Professional cleaning service quotes: complete guide

If you've been in the professional cleaning sector for a while, you know the problem usually isn't the quality of the work. The problem is winning the contract before you start. And that begins with a quote that inspires confidence, is clear and arrives before your competition's.

In this article we'll look at how to make cleaning quotes that win contracts, not just state prices. From the most common service types to how to calculate your rates without selling yourself short, with real examples and no fluff.

Why cleaning quotes fail (and you lose clients)

Before looking at what to do, it helps to understand what's done wrong. There are three mistakes that come up again and again in the sector:

Quotes that are too vague

“Office cleaning: $800/month.” How many times a month? What exactly does it include? The bathrooms? The windows? With what products? An ambiguous quote is an invitation to dispute. The client assumes the maximum possible, you charge the minimum possible and conflict is inevitable.

Prices with no justification

When a client receives three cleaning quotes and yours is the most expensive, they won't stay just because. If you don't explain why your service is worth what it costs (quality materials, trained staff, public liability insurance, eco-friendly products), the price wins and you lose the contract.

Slow response

A client asking for three cleaning quotes won't wait a week. The first to respond with a decent proposal usually keeps the contract. Speed is a competitive advantage as important as price.

Types of cleaning service and how to quote each one

Not all cleaning is the same, and your quote should reflect that. These are the most common types with their particularities:

Office and commercial premises cleaning

It's the bread and butter for most companies in the sector. Contracts are usually recurring (daily, weekly or fortnightly) and the client looks for reliability above all.

What needs to be specified in the quote?

Total area to be cleaned (m²)
Exact frequency (e.g. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6pm to 8pm)
Included tasks: floors, bins, bathrooms, kitchen, internal windows, furniture...
Excluded tasks (to avoid the “I thought it included...”)
Number of people assigned
Products included in the price or billed separately

Example quote line: “General office cleaning service (450 m²) — 3 days/week (Mon/Wed/Fri), 2 hours/day, 1 operative. Includes: floors, bathrooms, kitchen, emptying bins and surface dusting of furniture. Does not include: external windows, server room cleaning.”

Communal building cleaning

Residential blocks are a very common but also very demanding client. The price is decided by a residents' committee, so your proposal will be compared in detail.

Key points for this type of quote:

Areas included: staircase, lift, entrance hall, car park, external common areas
Frequency of each area (the staircase may be daily; the car park, weekly)
Incident management: what happens if a resident makes a mess outside hours?
Replenishment of consumables (toilet paper, soap) included or not
Minimum contract duration and renewal terms

For communal buildings, it's advisable to present a breakdown by area with its individual price. The committee can negotiate removing an area instead of haggling over the overall price, and you keep your margin.

End-of-build cleaning (post-construction)

This service is one-off, more intensive and involves far more work than maintenance cleaning. It's common in renovations, new builds and premises about to open to the public.

Factors that determine the price:

Type of work (partial renovation vs. complete new build)
Predominant materials (plaster, paint, tile grout...)
Floor area and ceiling height
Access and parking for your team and vehicle
Waste management (is it included or does the builder handle it?)

End-of-build cleaning shouldn't be quoted at a fixed price per m² without a site visit. The state of the build varies enormously. A blind quote of this kind usually ends in losses or work done “half-way”.

Window cleaning

A specialist service with its own pricing structure. The key factors are height, access (ladder, scaffold, cradle) and frequency.

Specify whether the price is per side (interior/exterior) or per complete window
State the access method and whether it requires special equipment
Clarify whether it includes frames and sills or just the glass

Specialist cleaning and disinfection

Disinfections, biohazard cleaning, pest removal, anti-damp treatments... are services that require specific staff and equipment, and whose quote must reflect the risk and specialisation.

For these services, always include:

The protocol you're going to apply
The approved products you use
Your company's or staff's certifications
The treatment certificate you provide on completion

How to calculate the price of your cleaning service

This is where many cleaning companies fall short. They miscalculate their costs, set a “market” price and then wonder why they're not making money. Let's do the maths properly.

