Cleaning job pricing calculator
What visit price recovers the entered costs at your selected surplus share?
One representative blended residential visit by one two-person crew; the company has two such crews. Paid owner labor is in allocated overhead once, never a third field cleaner.
One blended visit uses 3.8 cleaner hours, or 1.9 elapsed hours for two cleaners. The $21 blended cleaner wage excludes the owner. Nonbillable time allocates all paid unused capacity once. The physical supply basket is $10 per visit. Vehicle operating costs, paid owner labor and other fixed costs are divided by the two-crew company's 129.9 mature monthly visits. Processing and employer tip allowances are projected at the quote needed for the selected 10% surplus target. Every number is a projection of the authored roster and cost ledger, requiring local validation.
Count people who work together. Paid owner management belongs in overhead unless the owner is part of this field crew.
Time during which the whole crew works together on this visit. This is not total cleaner-hours.
Allocate paid travel, setup, breaks, leave and unused capacity once, consistent with the roster.
Use gross wages before employer burden. For mixed roles, use a documented weighted wage.
Additional employer costs divided by gross wages. Include relevant taxes, insurance and benefits once. No statutory rate is supplied.
Materials consumed by this visit.
Vehicle operating cost allocation. Travel wages already belong in paid hours.
Include management and other costs once, excluding entries above. Recalculate any sales-based fee allocation after changing the quote.
Must be below 100%. Completeness of the entered cost basis determines what this surplus covers. This is a margin on sales, not a markup on cost.
Your entered scenario
Starting exampleCalculation updated using the entered assumptions.
- Productive cleaner-hours
- 3.80
- Nonbillable cleaner-hours
- 1.53
- Total paid cleaner-hours
- 5.33
- Productive labor
- $91.57
- Nonbillable labor
- $36.95
- Supplies
- $10.00
- Nonlabor travel
- $10.01
- Other allocated overhead
- $77.61
- Surplus / quote
- 10.0%
- Markup / entered cost
- 11.1%
Preset sources: Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025; FLSA Hours Worked Advisor: Travel Between Job Sites; FLSA Hours Worked Advisor: Rest and Meal Periods; Publication 15 (2026), Employer's Tax Guide; Payments and invoicing pricing; Plan your business
Formula and interpretation
Paid cleaner-hours = crew size × (productive visit hours + allocated nonbillable hours per worker)
Visit cost = burdened paid labor + supplies + nonlabor travel + other overhead
Required quote = entered visit cost ÷ (1 − target surplus share)
To reproduce the worked example, choose Hypothetical arithmetic example under Starting example. Business presets have their own inputs; compare the selected values before applying the result.
Crew-hours measure elapsed time while the crew works together. Cleaner-hours add the paid time of all crew members.
A target surplus share is measured against selling price. Markup uses cost as its denominator and therefore differs.
Worked example: two cleaners need two elapsed service hours plus half an hour of paid nonbillable time each. Five paid cleaner-hours at $24 burdened cost, $10 supplies, $8 nonlabor travel and $30 overhead total $168. Dividing by 90% gives a $186.67 quote at the selected 10% entered-cost surplus.
Use the Cleaning Company preset for that published roster and visit allocation. If a customer cannot accept the cost-based quote, change the job scope, route time or cost structure before treating the target surplus as achievable.
Definitions and sources
These references support definitions and calculation boundaries, not the selected amounts. Worked examples below use the hypothetical arithmetic inputs. A selected business preset has its own roster, cost allocation and evidence; its results can differ without a formula error.
- Operating profit margin definition — BDC. Supports the profit-to-sales denominator. The entered-cost price equation is an algebraic scenario; no Canadian benchmark is transferred. Accessed October 4, 2026.
- Employer compensation concepts — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Supports wage and benefit categories and the distinction between shares of compensation and a burden divided by wages. No observed rate is used. Accessed October 4, 2026.
Continue with a related calculation
Crew hourly rate
What hourly crew rate covers the paid roster and allocated monthly costs?
Open calculator →Payroll cost
What does the entered paid roster cost, including the employer-cost allowance?
Open calculator →Break-even point
What monthly sales volume covers the entered operating costs?
Open calculator →Connect the calculation to a complete operating plan
Review startup uses, staffing, annual results and input evidence alongside the relevant worksheets. A single calculation does not replace local quotes or a dated cash schedule.
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