Cleaning Business Pricing Sheet: How to Build One That Quotes for You
How to build a cleaning business pricing sheet or calculator that turns home size, condition and clean type into a consistent price every time.
A pricing sheet does one job: it makes the same home get the same price no matter how tired you are when you quote it. Without one, you quote low when you're nervous and high when you're busy, and clients notice.
What goes on the sheet
Inputs are the things the client tells you: bedrooms, bathrooms, approximate square footage, clean type, condition, pets, add-ons, frequency.
Your numbers are fixed until you change them: hourly target, supply cost per job, minimum charge, travel zones, recurring discount.
Outputs are the estimated hours and the price.
The formula
Estimated hours = base hours for the home size × clean-type multiplier × condition multiplier + add-on hours.
Price = estimated hours × hourly target + supplies + travel, then the higher of that and your minimum charge.
Recurring price = price × (1 − recurring discount), applied after the first clean.
Base hours by size
Fill this from your own timing, not from the internet. Time your first ten jobs. A starting table might look like this, as an example only: 1 bed 1 bath, 1.5 hours. 2 bed 1 bath, 2 hours. 3 bed 2 bath, 3 hours. 4 bed 3 bath, 4 hours. Correct it monthly.
Multipliers
- Clean type: standard 1.0, deep 1.6, move-out 1.8
- Condition: maintained 1.0, average 1.2, neglected 1.5
- Pets: add a fixed amount of time per pet
Office and commercial bids
Office work prices differently: by square footage and visit frequency, with a monthly total. Build a second tab that multiplies cleanable area by your production rate, then checks the margin. If the margin on a bid comes out thin, the sheet should flag it before you send it.
Keep it honest
Log estimated versus actual hours on every job. When actuals run over by more than 15 percent for a home type, raise the base hours. The sheet only works if you feed it.
Skip the build
The Cleaning Business Kit includes a working Excel and Google Sheets calculator with these formulas, the residential tabs, add-on prices, and an office bid tab that flags low-margin bids.
General information for small service businesses. Not legal, tax or financial advice. No particular results are promised. Example numbers are illustrations, not market rates.