need is a machine, start with equipment financing for cleaning businesses.

The classic case: a new contract

For example, a residential cleaning company lands its first contract with an office property manager. The contract is good, but it brings three challenges at once:

1. Hiring before you get paid. You need two or three more people from week one, with uniforms and training.
2. Commercial equipment and supplies. Backpack vacuums, janitorial carts, chemicals in bulk and maybe a burnisher.
3. First payment at 30 days or more. The property manager pays the month after the invoice.

Here, deposit-based capital covers the ramp-up, and factoring can take over the monthly invoices once the contract is running. The underlying rule: the financing payment should fit inside your current deposits without counting on the new contract, in case it starts late. And before you accept the contract, confirm in writing the payment date, the invoice cutoff and who approves your crew's overtime.

If you already have an active advance and someone offers you another, slow down. A second set of debits on top of the first is one of the fastest ways to choke a cleaning company's cash flow, especially in a month when a commercial client pays late.

How to get ready for the best offer

1. Get paid through the bank. Ask clients to pay by Zelle, card or check into the business account. If you take cash, deposit all of it.
2. Separate your accounts. A business-only account gets reviewed faster.
3. Keep a list of recurring clients with how often you clean and roughly how much they pay. It shows stability.
4. Signed contracts with your commercial clients.
5. Cleaning insurance and bond up to date, if your clients require them.
6. Documents: ID, your SSN or ITIN depending on what each funder accepts, 3 to 6 months of bank statements, and your LLC or DBA with an EIN.

If you are considering an SBA 7(a) or 504 loan, keep in mind that since March 1, 2026 (SBA Procedural Notice 5000-876626), 100% of the owners must be U.S. citizens or nationals with their principal residence in the U.S. This is not immigration advice; if you have questions about your own situation, talk to an immigration attorney about your situation.

Costly mistakes

• Covering payroll with a daily payment and no cushion. If a big client pays late, both hits land the same week.
• Asking for the maximum. Ask for what the contract or the equipment actually needs.
• Stacking financing. Taking new money to cover another payment piles up holdbacks and drowns your cash flow. If a payment is squeezing you, ask your current funder about lowering the payment.
• Signing without understanding. Ask for the payment method, the personal guarantee and what happens if you lose a client to be explained in plain language.
• Forgetting the cheaper options. If you can wait, ask about a microloan or a CDFI.

To compare with other products, see working capital for cleaning businesses. When your bank statements are ready, you can apply with Merchant Fund Express; it is free and does not affect your credit.