Why price by time, not by the square foot
Square footage is a decent proxy for cleaning time, but bathrooms and kitchens take far longer per square foot than bedrooms and hallways, and a deep clean of the same home takes half again as long as a maintenance clean. That is why the estimate combines size, room counts and the cleaning type instead of using a flat rate per square foot. Price per square foot is still useful as a sanity check: divide the price by the size and compare with what you have charged on similar homes.
The hours model is a starting point calibrated for a typical two-storey family home. Track your actual time on a few jobs and adjust. If your crews consistently finish a 4.75-hour estimate in 4 hours, your target profit can be lower or your price can be the same with more margin; if they take 6, raise the labor rate you enter or add a condition surcharge.
Setting the labor cost correctly
Enter the fully loaded hourly cost of a cleaner: wages plus the employer share of payroll taxes, workers' compensation, paid time off and any benefits. For an employee paid $18 an hour the loaded cost is often $21 to $24. If you use independent contractors, use their rate. Drive time between jobs is real cost too; either add it to the hourly figure or add a per-visit travel charge to supplies.
The number of cleaners changes the time on site but not the labor-hours or the cost, so the price is the same whether one person takes 4.75 hours or two people take 2.4. What changes is how many jobs a crew can do in a day, which is the lever for growing revenue once pricing is right.
Frequency discounts and recurring revenue
Recurring clients are the foundation of a cleaning business: predictable schedules, homes that stay in good condition and far lower marketing cost per visit. The default discounts of 15% weekly, 10% every two weeks and 5% monthly reflect that a regularly cleaned home is quicker and that a guaranteed slot is worth something. The monthly revenue readout shows what a client is worth per month at each frequency, which is the number to think about when deciding how much discount to offer. A weekly client at $147 a visit brings in about $637 a month; the same home as a monthly client brings in $164.
The profit per visit and effective margin readouts show what the discount does to your profit. If the effective margin after discount drops below what you need, raise the target profit percentage or reduce the discount for that frequency.
Deep cleans, move-outs and extras
- Deep clean (x1.5): baseboards, inside the oven and fridge, cabinet fronts, light fixtures, window sills. A good first visit for a new recurring client.
- Move-out (x1.75): an empty home cleaned to hand-over standard, including inside cabinets and closets. Usually one-time and full price.
- Extras: inside windows, laundry, organising and pet hair are best priced as add-ons rather than folded into the estimate. Add their cost to supplies for a quick quote, or quote them separately.
- Condition: a home that has not been cleaned in months takes longer than the model suggests. Many businesses quote the first visit as a deep clean for that reason.
Checking the result against the market
Compare the price per hour on site with what cleaning services in your area charge; it is the figure clients unconsciously compare when they ask "how long will it take". If your price per hour is far above local rates, look at the labor cost and the target profit. If it is far below, you are probably under-pricing: the target profit has to cover your office, insurance, software, marketing and your own time before it is actually profit. The hourly rate calculator can help work out what your own time needs to earn, and the profit margin calculator converts between margin and markup if you prefer to think in markup. For a fuller walk-through, read how to price house cleaning jobs.