How to price house cleaning jobs for profit.

1. Calculate cleaning labor cost per job

For a hypothetical job, two cleaners working three hours each use six person-hours. At $22 labor plus $3 employer cost per person-hour, labor costs 6 × $25 = $150. One cleaner doing the same six hours has the same entered labor cost, but takes about six hours on site. These are example inputs, not recommended wages or job durations.

If you work alone for four hours, that is four person-hours. If two cleaners work for four hours each, that is eight. Crew size changes the rough time on site; it must not multiply the labor cost a second time.

The calculator multiplies each cleaning area by its editable hours per 100 sq ft, sums the results, then rounds the base total up once to 15 minutes. Room counts document the scope and do not multiply that combined area again. Reference allowances are planning assumptions; review your experience, the agreed checklist and the property condition. When you are unsure, inspect the job before offering a fixed quote. Property condition does not automatically increase hours or price; adjust allowances or use assessed hours. Deep and Move-out reference allowances are editable beta assumptions, not verified US productivity standards.

2. Add what the job costs your business

For an extra such as an oven interior, enter a quantity, time per unit and direct cost per unit. Extra work is added once, outside the base labor. An optional hourly cost override includes all labor and employer costs for that service. When blank, the base hourly cost applies. Use zero person-hours for a direct-cost-only item, such as a subcontractor invoice that already includes labor. For an extras-only quote, choose manual planning and enter zero base hours. Specialist jobs use your own assessed scope and hours rather than ordinary area references.

3. Margin is not markup

A 25% markup on $100 costs gives a $125 price. That leaves $25, or 20% of the selling price. To keep a 25% margin, divide $100 by 0.75: the result is $133.34 when rounded up to a cent.

Quotewise calls the difference estimated job profit: price minus all entered costs, including allocated overhead. It is not an accounting gross or net profit figure. Expenses and business taxes you have not entered are not deducted. Review the costs before relying on the margin.

4. A worked example, step by step

This example checks the calculation. It is not an average cleaning price or a recommended wage.

Reproduce this in step 01: Standard, one-time, regular condition. Add one kitchen (200 sq ft at 0.40 hours / 100 sq ft), two bedrooms (400 sq ft combined at 0.15), one full bathroom (100 sq ft at 0.60) and one common area (600 sq ft at 0.15). That is 0.80 + 0.60 + 0.60 + 0.90 = 2.90 person-hours, rounded up once to 3.00.

In step 02, enter two cleaners, $22 hourly labor cost, $3 employer cost per person-hour, $10 supplies, $15 travel, $5 other overhead, 30% target margin, 20% minimum margin and $120 minimum visit price. Enter 6% sales tax on all services only for this example. In step 03, add one oven interior with 0.50 person-hours, $5 direct cost and a $30 all-in hourly override. Leave the final price override blank.

Total labor including the extra is 3.50 person-hours; two cleaners give approximately 1.75 hours on site. Changing cleaner count changes duration, not price. The illustrative tax rate is not a recommended rate; use your verified rate and taxable amount for a real job.

5. Price regular visits separately

The first clean may need more work than later visits. Enter separate hours and scopes. Choose Standard or Deep for the first recurring visit, with ongoing Standard maintenance. Move-out is a separate one-time job. A recurring discount applies only to ongoing base work, not the first visit or extras. The discounted base portion includes base labor plus per-visit supplies, travel and overhead; extras retain their undiscounted target-margin price. The protected minimum is the higher of your minimum visit price and total entered cost divided by one minus minimum margin, rounded up to a cent. Each amount is per visit, not a monthly bill.

A minimum can reduce the discount you actually give. Always use the final confirmed amount in your customer message. Enter your verified sales tax rate in step 02 and choose all services or a custom taxable amount for each visit. Sales tax is added after the service price and does not count as profit. A blank rate means not assessed, not exempt.

Example: first clean vs every-two-week maintenance

Assume four assessed person-hours for the first Standard clean and two for ongoing Standard visits. Use $22 labor plus $3 employer cost per hour, and $30 in supplies, travel and overhead per visit. Set a 30% target margin, 20% minimum margin, $100 minimum visit price and 10% ongoing base discount. There are no extras or final overrides; tax has not been assessed. These hypothetical inputs are not market prices or promises of how much faster maintenance will be.

On a small screen, swipe the table to compare all amounts.

The ongoing discount applies to the target-margin base price; the protected minimum still applies afterwards. Inspect the home and agree the actual maintenance scope before choosing your own hours. Use the cleaning quote calculator to compare both visits, then prepare a customer estimate PDF.