Step 1: Calculate your cost per hour of work

The cost of a cleaning operative includes:

Gross wage (varies by region and contract type)
Employer's National Insurance and pension contributions on top of the gross wage
Uniforms, PPE and training
Absence and cover (set aside 5-8%)

Example: if you pay $12/hour gross and add employer contributions, your real cost might be around $14/hour. With a 6% absence allowance, it rises to ~$14.80/hour. On top of that you have to add materials.

Step 2: Calculate the cost of materials and products

Cleaning products represent between 5% and 10% of the total cost in maintenance services, but can rise to 15-20% in intensive or specialist cleaning.

Make an estimate by service type:

Standard office cleaning: $0.30-0.60/m² per month
End-of-build cleaning: $1.50-3/m² (depending on condition)
Window cleaning: minimum call-out + cost per m²

Step 3: Add overheads

Many sole traders and small cleaning businesses forget to include their own costs in the price:

Public liability insurance (essential)
Fuel and vehicle depreciation
Machinery (scrubber dryers, industrial vacuums, etc.)
Phone, accountant, management software
Your own management time (visits, quotes, coordination)

A practical rule: overheads usually represent between 15% and 25% of your turnover. If you turn over $10,000 a month, between $1,500 and $2,500 goes on overheads before you see a penny of profit.

Step 4: Apply your margin

Once you have the real total cost, apply your target margin. For cleaning services, a net margin of 10-20% is reasonable. Some specialist services can reach 30-40%.

Simple formula:
Sale price = (Total cost × 100) / (100 − desired margin %)

If your cost is $800 and you want a 20% net margin: 800 × 100 / 80 = $1,000.

Don't confuse margin with markup. A 25% markup on cost isn't the same as a 25% margin on the sale price.

What a professional cleaning quote must include

Now that you know how to calculate the price, let's see how to present it. A professional cleaning quote should have, as a minimum:

1. Your details and the client's

Your company name, registration/VAT number, contact, logo. Client details: company, registration number, service address and contact person. It sounds basic, but many cleaning quotes are anonymous or incomplete.

2. Detailed service description

Not “office cleaning”. Instead: “Maintenance cleaning service in [Company]'s offices at [address], floors 2 and 3, approximate area 320 m². Frequency: Tuesday and Thursday, 7pm to 9pm. Staff assigned: 2 operatives.”

3. Task breakdown

A list of what's done on each visit and how often. Distinguish between daily, weekly and monthly tasks. This protects both parties and avoids the classic “I thought it included cleaning the storeroom”.

4. What it does NOT include

This section is as important as the previous one. Expressly specify what isn't included: external windows, restricted areas, emergency cleaning, special treatments. That way you eliminate expectations you can't meet.

5. Materials and products

Do you provide them or the client? If you provide them, are they included in the price or billed separately? Do you use eco-friendly or conventional products? More and more clients value cleaning with sustainable products and are willing to pay more for it.

6. Price and payment terms

Monthly price (or per service), payment method (transfer, direct debit), billing date. In recurring contracts, state whether the price includes or excludes VAT and what happens if the client cancels a visit.

7. Contract duration and termination terms

Is the contract monthly, quarterly or annual? How much notice is needed to cancel? Is there a penalty for early termination? This is especially important when you've had to buy equipment or assign staff specifically for that client.

8. Insurance and liability

Expressly mention that you have public liability insurance and what its minimum cover is. For corporate clients or those with high-value premises, this can be a decisive factor. It's your differentiator against smaller companies working without insurance.

9. Quote validity

State how long the proposal is valid for (usually 30 days). Staff and material costs change, and you can't commit to a price indefinitely.

Pricing strategy: when to compete on price and when not to

The cleaning sector has fierce competition. There's always someone willing to do the job cheaper. The question is: do you want to compete on price or on value?

When lowering the price makes sense

To win a new high-volume client that can scale
To fill the routes of staff already assigned (low marginal cost)
For long-term contracts that give you stability

When to defend your price

When you offer something differential: higher insurance, certified eco-friendly products, permanent staff with specific training
When the client has already had problems with cheap suppliers
When the cost of acquiring that client is very high (many visits, a lot of time)

A useful trick: before lowering the price, offer to reduce the scope. “If the budget is tight, we can start with 2 weekly visits instead of 3 and adjust the frequency of bathroom cleaning.” That way you don't devalue your hourly rate and the client understands that quality has a cost.

