Free cleaning estimate template
A cleaning estimate needs nine things: property size, clean type, frequency, itemized add-ons, supplies, travel, tax, deposit, and the cancellation and lock-out terms. Fill them in below and the totals calculate as you type. A standard 2,000 sq ft recurring clean runs most operators 4 to 5 crew-hours, and the first-time deep clean prices at 1.5x to 2x that recurring rate.
| Description | Price | Qty | Line Total |
|---|
This estimate is valid until the date shown above. The recurring rate holds as long as the frequency and the scope stay the same, and a change in either one reopens the price. Cancellation and lock-out terms apply as stated above.
What a cleaning estimate should include
Most cleaning disputes are not about quality. They are about a line nobody wrote down. A complete estimate settles the scope, the frequency, and the money before a crew ever parks in the driveway.
- Customer and property details - name, phone, service address, square footage, and the bed and bath count that drives your hours
- Access and entry - lockbox, key, or code, who holds the alarm code, where to park, and whether pets are loose during the visit
- Clean type - standard recurring, first-time deep clean, move-out, post-construction, or light commercial, because each one is a different number of hours
- Frequency and the recurring rate - the one-time price and the weekly or biweekly price shown together, so the customer can see what committing saves
- Itemized add-ons - inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows, laundry, inside cabinets, garage, each on its own line with a price
- Supplies - who provides products and equipment, and any surface the customer wants a specific product used on
- Travel or trip charge - a real line when the stop sits off your normal route
- Deposit and payment terms - what is due to book, what is due on completion, and the card-on-file arrangement for recurring visits
- Cancellation and lock-out policy - the notice window and the fee when the crew shows up and cannot get in
How much should I charge for a house cleaning job?
Square footage gets you in the neighborhood. Hours get you the price.
Start from crew-hours, not from the customer's house. A two-person crew doing a standard clean on a 2,000 square foot, 3 bed 2 bath house is usually 2 to 2.5 hours on site, so 4 to 5 crew-hours. If you need $40 per crew-hour to cover wages, payroll burden, drive time, supplies, and profit, that clean is $160 to $200. Quote $180 and stop apologizing for it.
The first-time deep clean is the one people underprice. You are not cleaning this week's dust, you are cleaning two years of it off baseboards, door frames, and shower grout. Price it at 1.5x to 2x the recurring rate, and put both numbers on the estimate: $320 first visit, $180 every other week after that. Showing the drop is what closes the recurring customer, and the recurring customer is the entire business.
Move-outs deserve their own treatment. Everything is empty, so it goes faster in some rooms and much slower in others, since inside every cabinet and every appliance is now in scope and a property manager is going to inspect it. Charge for it, take a deposit, and write down that a re-clean is covered only if you are called within 24 hours of the walkthrough. If you want to sanity-check your numbers against what homeowners are being quoted, our house cleaning prices guide lays out the ranges by market and job type, and the cleaning pricing calculator will do the crew-hour math for you.
Light commercial is a different animal. Offices price per visit against a scope of work and a schedule, and the buyer is comparing bids line by line. Build those with the commercial cleaning bid calculator instead of a residential estimate.
Which lines on a cleaning estimate stop arguments later?
Every experienced cleaning owner has a short list of items they now write on every estimate, because each one cost them once.
- Inside the oven and inside the fridge - the two most commonly assumed-included add-ons in the trade. Price them, list them, and let the customer choose
- Interior windows only - say "interior" in writing, or somebody will point at the second-story exterior glass. Exterior glass is a different service with different equipment and different insurance
- Ladder limit - "no work above a two-step ladder" keeps your crew off a customer's rickety extension ladder and keeps your carrier happy
- Clutter and dishes - you clean surfaces, you do not organize. A sink full of dishes and a counter covered in mail is a surface you cannot reach, and the estimate should say so
- Pets - note whether animals are loose. A crew that has to work around a nervous dog is slower, and a crew that lets a cat out has a very bad afternoon
- Lock-out fee - the crew drove there. If they cannot get in and nobody called, that visit bills at a stated percentage. Put the number on the estimate and you will almost never have to charge it
- Breakage - what happens if something breaks, and the request that customers put irreplaceable items away before the first visit
Once the scope is settled, move it into a signed agreement so the terms survive the first disagreement. The cleaning service contract template carries the same clauses in a form the customer signs, and the house cleaning checklist gives the crew the room-by-room standard that the estimate just promised.
Operators running a full book of recurring stops usually stop rebuilding estimates by hand at some point. Claver for cleaning businesses keeps the estimate, the recurring schedule, and the invoice on the same record, and pricing starts at $1 for 14 days, then $19/mo.
Related cleaning tools
Keep the numbers when the job is booked
Inside Claver the same estimate becomes the quote you send, and the quote becomes the invoice you get paid on, so nobody retypes a price between the driveway and the bank.
Start for $1