Laundry and Cleaning Services Level 3

Who it is for. People who have finished Laundry and Cleaning Services Level 2, or who can show the same skills. Ghana's TVET framework describes National Proficiency II as mostly routine work under limited supervision, National Certificate I as complex and varied activities under minimum supervision, and National Certificate II as complex, non-routine work with considerable responsibility and guiding others. This module is written at an advanced level, comparable to National Certificate I, reaching toward National Certificate II where you supervise staff. That is the author's matching, not an official ruling.

Bridge from Level 2: what you already know

Level 2 did not cover: capacity planning for commercial machines; hotel and health-facility linen contracts; cleaning specifications, frequencies and staffing by area; leading and supervising staff; written safety and quality systems; tenders; business registration, tax, payroll, full accounts and a cash forecast. This manual does. For general bookkeeping and venture basics see the hub's Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2; this manual goes deeper for a laundry and cleaning company only. For making and selling your own detergents, see the hub's Soap Making manuals.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. Units 1 to 4 are technical and supervisory. Units 5 to 7 are about your own business. The running example is Esi's Clean and Press, an invented small company in Sekondi-Takoradi with a laundry shop, a hotel linen contract and office and post-construction cleaning. All of Esi's figures are examples, except where a source is named.

Competency standard

Range. One commercial or semi-commercial laundry (real or planned) and one institutional customer. Evidence. Capacity plan; layout drawing; linen agreement; maintenance log.

Capacity: kilograms, cycles and hours

Commercial laundries plan in dry kilograms. Your capacity depends on machine size, how full you load it, how many cycles you run, and how fast you can dry and iron (the author's method).

Capacity per day = machine size (kg) × fill (%) × cycles per day × number of machines.

The effectiveness of laundering depends on time and temperature, mechanical action, water quality, load volume and how dirty the linen is, and machines must be used and maintained by the maker's instructions. Do not overload.

Machines advertised in Ghana in October 2026: 14 kg top-load automatic GH¢5,500; 17 kg GH¢7,900; 20 kg GH¢9,999; a used commercial washer GH¢6,500; a steam boiler for garment ironing GH¢5,300; a commercial pressing machine (used) GH¢5,600. Household-type machines sold for "hotel" use may not last under all-day work: ask about warranty, spare parts and a local technician before you buy (the author's advice).

Lay out the laundry: one way, dirty to clean

The CDC and ICAN guidance for laundries asks for a dedicated space; no food, drinks or personal items; floors and walls that stand up to water and steam; separation between soiled and clean linen storage; handwashing facilities; and written procedures and job aids.

One-way flow (the author's layout): Reception and sorting (dirty) → Washing → Drying (sun and shade, or dryer) → Finishing (ironing, folding) → Inspection and packing → Clean store and dispatch. Dirty bags never pass through the clean area. Mark the floor or use a wall to divide the two sides.

Hotel and guest-house linen

Star-rated hotels in Ghana are reported to employ about 101 staff each on average, and the country had 7,109 licensed tourism enterprises in 2025. Many guest houses send linen out. A Ghanaian charity laundry won its first orders from local hotels and businesses.

Agree in writing (the author's checklist):

Linen count sheet (example layout): date; item; count out (hotel); count in (laundry); count returned; rejects; signatures.

Health-facility linen

Health-facility work is higher risk. Follow the CDC and ICAN laundry practices:

Before you take a hospital or clinic contract: meet the facility's infection prevention and control (IPC) person, agree which linen you will take and which you will not (for example linen from isolation areas), and get their written procedure. If you cannot reach 70–80 °C or boil, do not take soiled clinical linen (the author's advice).

Machine maintenance log

Keep a log for every machine: date, hours or cycles, faults, repairs, who repaired, next service (the author's method). The CDC and ICAN guidance asks for regular inspection, a maintenance schedule with the responsible person, and a service record. Only competent people repair electrical equipment; stop using equipment that looks faulty.

Check yourself

1. Write the capacity formula for a laundry.
2. Name four things a hotel linen agreement must cover.
3. What temperature and time does the guidance give for soiled linen?

Competency standard

Range. One office, school or clinic (real or from plans). Evidence. Survey sheet; specification; staffing sheet; quotation.

Demand

In January 2026 the Minister of Health directed 24-hour cleaning services in all public hospitals. Cleaning companies in Ghana serve offices, schools, hospitals and public places, and services such as office, after-construction, terrazzo, sofa and compound cleaning are advertised.

Survey the site

Write the specification

A specification lists area, task, frequency, standard. The CDC and ICAN guidance shows how health facilities set frequencies: for example waiting areas at least once a day, consultation rooms at least twice a day, public or shared toilets at least twice a day and private toilets at least once a day. For offices, agree frequencies with the client (the author's example below).

Use the Level 2 methods for each task, and write the colour code, chemicals and dilutions into the specification.

Staffing from task times

Time each task on site (or use your own records) and add them up. Daily hours ÷ hours per cleaner = cleaners needed (the author's method).

Quote the contract

Quote = labour + supervision + materials + equipment wear + transport + overheads + profit, plus VAT if you are registered (Unit 5). State the terms:

Check yourself

1. What four things does every specification line state?
2. How do you work out the number of cleaners?
3. Name four terms that must be in a cleaning quotation.

Competency standard

Range. A team of at least three (fellow trainees) on a laundry shift and a cleaning site. Evidence. Job description; induction checklist; training matrix; rota; inspection scores; incident record.

Recruit fairly

Safety induction (day 1)

Train: show, do, check

1. Show the task with each step explained (use the Level 1 and 2 steps).
2. Do: the worker does it while you watch.
3. Check: inspect the result with the checklist; correct kindly; repeat.
4. Record it in the training matrix: worker, task, date, trainer, "competent" or "needs practice".

Training matrix (example): rows are workers; columns are tasks (sorting, stain treatment, machine use, ironing shirts, pressing suits, receiving and tagging, toilet cleaning, floor care, dilution, post-construction). Nobody does a task alone until it is ticked.

Rotas and the law

The Labour Act 2003 points most used by small employers:

The minimum wage for 2026 is GH¢21.77 a day, about GH¢587.79 a month for 27 days. This is not legal advice: ask the Labour Department for your case.

Rota tips (the author's practice): early-morning office shifts before staff arrive; laundry washing in the morning for sun drying; ironing in the afternoon; one named "floater" who covers absence; post the rota a week ahead; never leave one person alone on a site at night.

Inspect and coach

Use a score sheet for each site (the author's method): list 10 to 20 points (for example "toilet seat clean both sides", "no dust on high ledges", "floors dry, sign removed", "bins lined", "chemicals locked away"); score each 0 (not done), 1 (part) or 2 (done); total as a percentage. Agree a pass mark with the client (for example 85%).

Feedback: praise in public, correct in private; be specific ("the toilet base was missed") not personal ("you are lazy") (the author's advice).

Handling problems (written procedures)

Check yourself

1. How many working days of paid leave does the Labour Act give each year?
2. What are the three steps of "show, do, check" training?
3. What is the stop-work rule?

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's planned business and one tender (real or practice). Evidence. Risk assessment; chemical register; incident report; quality manual pages; tender pack.

Risk assessment (simple matrix)

For each task, list the hazard, who could be harmed, how likely (1 low to 3 high), how bad (1 minor to 3 serious), risk = likely × bad, the controls and who does what by when (the author's method).

Work on the highest scores first (the author's advice).

Chemical control

Incidents and near misses

Record every accident, near miss, damage and loss: date, time, place, people, what happened, first aid, cause, action, who checked it (the author's form). Ask "why?" until you reach a cause you can fix (for example: "Why did she slip?" "Wet floor." "Why was it wet with people walking?" "We mopped the whole corridor at once." Fix: clean in sections and keep a dry path, as HSE advises).

The quality system

Compliance check (yearly)

Tenders

Public bodies such as hospitals buy cleaning services by tender. In April 2025 the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge) advertised a national competitive tender for cleaning and janitorial services, with tender security of 2% of the total value. Tenders are published on the Public Procurement Authority portal. The exact documents each tender asks for vary; read the tender document carefully. Commonly requested papers (the author's list; check each tender):

Check yourself

1. How do you work out a risk score in the simple matrix?
2. What goes in a chemical register?
3. Name four documents a cleaning tender may ask for.

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own planned business in Sekondi-Takoradi. Evidence. Registration checklist; start-up budget; funding plan; payroll sum; one-page plan; pitch.

Choose the legal form

Late yearly returns cost GH¢1,000 (one to four years late) or GH¢2,000 (five or more).

Tax route: the VAT question for service businesses

• VAT from 1 January 2026: 15% + NHIL 2.5% + GETFund 2.5% = 20% in effect. The registration threshold for goods is GH¢750,000 a year. For taxable services there is no turnover threshold: a person supplying them registers within 30 days of starting.
• Modified Taxation Scheme (MTS): for a resident whose only income is business income and who is not VAT-registered. Turnover up to GH¢20,000 pays fixed instalments; GH¢20,001 to 750,000 pays 3% of turnover (or the Modified Cash Basis); payment by *880# or the MTS app. A VAT-registered business cannot use the MTS.
• Companies pay 25% corporate income tax; provisional tax is quarterly; the annual return is due within four months after the year end.

Withholding tax on your invoices. The GRA lists withholding tax on services at 7.5% where the supplier is paid over GH¢2,000 a year, and withholding VAT agents withhold 7% of the taxable value. A company or hospital that pays you may deduct these. Ask for the withholding certificate every time and keep it: it is a credit against your tax.

Register step by step

Premises and location

• Laundry: a ground-floor shop with water storage, a drain, separate machine sockets, a dry lockable store, and space for one-way flow (Unit 1); near hostels, quarters, offices and hotels. Get a written lease of at least a year, and check with the Assembly before you pay rent or fit out (the author's advice).
• Cleaning company: a store for equipment and chemicals (locked, aired, with an eyewash; Source: CDC ICAN Cleaning 2019), an office corner, and transport.

Start-up budget (Esi's Clean and Press, all example figures unless a source is named)

The GH¢1,200 is: ORC business name 130; fire certificate non-residential 500; and STMA permit, an example of 570 because the category was not confirmed.

Funding options

• Savings and susu groups; government is working to link savings groups to banks.
• Loans only from licensed lenders, with the APR in writing. The Bank of Ghana's policy rate was 14.00% and inflation 5.2% when its site was checked in October 2026.
• Ghana Enterprises Agency: SME GO, Business-in-a-Box, SME High Growth and Kaizen programmes, and Business Advisory Centres in Takoradi, Shama, Effia-Kwesimintsim, Mpohor and Ahanta West.
• 2026 Budget: GH¢401 million for a Women's Development Bank, GH¢170 million for a National Apprenticeship Programme, GH¢160 million for Adwumawura and GH¢110 million for the 24-Hour Economy programme. A 24-hour hospital cleaning directive fits the 24-hour economy idea: ask how cleaning companies apply.
• Assemblies' disability fund: 5% from 2026, aimed at skills training, assistive devices and start-up capital.
• Prepaid packages (Level 2) bring cash in at the start of the month.

Staff, SSNIT and PAYE

Contract and pay follow the Labour Act (Unit 3) and the minimum wage of GH¢21.77 a day.

SSNIT. The worker pays 5.5% and the employer 13% of basic salary, 18.5% in all. The employer pays within 14 days after month end; 13.5% goes to SSNIT (Tier 1), which passes 2.5% to the health insurance authority, and 5% to a private Tier 2 trustee. Late payment costs 3% a month. Register workers when you hire them.

PAYE (monthly bands from 1 September 2026): first GH¢588 at 0%; next 80 at 5%; next 100 at 10%; next 2,900 at 17.5%; next 16,000 at 25%; next 30,332 at 30%; above 50,000 at 35%. Deduct the worker's SSNIT first. Pay by the 15th of the next month; casual workers pay 5%.

At GH¢960: PAYE = 80 × 5% = 4.00, plus 100 × 10% = 10.00, plus (907.20 − 768) × 17.5% = 24.36, total 38.36 (author's arithmetic from the bands). At GH¢1,200: 4.00 + 10.00 + (1,134 − 768) × 17.5% = 78.05.

Casual cleaners for post-construction and deep-clean jobs: pay at least the daily minimum for each day and withhold 5%. This is not legal or tax advice.

Insurance

Ghana law is reported to require business premises to be insured against fire and other risks, but the section numbers were not verified. Use only insurers licensed by the National Insurance Commission; check at nic.gov.gh. Ask for written quotes for: premises, machines and stock; customers' goods in your care; public liability for damage on clients' sites; and workers' injury cover. Which covers are compulsory for a small business was not verified.

Market yourself

A WhatsApp Business catalogue; a free Google Business Profile with photos and reviews; a company profile (one page: services, clients, staff training, safety, insurance, contacts) for hotels, offices, builders and hospitals; uniforms and ID cards; before-and-after photos; referrals.

Accessibility

The Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715) is reported to give employers a tax rebate for hiring disabled people, and it requires accessible public places and bans job discrimination. Workable roles for many persons with disabilities: pressing from a seated board; folding, packing and tagging; reception and the order board; quality inspection; bookkeeping; supervising teams; office dusting and wiping. Adjustments (the author's suggestions): seated work surfaces at 71–86 cm with knee space; trolleys so nobody carries wet loads; pre-measured dispensers and tactile chemical labels; picture-based procedures; light or vibrating alarms for deaf staff; step-free entry; a partner for ladders and post-construction sites.

The one-page business plan

Check yourself

1. Why might a small cleaning business need to register for VAT from its first month?
2. What does an employer pay to SSNIT on a GH¢1,200 salary, and by when?
3. A hospital pays your invoice but deducts 7.5%. What is it, and what do you ask for?

Competency standard

Range. One month of sample records and one month of the trainee's own or practice records. Evidence. Cash book; ledger and trial balance; profit and loss; balance sheet; reconciliation; stock and debtors records; costing sheets.

See the hub's Money Skills Level 2 for the basics. This unit applies them to a laundry and cleaning company. Every figure for Esi's Clean and Press is an example.

The daily set of records

An income statement (profit and loss) shows sales minus the cost of sales, giving gross profit, then other costs, giving net profit. A balance sheet shows what the business owns and owes: assets equal liabilities plus equity.

Double entry in ten minutes

Every transaction has two sides. Assets = liabilities + equity. A debit increases an asset or an expense; a credit increases a liability, the owner's capital or income. Debits always equal credits, so a trial balance should have equal totals; it is only a partial check, because some errors keep the sides equal.

Esi's first week (example, before VAT to keep it simple). She starts with cash GH¢2,000 and capital GH¢2,000.

The sides match.

A month for Esi's Clean and Press (example)

Starting position (day 1). Esi paid GH¢1,200 for registrations and permits before opening (written off). She holds cash and MoMo of GH¢6,000 (working cash plus the first month's chemicals money), equipment costing GH¢35,300, and the loan of GH¢15,000. She is VAT-registered (see the flag in Unit 5).

The month's activity (example; sales shown before VAT).

VAT at 20% is added to every invoice: output VAT 22,925 × 20% = 4,585. Cash received from paid sales: (9,000 + 4,000 + 2,800 + 1,500) × 1.2 = 20,760. Debtors at month end: (2,500 + 3,125) × 1.2 = 6,750.

Direct costs (before VAT): laundry detergents, starch, bags and hangers used 1,600; water 500; electricity 1,400; cleaning chemicals and cloths used 900; casual cleaners 1,800; job transport 500. Total 6,700. Esi bought GH¢3,100 of detergents and chemicals before VAT (VAT on them 620), used 2,500 of them and has 600 left in stock; she still owes the supplier 800.

VAT is not in the profit and loss: it is collected for the GRA. Staff pay is above the 2026 minimum of about GH¢587.79 a month. Employer's SSNIT is 13%.

VAT for the month. Output VAT 4,585 − input VAT on the supplies 620 = GH¢3,965 to pay by the last working day of next month. Input VAT can be claimed only with proper VAT invoices; NHIL and GETFund are now claimable as input tax.

The PAYE of 232.82 is 2 × 78.05 + 2 × 38.36, and the worker's SSNIT 237.60 is 2 × 66.00 + 2 × 52.80, from the payroll table in Unit 5.

The two sides match: the month's books agree.

Profit is not cash. Profit kept was 5,868.56 and cash rose 4,785.42 (from 6,000 to 10,785.42). Start with 5,868.56. Add back depreciation 600 (no cash left). Add the amounts not yet paid: supplier 800, VAT 3,965, SSNIT 799.20, PAYE 322.82, permits 100, tax set-aside 929.84. Take away cash tied up: debtors 6,750 and stock 600. Take away the loan principal repaid, 1,250. Result: 5,868.56 + 600 + 800 + 3,965 + 799.20 + 322.82 + 100 + 929.84 − 6,750 − 600 − 1,250 = 4,785.42: exactly the rise in cash.

How much of the 10,785.42 is free? Already owed: 800 + 3,965 + 799.20 + 322.82 + 100 + 929.84 = 6,916.86. Free cash is GH¢3,868.56. The VAT is the trap: it sits in the till but belongs to the GRA.

Laundry and cleaning entries to watch

Cost per kg, margin and mark-up

Laundry direct cost per kg (example). Esi washed about 1,500 kg in the month. Laundry consumables 1,600 + water 500 + electricity 1,400 = 3,500 ÷ 1,500 = GH¢2.33 per kg (close to the GH¢2.40 used in Unit 1).

Margin or mark-up? Margin is profit as a share of the price; mark-up is profit as a share of the cost. A hotel paying GH¢5.28 per kg with a direct cost of 2.40: margin (5.28 − 2.40) ÷ 5.28 = 54.5%; mark-up 2.88 ÷ 2.40 = 120%.

Break-even. Each cedi of sales leaves (22,925 − 6,700) ÷ 22,925 = 70.8% after direct costs. Fixed costs including the owner's wage are 6,926.60 + 2,500 = 9,426.60. Break-even sales = 9,426.60 ÷ 0.708 = about GH¢13,319 a month before VAT. Esi sold 22,925, so her margin of safety is (22,925 − 13,319) ÷ 22,925 = about 42%.

Depreciation

Straight-line depreciation spreads the cost over the years of use: (cost − salvage value) ÷ years. Esi's GH¢600 a month is: washers (11,000 − 1,000) ÷ 5 = 2,000; twin tub (2,100 − 300) ÷ 4 = 450; irons (2,950 − 250) ÷ 3 = 900; vacuums 2,800 ÷ 4 = 700; mop buckets 1,950 ÷ 3 = 650; tables and racks 3,500 ÷ 5 = 700; plumbing 4,000 ÷ 10 = 400; fit-out 3,000 ÷ 5 = 600; safety kit 1,500 ÷ 5 = 300; cleaning tools 2,500 ÷ 5 = 500. Total 7,200 a year, 600 a month (example lives and salvage values).

Stock, debtors, petty cash and MoMo

Tax, payroll and filing records

Filing calendar:

Keep records for at least 6 years from the end of the year of assessment or VAT period, longer if there is a dispute. Software: a spreadsheet is enough to start; Zoho Books lists a free plan for one user and an accountant up to 1,000 invoices a year for revenue under US$50,000, and Wave lists a free starter plan. Companies may follow IFRS for SMEs; its 2025 edition applies from 1 January 2027. VAT invoices are verified by QR code under the e-VAT system. This is not tax advice.

Month-end routine

Check yourself

1. Why is the VAT in Esi's till not her money?
2. Esi's profit kept was 5,868.56 but cash rose only 4,785.42. Name two reasons.
3. What is the difference between margin and mark-up?

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own business plan. Evidence. Quality procedures; price sheet; contract checklist; business plan and forecast; panel score sheet.

Quality and customers

Answer messages quickly, re-do a faulty job without argument, keep promised dates, and ask regular customers what they want next.

Pricing strategy and discounts

Use tiers: walk-in item prices; prepaid packages; contract rates for hotels and offices; express surcharges. Write a discount rule (for example: 5% off contracts paid within 7 days; no discount for clients more than 30 days late; examples).

Grow step by step

• One new contract or service at a time; check machine capacity, staff, cash and your quality system at each step.
• A third machine or a dryer only when the cash forecast shows you can pay (below).
• New services: sofa and carpet care, terrazzo care, post-construction for builders, school uniform packages.
• Partnerships: builders and estate developers who refer post-construction work; hotels and guest houses; a detergent supplier on credit with written terms; a hub or charity for training staff.
• Institutional contracts and tenders only after honest costing (Units 2 and 4).
• Make your own detergent only with FDA registration.

Records for loans, succession and ethics

A lender wants: registration papers and permits; 12 months of cash book; profit and loss; balance sheet; bank and MoMo statements; tax and SSNIT records; contracts; a cash forecast; and a clear use for the money (see Money Skills Level 2). Name a successor who knows the customers, contracts, suppliers, procedures and passwords; keep records in a safe place with a copy elsewhere.

Ethics: never mix chemicals to "make them stronger"; never dilute a client's product below the label and charge for full strength; never wear, lend or keep customers' clothes; return everything found in pockets; respect clients' privacy and property; never print a registration or VAT number you do not hold; pay staff on time and obey the Labour Act.

Your 12-month cash-flow forecast (example)

A cash forecast has opening cash, money in, money out and closing cash for each month. Esi starts from her actual closing cash of GH¢10,785 (Unit 6). Her assumptions (examples):

(Rounded to the nearest cedi; author's arithmetic from the assumptions.) Yearly sales before VAT are GH¢274,550. Cash grows in every month in this example because the margins are healthy, debtors are paid in 30 days and there is no big purchase. Test the bad cases: a lost contract (Unit 6), clients paying in 60 or 90 days, a broken machine, or the GRA confirming a different tax route.

Capstone: present your plan

Prepare and present to a panel (10 minutes plus questions):

Check yourself

1. What four lines does every month of a cash forecast have?
2. Name two "bad cases" to test in a forecast.
3. Name three things a lender wants to see.

1. Write the laundry capacity formula.
2. What does the guidance say about separating soiled and clean linen?
3. What four things does a cleaning specification line state?
4. How do you work out how many cleaners a contract needs?
5. Name three Labour Act rules a small employer must follow.
6. How do you calculate a risk score in the simple matrix?
7. Name four documents a cleaning tender may require.
8. Why might a laundry or cleaning business need VAT registration from the start?
9. What is the employer's SSNIT rate and the deadline?
10. In Esi's month, why did cash rise less than profit kept?
11. Esi's direct costs are 29.2% of sales and fixed costs plus owner's wage are 9,426.60. Roughly what is her monthly break-even?
12. Name four things you present on panel day.

Best next reads: the CDC and ICAN environmental cleaning guide; the hub's Money Skills Level 2, Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2, Workplace Safety and Soap Making manuals; the GRA's VAT and PAYE pages.

What this module does not cover: dry cleaning with solvents, industrial tunnel washers and flatwork ironers, hospital terminal cleaning of isolation and theatre areas, pest control and fumigation, rope access and high-rise window cleaning, and making detergents (see the hub's Soap Making manuals).

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.