Commercial cleaning bid example: workload, costs and margin

Free worked example for owner-operated cleaning businesses

What does an office-cleaning contract actually cost to deliver?

Start with paid worker-time and your costs. A low price can look attractive while leaving too little room for travel, overhead or a slower job.

This is a fictional educational example, not an industry rate or a market-price recommendation. It illustrates the calculation used in TailorScan Commercial Cleaning Bid Studio.

1. Count the workload

20 planned site visits per month.
Four rooms × 10 worker-minutes × 20 visits = 800 minutes.
Four fixtures × five worker-minutes × 20 visits = 400 minutes.
30 paid setup/travel worker-minutes × 20 visits = 600 minutes.

Total: 1,800 paid worker-minutes, or 30 worker-hours per month. Monthly visit counts are planning averages; confirm the actual calendar.

2. Include more than wages

Fictional monthly selected costs
Cost	Amount
30 hours × $25 loaded labor cost	$750
Supplies	$100
Equipment reserve	$50
Overhead allocation	$150
$600 startup recovery over 12 months	$50
Subtotal	$1,100
10% cost contingency	$110
Total selected costs	$1,210

3. Model the fee and target margin

With a 3% payment fee, $1 fixed monthly payment fee and 30% target margin after selected costs:

($1,210 + $1) ÷ (1 − 0.30 − 0.03) = $1,807.47, rounded upward to cents.

A 20% increase in labor cost raises the modeled monthly price to $2,053.74. That is a scenario, not a forecast or an instruction to change an accepted contract.

Use this walkthrough before your next bid

Record measured quantities and observed paid worker-times.
Write the included scope, exclusions and service frequency.
Include travel, supplies, equipment, overhead and startup recovery.
Test a slower or more expensive labor scenario.
Review the final scope and customer terms before submitting.

Want to calculate, compare and reuse your own bids?

Commercial Cleaning Bid Studio — $69 one-time download. Version 1.1 supports task-based costs, labor stress scenarios, reusable bid records, scope/cost comparisons and reviewed text or printable proposal drafts.

Check compatibility before buying: this is a ZIP containing local-browser software. Extract every file and open START_HERE.html in a browser supporting local JavaScript. Phone layouts are included, but downloaded HTML opening varies by device; a hosted customer account or native phone app is not included. Early access; device file-saving and customer delivery testing remain unverified.

See Bid Studio contents and buy