Start with the work one visit requires

A useful commercial cleaning bid begins with the scope and the labour needed to complete it—not a generic price per square foot copied from another company. Use the commercial cleaning walkthrough checklist to confirm the areas being cleaned, the tasks, service frequency, access constraints, supplies, proof requirements, and anything excluded from the quote.

Use square footage or production rates as a check when they are meaningful to your operation, but base this method on the crew hours you actually expect to pay for each visit.

1. Estimate crew hours correctly

Write down the number of cleaners and the hours each cleaner will work. Two cleaners working two hours each means four paid cleaner-hours, even though the visit lasts two elapsed hours.

Cleaner-hours per visit = number of cleaners × hours per cleaner

Keep the estimate tied to a clear scope. Restrooms, floor care, waste handling, security procedures, and restricted access can change the time even when two facilities have similar floor area.

To build that time input from your own task and support-time assumptions, use the labor-hours calculator.

2. Use loaded labour cost—not the billing rate

Loaded hourly labour cost is what one cleaner hour costs the business. Begin with wages and include the employer costs you choose to allocate, such as payroll expenses, workers’ compensation, or benefits. Do not use the customer billing rate here.

Labour cost per visit = cleaners × hours per cleaner × loaded hourly labour cost

Be consistent. If an employer cost is already included in the loaded labour rate, do not add it again as overhead.

3. Add the costs that belong to the visit

Add supplies, travel, equipment allocation, supervision, and other overhead that should be covered by this visit. Use amounts you can explain rather than a percentage borrowed from another business.

Consumables used for the service
Travel or mileage allocated to the visit
Equipment wear or rental assigned to the job
Site-specific administration or supervision
Other overhead not already included in labour

Total cost per visit = labour + supplies + travel + other overhead

4. Apply profit margin as a share of the price

Choose the margin your business intends to retain on this estimate. Margin is profit divided by the selling price, so it is not calculated by simply adding the same percentage to cost.

Suggested price before tax = total cost ÷ (1 − target margin)

If total cost is $140 and the target margin is 30%, divide $140 by 0.70. The result is $200 before tax. Profit is $60, which is 30% of the $200 selling price. Use the margin and markup checker to check a customer price against your costs.

5. Convert the per-visit price to the actual month

Multiply the rounded price per visit by the number of visits planned for the specific month. Do not assume every month has the same number of service days when the schedule varies.

Estimated monthly price = suggested price per visit × planned visits that month

Fictional exampleTwo cleaners × two hours × CAD $25 loaded cost = $100 labour. Add $10 supplies, $10 travel, and $20 overhead for a total cost of $140. At a 30% margin, the suggested price is $200 before tax. Eight planned visits total $1,600.

Once a customer accepts the quote, the approved scope should remain visible as work is scheduled and completed. Follow a fictional accepted-bid-to-recurring-work-order example through visit instructions, completion proof, and separately approved extra work.

6. Check the quote before sending it

Present the scope and customer price with the free commercial cleaning proposal template. Keep your internal cost and margin calculations separate.

Confirm the scope, frequency, exclusions, and access assumptions.
Check that crew hours reflect the whole team, not just elapsed site time.
Make sure no employer cost or overhead has been counted twice.
Review whether the price is operationally realistic for this customer and facility.
State that tax, special projects, and unapproved extra work are handled separately where applicable.

The result is an estimate based on your own assumptions. It is not a market rate or a guarantee that the actual job will achieve the projected profit.

Commercial cleaning bid calculatorCalculate a price per visit from your own costs and target margin.Cleaning profit margin and markup calculatorCheck an entered cost and customer price for profit or loss, margin and markup.