Price the scope before you price the square footage
A commercial cleaning quote begins with a written scope. Square footage is useful, but it does not tell you how many restrooms, touchpoints, occupied work areas, floor types, security steps, or special requests the crew will handle. Two facilities of the same size can require very different labor.
Walk the site when possible and record what is included, how often it is performed, when the crew can enter, who supplies consumables, and which services require separate approval. A precise scope protects the customer from surprises and protects you from quietly adding unpaid work.
- Facility size, layout, occupancy, floor types, and current condition
- Tasks by area, including restrooms, break rooms, offices, entrances, and common areas
- Service frequency, permitted work hours, alarm or key procedures, and travel
- Excluded or separately priced work such as windows, carpet extraction, floor finishing, deep cleaning, and emergency requests
Estimate labor with a crew-hour calculation
Estimate how many workers the job needs and how many paid hours each worker will spend on the account. Base labor is workers multiplied by hours per worker multiplied by the hourly wage. Include setup, travel between assigned sites when applicable, supply handling, inspection, and closing procedures if the company pays for that time.
Then apply a labor-burden percentage that reflects the costs your business actually carries beyond hourly wages. That percentage is not universal. Build it from your payroll taxes, workers' compensation, paid time, benefits, and other employee costs rather than copying another contractor's assumption.
- Base labor = workers × hours per worker × hourly wage
- Loaded labor = base labor × (1 + labor-burden rate)
- Use a realistic productivity assumption and add time for conditions that slow the crew
- Do not treat the owner's working time as free labor
Add every cost the job must carry
Loaded labor is only part of the cost. Add job-specific supplies, chemicals, liners, equipment rental, parking, tolls, subcontractors, and other direct expenses. Then make sure the price contributes to company overhead such as insurance, vehicles, equipment replacement, software, office work, sales time, training, and administration.
You can represent overhead as a job cost, a percentage, an hourly allocation, or another method supported by your bookkeeping. The method matters less than consistently including the real cost. A bid that covers the crew but ignores the company can still lose money.
Use margin, not a guessed markup
Profit margin and markup are not the same. Margin divides profit by the customer price. Markup divides profit by cost. If your estimated cost is $100 and you add a 30% markup, the price is $130, but the margin is only about 23.1%.
To calculate a quote for a target profit margin, divide estimated cost by one minus the target margin. A 30% target margin uses estimated cost ÷ 0.70. This is a planning calculation, not a guarantee: actual profit changes when time, supply use, rework, cancellations, or other costs change.
- Estimated profit = customer quote − estimated job cost
- Estimated margin = estimated profit ÷ customer quote
- Target-margin quote = estimated job cost ÷ (1 − target margin)
Worked example: a $650 planned quote
Assume the job needs two workers for eight hours each at $20 per hour. The owner enters an 18% labor-burden assumption, $35 in supplies, and $45 in other job costs. Those are example inputs only; substitute the figures from your own payroll, scope, and bookkeeping.
- Base labor: 2 workers × 8 hours × $20 = $320.00
- Loaded labor: $320.00 × 1.18 = $377.60
- Estimated job cost: $377.60 + $35.00 + $45.00 = $457.60
- Estimated profit at a $650 quote: $650.00 − $457.60 = $192.40
- Estimated margin: $192.40 ÷ $650.00 = 29.6%
- Quote for a 30% target margin: $457.60 ÷ 0.70 = $653.71
Convert a visit into a recurring account carefully
For recurring work, calculate the cost and price per visit first. Then multiply by the number of contracted visits. A weekly schedule averages 52 divided by 12, or about 4.33 visits per month, but the agreement should say how holidays, five-visit months, closures, skipped service, and extra requests are handled.
Check the complete account, not just one visit. Include recurring quality checks, supply restocking, customer communication, travel patterns, periodic tasks, and the cost of replacing or training workers. Separate one-time startup or restoration work from the maintenance price when the first service requires more effort.
Review estimated versus actual results
The first calculation is a decision tool. After the work begins, compare estimated labor, supplies, and other costs with what actually happened. Record scope changes and unexpected conditions instead of hiding them inside the crew's schedule.
If the actual margin is too low, identify the cause before changing every price. The estimate may have missed labor, the scope may have expanded, productivity may differ from the walkthrough, or the account may need a documented price or process change. Each completed job should make the next quote more accurate.
- Review crew hours and paid non-cleaning time
- Compare expected and actual supply use
- Record approved and unapproved scope changes
- Recalculate the account before renewing or expanding service
Know what the free checker does and does not do
The CTX Website Pros checker applies the formulas above to the numbers you enter. It is a fast sanity check for one planned bid; it does not know your insurance, equipment, vehicles, taxes, administration, rework, local requirements, or every overhead cost unless you represent those costs in your inputs.
Use the result alongside your bookkeeping, site walkthrough, written scope, customer agreement, and professional tax, legal, insurance, or accounting guidance when needed. No calculator can guarantee a profitable contract, but a consistent cost-and-margin method is stronger than guessing from a competitor's price.