FOR CLEANING BUSINESS OWNERS

How to price commercial cleaning jobs without copying a competitor's rate

Build the quote from paid cleaner-hours, supplies, travel, overhead, service frequency and the margin required by the business.

Start with the service specification

List the areas, tasks, frequency and expected standard before estimating time. A weekly office clean and a one-off deep clean may cover similar floor area but have very different labour profiles.

Convert the scope into paid cleaner-hours

Count the total hours paid across the team, including relevant setup and paid travel. Two cleaners for two hours create four cleaner-hours of labour.

Add supplies, equipment and overhead

Recover chemicals, consumables, equipment wear and a realistic share of recurring business overhead. Include vehicle and travel costs where they are material to the contract.

Account for frequency and minimum viable value

Recurring work can become more efficient, but every visit still occupies route and schedule capacity. Check contribution per visit and per paid hour rather than discounting automatically for frequency.

Price for the target margin

Once the cost base is complete, solve for the selling price required to produce the selected margin after sale-linked fees. Then review the result against scope, risk, service level and the market.

Model the job with the free calculator

Select the small commercial clean example, then replace every assumption with the actual contract numbers.

Open the House Cleaning Business Pricing Calculator ↗