The building
One row per space type. Add an optional proposal name when you need scope detail such as "Second-floor restrooms". Production rate is cleanable square feet one cleaner covers per hour — pick a space type to start from a common figure, then replace it with a rate timed from your own crew. A space that is not on the list (gym, server room, loading dock) is Other space: name it so the labor split and the copied bid say what you actually clean.
Day porter / scheduled shifts
Optional. A day porter is a person on site during business hours, not extra square feet on the night clean. Hours = people × hours per shift × shifts per week × 52/12. Leave the wage blank to use the cleaner rate below; fill it in when the porter is paid more.
One-time / project work
Strip and wax, carpet extraction, and the initial deep clean are invoiced once. Pricing them inside the monthly contract is how a contractor works eleven months at a loss after the building is caught up. Hours = square feet ÷ production rate × coats or passes.
Periodic services
Quarterly floor care, twice-a-year extraction, annual windows — a lump cost per visit, spread across the year. This is not strip-and-wax project work (priced once from square feet). Cost × occurrences ÷ 12 goes into the monthly contract, including after a 5× to 3× schedule cut.
Your costs
Payroll burden covers employer taxes, workers’ compensation, liability insurance, and paid time off — the part of a cleaner’s cost that never shows up on their pay rate. Underestimating it is the most common reason a janitorial bid that looked profitable was not.
If they cut the schedule
A prospect who asks for 3 days a week instead of 5 will often offer 60% of the current monthly price. Labor hours do drop with the visits. Supplies, equipment, and travel stay on the job, so the price that still holds your margin is higher than a linear cut. Why 60% of a 5-day price is not a 3-day bid.
If they want to buy the paper
A facility manager who says “we’ll buy the paper, soap, and liners — take the supplies off” is not asking you to drop the whole line. Restroom stock is only a share of it. Chemicals, finish, and glass stay yours. And if they run out, the emergency fill you still make can cost more than stocking it yourself. Should I let the building buy the paper?
If they want the initial thrown in
A neglected or vacant building’s first visit is several regular cleans of labor plus extra chemicals. Prospects ask to “just include it.” Month 1 then carries a project on a periodic price — and if they cancel after 30 days, that giveaway is the whole relationship. Should I throw in the initial clean?
Your bid
- Labor hours per visit
- Visit capacity
- Visit utilization
- Day-porter hours per month
- Labor hours per month
- Loaded labor cost
- Supplies
- Periodic work (monthly average)
- Equipment & other
- Overhead
- Total monthly cost
- Monthly profit
- Minimum charge floor
- Price per sq ft / month
- Effective hourly rate
- Walk-away price
- Annual contract value
One-time project work
- Project labor hours
- Project labor + materials
- One-time project price
- First-month invoice
- Walk-away first month
A bid link carries your own rates — wage, burden, overhead, and target margin — so the page reopens exactly as you left it. Send it to yourself or your crew. The numbers ride after the #, which is never sent to a server, so copying a link uploads nothing. The customer should get the price, not the link.
Where the labor goes
Transparent arithmetic from your own inputs. The starting production rates are common ballpark figures, not an industry standard, a benchmark, or a guarantee — time your own crews and replace them.
5× vs 3× is not a 40% discount
Labor scales with visits. The monthly supply line, equipment, and travel in this bid do not.
| Current schedule | Reduced schedule | Linear cut of today’s price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days / week | |||
| Labor hours / month | |||
| Monthly cost | |||
| Price that holds your margin | |||
| Margin if you take the linear number | |||
Who buys the paper is not “take the supplies off”
Labor, equipment, and travel stay put. Only restroom stock moves — and an emergency fill after they run out is its own line.
| Who buys restroom stock | Supplies you still pay | Monthly cost | Price that holds your margin | vs you-supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You supply paper, soap, liners | — | |||
| They buy restroom stock | ||||
| They buy everything (drop the line) | ||||
| They buy restroom stock, you still fill |
A free initial is not a free extra
The takeover clean is extra labor hours and extra chemicals on day one. The monthly does not pay for it unless you invoice it, bake it in, or eat it.
| How you handle the initial | They pay up front | Monthly that holds your margin | Month-1 profit at today’s monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice the initial as a one-time | |||
| Bake it into the monthly | $0.00 | ||
| Throw it in at today’s monthly | $0.00 |
Hand the customer a proposal
The price above is for you. This is the page you print or save as a PDF and give to the customer — your details, their details, the scope, the deposit split, and a line for them to sign. Your business details are saved on this device so you only type them once; the customer’s details are never saved.
Everything on the printed page is text you typed or a number this calculator worked out. It contains no warranty, lien, or cancellation wording — those depend on your jurisdiction and your contract, and this tool is not the place to invent them.