How to bid a commercial cleaning job
A janitorial bid starts from labor, because labor is most of the cost. The calculator works through it in this order.
- Split the building into area types. Restrooms take far longer per square foot than open offices.
- Divide each area by its production rate, the square feet one cleaner covers per hour. The sum is labor hours per visit.
- Multiply by visits per month. Five visits a week is 5 × 52 ÷ 12, about 21.67 visits a month.
- Labor cost is monthly hours times the wage, plus your payroll taxes, insurance and benefits as a percent of wages.
- Add supplies and equipment as a percent of labor, then overhead as a percent of those direct costs.
- Price is total cost divided by (1 minus your profit margin).
Margin is not markup
A 20 percent margin means profit is 20 percent of the price. On $1,000 of cost, that is a price of $1,250 and $250 profit. Adding 20 percent to cost gives $1,200, which is only a 16.7 percent margin. The calculator uses margin and shows the division, so you can see which one you are getting.
Production rates
The production rates on this page are placeholders so the example produces a bid. They are not industry standards. Real rates depend on the cleaning tasks, the equipment, the floor type and how full the space is. The best source is your own time records from similar buildings. Walk the site, list the tasks, and adjust each rate to match.
Reading the result
Check the per-visit price, the price per square foot per month, and the billed rate per labor hour. If the bid looks high next to what the client pays now, look at the hours per visit before cutting the margin.
Cleaning homes instead? Use the house cleaning calculator.
Questions
How do you calculate a janitorial bid?
Work out labor hours from square feet and production rates, multiply by visits per month, cost the labor with wages and payroll burden, add supplies and overhead, then divide by (1 minus your margin). The calculator shows each of those steps.
What production rate should I use for office cleaning?
Use your own measured rate if you have one. The default here is a placeholder, not an industry figure. Time your crew on a similar building and divide the square feet by the hours.
What is the difference between margin and markup?
Margin is profit as a share of the price. Markup is profit as a share of cost. A 25 percent markup is a 20 percent margin. This calculator asks for margin.
How many visits per month is 3 times a week?
3 × 52 ÷ 12, which is 13 visits a month on average.
Can I print the bid for the client?
Yes. Add your business name and the client, then print or save the quote as a PDF. The bid shows the monthly price and service summary, not your costs.