Accounting and invoicing software for cleaning companies – what matters

Contents

1. What a cleaning company really needs
2. Invoice requirements in Austria
3. Special case: post-construction cleaning
4. e-invoicing to the federal government
5. sevDesk and everbill compared
6. Cash-basis or double-entry?
7. A workflow that works
8. Pricing is separate
9. Common mistakes
10. Cash registers
11. Month-end in practice
12. Frequently asked questions
13. Sources

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In short: Cleaning companies need recurring invoices, quotes, dunning, export for the tax adviser and – for public clients – e-invoices to the federal government. Use trial periods and ask your tax adviser which format they need. As of October 2026.

Office work is easy to underestimate in cleaning. In our Vienna business, dozens of monthly flat-rate invoices go out every month, plus one-off jobs, credit notes and reminders. Without suitable software, the first day of every month disappears into invoicing – time missing for sales and quality checks.

What a cleaning company really needs

Invoice requirements in Austria

An invoice must contain certain details (§ 11 VAT Act). The most important for everyday cleaning work:

1. Your name and address and the client’s
2. Quantity and usual description of the service (e.g. “contract cleaning per specification, October 2026”)
3. Date or period of service
4. Net amount, VAT rate and VAT amount
5. Issue date and sequential invoice number
6. Your VAT ID (if you have one)
7. For invoices over €10,000 gross, also the client’s VAT ID

Simplified rules apply to small invoices up to €400 gross. As a small business under the VAT exemption you invoice without VAT and add a note: Small-business VAT exemption, SVS and taxes in the first year. Good software checks the mandatory fields – still have your tax adviser review the template once.

Special case: post-construction cleaning

If you do post-construction cleaning for building contractors, the reverse-charge rules for construction services may become relevant. Whether your specific service is covered depends on the case – clarify with your tax adviser before the first invoice. Your software should support reverse-charge invoices either way.

e-invoicing to the federal government

If you work for federal bodies, invoices must be submitted electronically – via the business service portal (USP) or in structured formats such as ebInterface or via PEPPOL. For many small cleaning firms this is irrelevant at first, but it comes up quickly in tenders: Winning your first 10 business clients – sales for cleaning companies.

sevDesk and everbill compared

Use the trial periods. Set up a realistic month: three flat-rate clients, one one-off job, one credit note, one reminder and an export for your tax adviser. After an hour you will know whether the software fits.

Cash-basis or double-entry?

Sole traders may use cash-basis accounting up to the legal thresholds (accounting obligation under the Commercial Code from €700,000 turnover). A GmbH always keeps double-entry books. Many cleaning founders start with cash-basis accounting and pass receipts to their tax adviser monthly.

Retention: books and records generally have to be kept for seven years – digitally is fine if the data is complete and unalterable.

A workflow that works

1. Create the quote in the software with the specification as PDF: Writing a quote for contract cleaning – with service specification
2. Once accepted: turn the quote into a recurring invoice
3. Start of month: flat rates go out automatically, add extras
4. Weekly: match incoming payments
5. After the due date: first friendly reminder, second with a deadline
6. Monthly: export and receipts to your tax adviser

Pricing is separate

Calculating your hourly rate doesn’t belong in the invoicing tool – a separate spreadsheet is better: Calculating the hourly rate for cleaning – the right way. The software does show which clients bring how much revenue. Combined with time tracking per site (Working time, breaks and records in the cleaning industry) you can see which sites are really profitable.

Common mistakes

• Writing flat-rate invoices by hand and forgetting months
• Missing mandatory details, broken number sequences
• No dunning – open items grow unnoticed
• Choosing software your tax adviser can’t import

Cash registers

A cash register is only required if annual turnover exceeds €15,000 and cash sales exceed €7,500 (both conditions). With business clients paying by bank transfer this is rarely relevant.

Month-end in practice

A typical month in a small cleaning company with ten flat-rate clients looks like this for us:

Without software the same easily takes half a day or a full day – time better spent on quality checks or sales.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. e-invoicing to the federal government – official portal
2. RIS – VAT Act 1994 (§ 11 invoice requirements)