Free cleaning bid & quote template
The internal bid sheet CleanReach clients use to price commercial cleaning contracts profitably. Production-rate-based, loaded-labor-cost driven, margin-defended. Copy it into a spreadsheet and you'll never under-bid again.
Why production rate is the only number that matters
Every profitable janitorial bid starts with one question: how many square feet can one cleaner clean per hour at the quality bar this facility requires? That's your production rate, and it dictates labor hours, which dictate everything else. General office: 3,000–4,000 sq ft/hour. Medical: 1,500–2,000. Industrial: 8,000–15,000. Post-construction final: 200–500.
Bid off the loaded rate, never the wage
Your hourly wage is fiction as a cost number. The real cost is the loaded rate — wage plus payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits, PTO and supervision. In most US/UK/CA markets the load is 25–38% on top of the wage. Multiply hours by loaded rate to get true labor cost. Bidding off the unloaded wage is the #1 reason new cleaners go broke at month nine.
Defend your margin — don't apologize for it
Target 38–55% gross on office, 50–65% on medical and post-construction. If the buyer pushes back on price, reduce frequency or scope — not margin. A 32% gross contract that runs 24 months will lose you money once you replace the cleaner twice. Walk away from contracts you can't price profitably.
FAQs about the cleaning bid template
What's a fair price per square foot for commercial cleaning?+
US/UK/CA general office typically prices at $0.08–$0.18 per sq ft per visit ($0.20–$0.40/sq ft/month at 5x/week). Medical runs $0.14–$0.28/sq ft/visit. Post-construction final clean is $0.25–$0.55/sq ft.
How do I price a cleaning bid I've never quoted before?+
Start with a defensible production rate by facility type, build labor hours, apply the loaded rate, add supplies + overhead, then divide by (1 – target margin). Sanity-check the result against $0.10–$0.20/sq ft/visit and walk the building to confirm.
What's the difference between a quote and a bid?+
Functionally they're the same in commercial cleaning. 'Bid' usually refers to a formal RFP response; 'quote' is a less formal written price. Both should be built off the same internal bid sheet.
Can I just copy a competitor's pricing?+
No. You don't know their labor cost, supervision model, or margin position. Copying another company's pricing is the fastest way to end up unprofitable on the same revenue.