Bookkeeping for cleaning businesses in Medicine Hat, AB.
For house cleaners, janitorial companies and commercial cleaning crews. Your books done the day you upload your statements, checked against your bank, for $79 CAD a month.
Free to join. The first 1,000 in get their catch-up free.
Sales tax
Alberta charges only the 5% GST, with no provincial sales tax. You register once your sales pass $30,000 in four quarters in a row (or in one quarter).
Income tax
Alberta taxes income at 8% to 15% in 2026, on top of federal tax of 14% to 33%, on the profit from your business.
CPP
Working for yourself, you pay both halves of CPP: 11.9% of your earnings from $3,500 to $74,600 in 2026, plus 8% more up to $85,000.
Deadlines
Sole proprietors file by June 15 and pay by April 30. Once you owe more than $3,000, CRA asks for instalments on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15.
Contractors
Paid someone more than $500 for services in a year? They may need a T4A slip by the end of February.
What every business in Medicine Hat (about 63,000 people) keeps track of in 2026. Rates change, so check with your accountant before you file.
Cleaning businesses in Medicine Hat, by the numbers
Medicine Hat has 54 building services companies (cleaning, landscaping and pest control) with employees (Statistics Canada, December 2024).
Every one of them has books to keep: sales to match to the bank, costs to sort and tax to work out.
Why cleaning businesses need different books
Small payments from many clients, recurring jobs billed weekly or monthly, cleaners paid as staff or contractors, supplies bought every week and a lot of driving between jobs. None of it is complicated alone; together it's a month of sorting.
What a bookkeeper for cleaning businesses in Medicine Hat keeps track of
Recurring client billing and who's late
Cleaners paid, as payroll or as contractors
Supplies and equipment
Mileage between jobs
Sales tax or GST/HST on services where it applies
Taxes for cleaning businesses in Alberta
Cleaning services take GST/HST like most services: 5% GST in Alberta once you're registered, which you must be when sales pass $30,000 in four quarters in a row or in one quarter.
Cleaning services take GST/HST once you're registered.
Whether cleaners are employees or contractors depends on how much you control the work; employees need payroll and CPP and EI.
Contractors paid for services can need T4A slips.
What SumSwift does for cleaning business owners, for $79 CAD a month
Repeating invoices sent on schedule, with automatic reminders and card or bank payments
Payroll worked out each payday, with the deposit file for your bank and the remittance to send
Contractor lists for 1099s or T4A slips
A mileage log (a CRA logbook in Canada) and the business share of your vehicle worked out for taxes
Receipts snapped with your phone or forwarded by email are read and matched to the charge
Every statement checked against the balances your bank printed, to the cent, with personal spending kept off your profit
Up to 3 accounts included. Prices in CAD. Your accountant still files your tax return, with clean books and free access.
Questions.
How much does a bookkeeper for cleaning businesses cost in Medicine Hat?
Published price guides put most small businesses at $300 to $1,500 a month for a bookkeeper, more when the books are busy, as they often are for cleaning businesses. SumSwift does the monthly work for $79 CAD a month, the day you upload your statements.
Should my cleaners be employees or contractors?
It depends on how much you control their schedule and how they work, not on what you call them. Ask your accountant; SumSwift handles either, payroll or contractor slips.
Can I bill clients automatically?
Yes. Repeating invoices go out on schedule, and clients can pay by card or bank with a link.
Does SumSwift know Alberta's tax rules?
Cleaning services take GST/HST like most services: 5% GST in Alberta once you're registered, which you must be when sales pass $30,000 in four quarters in a row or in one quarter. Cleaning services take GST/HST once you're registered.
Behind on my books. Can you catch me up?
Yes. A catch-up of up to 12 months is $599, once, checked against your bank to the cent.