The “fixed” quote mistake on variable services

One of the typical problems in cleaning is that the client asks for cleaning “of whatever's needed” but expects to pay a fixed price. This is a trap.

For services where volume can vary (post-event cleaning, emergency cleaning, special treatments), there are two solutions:

Base rate + extras: fixed price for the standard service, with clear rates for additional services
Price per hour or m²: more transparent for one-off or variable-volume services

Including a rate sheet attached to your quote is very useful. That way the client knows in advance how much an extra clean or a special treatment will cost, and there are no surprises on the invoice.

How to follow up on your cleaning quotes

Many cleaning companies send the quote and wait. Mistake. Follow-up is where contracts are won or lost.

An effective follow-up sequence:

The day after sending: email or call to confirm they've received the proposal and resolve immediate questions
After 5 days: a gentle follow-up. “Hi [name], I wanted to know whether you've had a chance to review the proposal. If you need any adjustment or clarification, we're available.”
After 12-15 days: last contact before the proposal expires. Mention the expiry date naturally.

No more than three contacts without a reply. If at that point there are no signs of life, the client isn't interested or has already chosen someone else. Close the loop and move on.

Quoting software for cleaning companies: what to look for

Up to a certain volume, a Word or Excel template works. But when you handle more than 10-15 quotes a month, manual management becomes a bottleneck.

Quoting software designed for the services sector like DealForge lets you:

Keep a service catalogue with up-to-date rates (price/hour, price/m², price by surface type)
Create quotes in minutes by reusing standard services and terms
Generate professional PDFs with your branding, logo and consistent design
Send quotes directly by email and track their status (sent, viewed, accepted)
Apply automatic discount rules (by volume, by contract duration)
Request the client's electronic signature to formalise the contract

The time you recover on admin you can spend on more sales visits, which is where the business is really won.

Real example of an office cleaning quote

To ground all of the above, here's an example of how a detailed line should look in an office cleaning quote:

Service: Maintenance cleaning — Floor 3 offices (380 m²)
Frequency: Monday, Wednesday and Friday / 2 hours per visit
Staff: 1 permanent operative assigned
Included tasks:

Sweeping and mopping floors across the whole floor
Cleaning 4 toilets (includes sanitaryware, basins, floors, replenishing consumables)
Emptying and cleaning bins
Surface cleaning of furniture and screens
Kitchen cleaning (worktop, microwave exterior, sink)
Internal windows (monthly)

Does not include: External windows, server room cleaning, archive area, out-of-hours emergency cleaning.
Materials: Included in the price. Certified professional cleaning products. Does not include toilet consumables (paper, soap) unless expressly agreed.
Monthly price: $780 + VAT
Payment terms: Direct debit, invoiced on the 1st of each month
Duration: Annual contract, automatic renewal. Termination with 30 days' notice.

That's what you call an unambiguous quote. When the client reads it, they know exactly what they receive and what they don't. No surprises.

Checklist before sending your cleaning quote

Have you specified the exact service address and the areas included?
Are the frequency and schedule clearly detailed?
Have you listed the included and excluded tasks?
Does it state who provides the materials and what type of products are used?
Does the price include or exclude VAT?
Have you stated the contract duration and termination terms?
Do you mention your public liability insurance?
Does the quote have an expiry date?
Does the PDF have your logo and complete contact details?

Conclusion: quote in detail, win with confidence

In the cleaning sector, the difference between winning and losing a contract is rarely the price. It's the confidence your proposal generates. A detailed, clear quote sent quickly says more about the quality of your work than any marketing words.

Spend time building a good quote template, define your cost structure well and establish a follow-up process. Those three changes can double your close rate without dropping your rates by a penny.

Because the client who only buys on price will never be your best client. The client who chooses your proposal because it conveys professionalism and clarity — that's the one who stays loyal.

Want to create professional cleaning quotes in minutes, with your branding and sent directly by email? Try DealForge free and stop wasting time on quotes so you can spend it on winning more clients.

Professional cleaning service quotes: a guide to winning more contracts