How do cleaning companies charge

Determine how high your prices should be to guarantee you make the profit you deserve. Grow Your Cleaning Business Faster and with Less Stress. Lisa Marino Lisa Marino is the Sr. Marketing Director for Service Autopilot. She's passionate about helping others grow their businesses through time-tested marketing techniques. When not writing, you can find her belting out a mean Stevie Nicks at a local karaoke night. Pricing Calculator. Wage Calculator.

Win-back Email Bundle. Subscribe to the Blog. Share this post with your friends: Share on Facebook. Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. What are the recurring expenses for a commercial cleaning business?

While there usually are not too many big costs associated with running a commercial cleaning business long-term, there are a few expenses that you will need to factor in when coming up with your rates and estimates. The biggest cost is supplies. Some of these costs will not come around very often, such as when you need to replace longer-lasting items like vacuum cleaners.

Others like soaps, sprays, sponges, etc. When you are starting out, pay attention to how long it takes to run out of these items so that you can figure in the frequency of the purchases to your overall budget. You can read more about starting a commercial cleaning business here. Sometimes, clients will want you to do tasks that do not have to happen weekly or monthly, but every season or year. One example is carpet cleaning, which is usually more involved than simply vacuuming.

It is up to you which of these types of services you want to offer, but you can usually stick to the same method you use for cleaning the buildings as a whole.

To continue the carpet cleaning example, you can charge for each square foot of carpet that you clean then add that to the overall cost of the visit. Or, you can figure out how much longer the job will take if you add the time of cleaning the carpet, then simply adjust your hourly rate. Find out more about giving estimates to clients here. How do I choose my target market for my cleaning business? Since your business is likely pretty new, do not start out pursuing larger companies that probably already have established relationships with cleaning businesses.

Instead, look for businesses that are new, are moving buildings, or are just smaller since they are probably going to need a cleaning service in the near future. But, remember not to undersell yourself. If your state requires you to charge sales tax, add that on top in the estimate. That means your cost guide can represent your cleaning rates as accurately as possible.

TaxJar has a simple sales tax calculator that estimates your tax rate by street address. Clients are also charged fees for extended travel to the home and special services like cleaning an oven, high shelves or ceilings, fireplaces etc. If there are multiple bathrooms to clean, that may incur extra charges. If there are carpeted bedrooms, there may be extra fees for carpet cleaning services. Depending on what level of cleaning is required, additional factors such as dusting blinds or deep cleaning refrigerators will need to be included.

Fees will vary based on the city or state, too. You can price house cleaning jobs by the hour. Or use our step-by-step guide above to accurately calculate an hourly rate and pricing lists based on overhead costs, profit margin etc. An easy solution is to use this free house cleaning cost calculator that finds average prices based on factors like frequency, cleaning type and pets. Residential cleaning is usually charged by the hour. Office, janitorial and commercial cleaning is more frequently charged by the square foot—usually 5 to 55 cents per square foot.

Usually larger offices get discounted per square foot rates. Commercial cleaning services often take into consideration the industry involved when they calculate the price per square foot.

Services like carpet cleaning and cleaning microwaves or fridges are usually charged extra. This allows them to give new customers a general idea of what their services will cost, based on experience and the estimated time and labor required to clean. For example, Organic Breeze Cleaning East Bay, a home cleaner in Oakland, California, offers average starting rates for three tiers of cleaning services based on level of cleanliness the customer requires:. Most house cleaning companies charge by the hour or by number of bedrooms and bathrooms, but some charge by the square foot.

The more square footage to be cleaned, the higher your overall costs will be. A company may charge different rates per square foot depending on the type of cleaning service they are providing. A cleaning company in Dallas, Texas charges 5 cents per square foot for standard cleaning and 10 cents per square foot for deep cleaning. The number of bedrooms you have in your house will play a role in determining cleaning costs.

If your cleaning company bases their rates on number of rooms, rather than square footage, your room count matters. Even if your place is only square feet, your cleaning costs will vary depending on whether it's a studio apartment or a two-bedroom house. Number of bedrooms can often indicate how many people live in the home and how relatively clean or dirty it might be.

