Starting a cleaning business in Tennessee

A trade licensed locally, not by the state

A cleaning business in Tennessee owes the local stack: the business tax registration, the county license, and the city license inside municipal limits. The regulatory boards list nothing for janitorial work itself.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance runs the state's licensing boards, and Memphis's own summary of that department describes what it covers: licenses for medicine, cosmetology, and athletic training, among others. Cleaning is not on the list. What regulates a cleaning business is the tax and license layer every trade shares.

That is the good news and the budget. No exam, no board fee schedule, no license cycle beyond the local one. Compare the stack below against the lawn care page, where one category of work drags in a whole state licensing program, and the difference is the point.

The City of Memphis states that the Department of Commerce and Insurance issues licenses for medicine, cosmetology, and athletic training, among others. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29

The tax registration and the $15 county license

The state half of the stack is the business tax account. You register through TNTAP, the state's taxpayer portal, and the Department of Revenue allows up to 10 business days to finish the registration.

The license half is the county clerk's. The Department of Revenue states the fee plainly: a separate $15 business license registration fee must be paid to the county and/or municipal clerk for each new business. The gross-receipts bands decide which license you get, and a cleaning business starting from zero usually lands in the minimal activity band, between $3,000 and $100,000 in receipts.

You are not allowed to operate until the required license is obtained and posted at your business location. For a home-based cleaner, the posting location is the home office; the rule does not distinguish.

$15The Department of Revenue states a separate $15 business license registration fee must be paid to the county and/or municipal clerk for each new business. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

$3,000 to $100,000The Department of Revenue states that in-state businesses with gross receipts over $3,000 but under $100,000 must obtain a minimal activity license from the county and/or municipal clerk. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Shelby County's version, in the clerk's own words

Shelby County states the obligation in full sentences. Chapter 530 of the Public Acts of 2009, effective January 1, 2010, requires all businesses operating within the county to obtain a business license and report their gross receipts to the Department of Revenue annually.

Registration with the County Clerk is due within 20 days after commencing business, with a $15 remittance per application. The published exemption list runs to accountants, attorneys, dentists, doctors, insurance agents, loan companies, manufacturers, public utilities, religious organizations, schools, security exchanges, veterinarians, and businesses grossing less than $3,000 per year. Cleaning is not exempt.

A cleaner starting in Memphis therefore owes both halves at once: the county license through the clerk's business tax division and the city license beside it, which the next section prices.

20 daysShelby County states Public Acts of 2009 Chapter 530, effective January 1, 2010, requires all businesses in the county to obtain a business license and report gross receipts to the state yearly. — Shelby County Business Tax Division, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Shelby County Business Tax Division's exemption list includes accountants, attorneys, doctors, veterinarians, schools, and businesses grossing less than $3,000 per year. — Shelby County Business Tax Division, retrieved 2026-09-29

Memphis: the second $15 and the certificate of occupancy

Inside Memphis the stack is fully published. Businesses within the municipal boundaries need a combined City of Memphis license at a $15 fee and a Shelby County Business License at a $15 fee. Both expire on the anniversary of the application date the following year, and renewal runs through the county clerk's office.

Memphis adds one more requirement before many businesses open: a Certificate of Occupancy, requiring an application and inspection, issued by Construction Enforcement through the Develop 901 portal. The rule is published for businesses within Memphis and Shelby County generally; a cleaner opening a storefront office or a supply depot should ask Construction Enforcement whether the address requires one before signing a lease.

Those three items, $15 county, $15 city, and the occupancy certificate where it applies, are the whole license stack for this trade. The fee side of the stack across trades is in what Tennessee business licenses cost.

$15 + $15The City of Memphis states businesses within municipal boundaries need a combined City of Memphis license and a Shelby County Business License, at a $15 fee each. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29

The City of Memphis states businesses within Memphis and Shelby County must obtain a Certificate of Occupancy, issued by Construction Enforcement through the Develop 901 portal. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29

Where the real costs of this trade sit

The licenses are cheap and the trade's real entry costs are not licensed at all. A residential cleaner's startup money goes into equipment, transport, bonding, and liability cover, and commercial contracts specify the cover they expect.

One figure from the licensed trades next door makes the comparison concrete. A lawn care company that adds pesticide application takes on a $10,000 surety bond and $250,000 per incident liability coverage through the Department of Agriculture's charter. A cleaning company carries what its contracts ask for, and nothing in the license stack sets the number.

A second comparison worth reading is the salon page, where a state inspector visits the premises before opening day. A cleaner's premises inspection, the Memphis certificate of occupancy, applies only when the business occupies a commercial building.

$10,000 bondThe Tennessee Department of Agriculture states a pesticide charter application requires a prorated $200 per year fee, a $10,000 surety bond, and $250,000 per incident liability coverage. — Tennessee Department of Agriculture, retrieved 2026-09-29

Keeping the stack current and closing it out

The yearly calendar has two entries. The local license renews on its anniversary, and the business tax return is due on the 15th day of the fourth month after the fiscal year ends, April 15 for a calendar-year business, with a $22 minimum tax.

Closing has its own deadline. Memphis lists the steps for shutting a business: contact the Shelby County Trustee's Office, and file a final business tax return with the Department of Revenue within 15 days of closing, paying any tax due with the $22 minimum applying.

Put the two dates in the same calendar app the day the license arrives. The one-page version of the whole sequence, from entity to renewal, is the Tennessee business license checklist, and a worked example of the Memphis order is one Memphis business, three licenses.

$22 minimumThe Department of Revenue states the business tax return is due the 15th day of the fourth month after the fiscal year ends, with a $22 minimum tax. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

15 daysThe City of Memphis states a closing business must contact the Shelby County Trustee and file a final business tax return within 15 days, with a $22 minimum due. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions