Cleaning
The Cleaning Authority Franchise
A residential house-cleaning franchise offered in two territory sizes -- a larger Enterprise Market and a smaller Hometown Market -- built around Team Cleaning, a crew-based cleaning method the company developed rather than the single-cleaner model most residential-cleaning competitors use. Franchises have been offered since 1996; the current franchisor entity was formed in 2021 as part of a securitization transaction that made it part of Authority Brands (also the franchisor behind Mosquito Joe, Rainbow Restoration, and America's Swimming Pool Company), owned by private-equity firm Apax Partners. Franchised unit count grew each of the last three years.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from The Cleaning Authority's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$20,000
Total to open
$92,850–$147,100
Ongoing royalty
6% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough cleaning industry average, not a figure from The Cleaning Authority's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$212,850 – $267,100
Startup investment
$92,850–$147,100
Royalty per year (6%)
$24,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$120,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. The Cleaning Authority's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical cleaning profit margin (~20%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general cleaning industry benchmark, not a figure from The Cleaning Authority's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
1.2–1.8 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: The Cleaning Authority is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is The Cleaning Authority actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of The Cleaning Authority's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 218 | 221 | +3 |
| 2024 | 221 | 233 | +12 |
| 2025 | 233 | 241 | +8 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 8 franchised units, ending the year at 241 total.
What you're actually signing up for
The cost and growth numbers above are only part of the picture. These three FDD items are the ones a prospective franchisee tends to weigh most heavily once they're past the sticker price.
Training & ongoing support (Item 11)
Training and most ongoing franchisee support (call-center services, the TCA IQ software, local marketing administration) are delivered through affiliate Authority Brands, Inc. rather than the franchisor entity directly; a Franchisee Portal is provided for communications and reporting.
Territory protection (Item 12)
A protected -- though not exclusive -- territory defined by zip codes (30,000-60,000 Designated Households for an Enterprise Market, 15,000-29,999 for a Hometown Market): The Cleaning Authority won't operate there itself or authorize another franchisee to, but reserves the right to compete through other channels or brands it controls.
Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)
15-year term with one 10-year renewal option. Disputes are arbitrated in Columbia, MD (with carve-outs for injunctions, fee collection, and IP enforcement) under Maryland law; non-compete after termination is 2 years within the territory or 40 miles of it.
How The Cleaning Authority compares to other Cleaning franchises
Across the 7 cleaning franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $113,364–$157,614, with royalties averaging around 7.3% of gross sales (based on the 6 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
Keep going
- The Cleaning Authority and Two Maids are both cleaning franchises; The Cleaning Authority's total investment starts about $590 lower than Two Maids's. Two Maids Franchise
- The Cleaning Authority and Office Pride are both cleaning franchises; Office Pride's total investment starts about $21,850 lower than The Cleaning Authority's. Office Pride Franchise
Where this came from: California DFPI's most recent filing for this entity (dfpi id 654144 or 521092) is a Net Worth/Experience Exemption, not a full FDD, so this entry is sourced from Minnesota's CARDS registry instead: MN File No. 9745, Clean FDD issued April 30, 2026, filed with MN 5/1/2026, effective 7/16/2026. Item 5: base Franchise Fee is $20,000 for an Enterprise Market ($15,000 for a Hometown Market), plus a separate variable Territory Fee ($0.75 per Designated Household in the territory, $22,500-$45,000 for a typical Enterprise Market). Item 6: royalty is tiered by annual Gross Revenue -- 6% on the first $600,000, 5% from $600,000.01-$1,300,000, 4% above that (resetting to 6% each new calendar year); 6% used here as the rate that applies to the large majority of single-territory volumes. A separate Brand Fund contribution (1% of Gross Revenue or $200/week, whichever is less) and a variable Local Marketing Fee also apply. Item 7 Totals: Enterprise Market $92,850-$147,100 (used here); the smaller Hometown Market format totals $76,600-$119,599. Item 20 Table No. 1 confirmed. Item 19 discloses a financial performance representation; not reproduced here -- read Item 19 directly. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-07-16. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.