Usually customers want bedding changed and beds made up, which requires extra time and effort the more bedrooms there are, thus driving up your cost. If you have spare bedrooms that are not being used on a regular basis, you can negotiate with your house cleaners to vacuum and dust the rooms on a less frequent basis, thereby saving you money.

Keep Cleaning in San Francisco, California, has base starting rates for their cleaning services that increase with each additional bedroom. A typical standard bathroom cleaning service will include sweeping, mopping, scrubbing the sink and polishing the faucet, wiping the counters, cleaning the mirror s , scrubbing the shower or tub and polishing the faucet fixtures, and disinfecting the toilet and toilet bowl.

This is why having more bathrooms in your home will usually increase the overall cleaning cost. Some cleaning companies charge more for additional bathrooms than they do for additional bedrooms.

One house cleaning service in San Francisco, California, charges an hourly rate based on the number of cleaners required for your job. Some cleaning companies charge an hourly rate, which means the price you pay for each visit can vary with just how dirty your house is that week.

Typically, house cleaning companies that do charge by the hour will provide you a walk-through before you hire them. The walk-through allows them to see the size, layout and general cleanliness of your house, and give you an estimate of what a one-time or first-time cleaning will cost as well rates for ongoing services, whether weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly. Typically their hourly rate stays the same, but the one-time or first-time cleaning will cost more because it takes more time.

Your cleaning costs will usually be consistent from week to week or month to month, unless you have a particularly messy part or other unusual situation. Depending on what's happening in your life, you may need different types of house cleaning services at different times. Deep house cleaning is a good choice for your annual spring cleaning or for post-home remodeling when dust is everywhere. Event cleanup is perfect can help you whip the house into shape before a major event, or get it back into shape after one.

Move-in or move-out cleaning wipe your apartment or house back down to a clean slate, and can offer a great return on investment by enabling you to get your deposit back. The less intensive the cleaning work for the pros, the lower the cost to you. In the absence of any special promotions, a standard house cleaning service will always be the least expensive, and deep cleaning or move-out cleaning will usually cost the most. Cleaning companies may categorize specific services differently, so always go over the specifics of each cleaning job with the cleaning company before work begins, and ask about prices for special requests.

Be sure to get a copy of your agreement in writing with an outline of the day and general time of the cleaning and what tasks will be covered.

The cost will be higher if cleaners have to spend extra time removing carpet stains or wall marks. Many house cleaning companies provide services using green products that are easier on the environment and on humans.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency EPA , many cleaning products, especially industrial-strength cleaning products, are known to contain toxic chemicals that are harmful to adults, children, and the environment. In fact, "cleaning products can present several health and environmental concerns. They may contain chemicals associated with eye, skin, or respiratory irritation, or other human health issues," according to the EPA.

This makes choosing a green company particularly attractive, especially if you have a young child or someone with a compromised immune system in the house.

It's also better for the health of the cleaners who work directly with the products every day. You may pay slightly higher prices if you opt to work with a company that is solely green or that offers green products as an option.

The cost to hire cleaning professionals can depend on how large your home is how many square feet , how many rooms you have, how thorough a cleaning your house needs, how many bathrooms you have, and how often you want your place cleaned. The number of bathrooms will increase your home cleaning price because bathrooms are dirtier and require more effort to clean than other parts of your home. Home size will always affect cost, but if you make an exceptional mess on a regular basis, your cost may be higher even for a tiny space than for a larger home that's kept cleaner between visits.

Geographic location also plays a role in how much you'll pay for house cleaning. Services in cities like San Francisco and Manhattan will be more expensive than services in smaller towns with a lower cost of living. The costs charged by house cleaning companies in high-cost areas account for higher insurance rates, higher costs to operate company vehicles, higher labor rates and more.

Many cleaning companies also offer special services such as eco-friendly cleaners, carpet cleaning and special rates for biweekly cleaning packages or post-construction cleaning.

Most cleaners also offer free estimates for a thorough cleaning and itemize their additional service prices.