Trades, auto and home services
Cleaning and Janitorial Business Funding
Commercial cleaning and janitorial companies are funded on their contracts rather than their collateral. The capital usually goes to vans and equipment, payroll between invoices, staffing a new contract, a franchise fee or buying another operator's accounts, from SBA, equipment, private and receivables lenders.
What lenders weigh in a cleaning & janitorial services file
- Signed contracts with a term are underwritten as recurring revenue, while one-time deep cleans and post-construction jobs are project revenue worth less to a lender at the same dollars.
- The payer's credit and the days each client takes to pay matter more than the cleaning company's own balance sheet, because the invoices are what a receivables lender finances.
- Payroll discipline is checked closely: payroll taxes current, workers' compensation in place, and a clear line between employees and subcontractors, since labor is most of the cost.
- Client concentration is priced, because a company whose revenue sits with one property manager or one agency stands or falls with that client's renewal and payment.
- On an acquisition, the contracts must assign to the buyer and the supervisors must stay, because the accounts and the people who run the night shift are the asset being bought.
- Lenders look at whether the owner has run crews and bid buildings, and whether a supervisor can run operations without the owner, since the business has few hard assets to fall back on.
What gets funded
- Equipment and vehicle financing: Funds vans, ride-on scrubbers, burnishers, carpet extractors and lifts against the asset itself. Lenders say yes because the equipment has a resale market, and they commonly accept young companies with a down payment and the owner's credit.
- Invoice factoring on commercial and government contracts: Advances a share of each approved cleaning invoice within days, so weekly payroll is covered while a client pays in thirty to sixty days. Underwritten on the payer's credit and the contract, which makes it available to newer companies.
- Working-capital and receivables lines of credit: Drawn for payroll between invoices and paid down when clients pay. Banks write them on tax returns and a clean aging. Private lenders write smaller lines on bank statements, faster and at a higher cost.
- SBA 7(a) for acquisitions, franchises and buyouts: Cleaning companies are eligible under 13 CFR 120.110. Lenders write 7(a) for buying another operator's accounts, a franchise fee and opening costs, a partner buyout or consolidating short-term debt, with an equity injection and personal guaranties.
- Unsecured term loans and startup funding: Written on owner credit and deposit history for marketing, supplies and uniforms for a new contract, or the first months of a startup. Faster than a bank and cheaper than a cash advance, with no lien on the equipment.
Cleaning & Janitorial Services funding guides
- Janitorial Contract Financing: Funding Payroll While You Wait on Net-60 Clients — Janitorial company financing against signed cleaning contracts comes from invoice factors and receivables lenders, which advance against approved invoices so crews are paid weekly while the client pays in sixty days.
- Cleaning Business Loans: Funding a Commercial Cleaning or Janitorial Company — Cleaning business loans are written by SBA lenders, equipment and vehicle lenders and private working-capital lenders. The file is judged on contract revenue, payroll discipline and the owner, not on collateral.
How MercFinancial places cleaning & janitorial services requests
MercFinancial is a commercial funding brokerage in Houston, not a lender, and it does not run a cleaning-industry program or promise an approval. A cleaning or janitorial request starts with the file: the signed contracts and their payment terms, the client list and each client's share, twelve months of statements, the payroll tax and insurance records, the owners' credit, and what the money is for, whether that is equipment, payroll on a new contract, a franchise or an acquisition. From there, the funding sources among MercFinancial's more than 160 whose credit policy fits the industry and the structure are identified, one file is placed with all of them, and the offers are compared side by side.
Availability of any product depends on the funding source, and when nothing fits yet, you are told that plainly along with what would change the answer. Stephanie, the lending assistant, pre-qualifies a request in a few minutes with a soft credit pull that does not affect your score, and a free call with a funding specialist is booked at the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Can a cleaning company get a business loan?
Yes, and from several kinds of lender. Equipment and vehicle lenders fund the machines and vans against the asset, invoice factors and receivables lenders advance against signed cleaning contracts, private lenders write working-capital lines and unsecured loans on owner credit and deposits, and SBA lenders fund acquisitions, franchises and buyouts. Which structure fits depends on the contracts, the payroll record, the owner and the funding source's policy.
What do lenders look at on a cleaning company's file?
The signed contracts with their terms and renewal dates, the client list and each client's share of revenue, twelve months of bank statements with attention to the slowest months, payroll tax filings and workers' compensation, general liability and the janitorial bond, the owners' credit and experience, and any existing advances or liens. Receivables lenders add the invoice aging and the payers' credit. SBA lenders add tax returns and a balance sheet.
Can a janitorial company get an SBA loan?
Yes. Cleaning and janitorial businesses are not on the SBA's list of ineligible businesses in 13 CFR 120.110, so a 7(a) loan is available through any SBA lender whose credit policy accepts the industry. Lenders commonly use it for buying another company's accounts, a franchise fee and opening costs, a partner buyout or consolidating short-term debt, with an equity injection and personal guaranties. The lender decides approval and terms.
How do cleaning companies fund payroll while clients pay in sixty days?
With invoice factoring, which advances against each approved invoice within days of billing, or a receivables line of credit drawn as invoices are issued and paid down when clients pay. A payroll funding line on bank statements covers the first month of a new contract before any invoice is eligible. A merchant cash advance is the costliest option and tends to lead to a second one.
Can I get funding to start a cleaning business?
Often, on a narrower menu than an established company. A startup usually combines a small unsecured loan or line on the owner's credit, equipment financing for the first machines and van, and, for a franchise, an SBA 7(a) loan on the franchise agreement. Lenders want the owner's experience, cash of their own in the business, a budget with working capital for the first months, and any contracts already signed.
Financing for this industry
- Business Funding — Eight programs, one file, 160+ lenders.
- Unsecured Business Loans — Term loans and lines without specific collateral, for businesses with steady deposits.
Related industries
MercFinancial is a commercial funding brokerage, not a lender. Approval, loan amount, rate, term and funding are decided by the funding source on the strength of the file; nothing on this page is an offer or a commitment to lend.