Cleaning & janitorial
Housekeeping Cost Calculator
Price ongoing housekeeping where the scope is broader than cleaning and the hours are the product.
Result
A planning estimate, not a quote. Access, the age of the equipment, what is found once it is opened up and local labour rates all move the real figure, sometimes a long way.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Scope beyond cleaning, such as laundry, linen and tidying, which are time-open tasks.
- Hours engaged rather than tasks completed.
- Whether the role is regular and scheduled or on call.
Where this one goes wrong
Agreeing a task list rather than a time allocation. Housekeeping tasks expand to fill whatever time is available, and a list with no hours attached becomes an argument about what was not done.
Questions
About this calculator
Should housekeeping be priced by time or by task?
By time, with an agreed priority order for the tasks. It is the only structure that survives the reality that some weeks need more laundry and others more cleaning.
How is this different from cleaning?
The scope is broader and less defined, which makes the time allocation the contract rather than the task list. Pricing it like a cleaning visit leads to scope creep.
What should the agreement say?
Hours, the priority order of tasks, and what happens when there is more work than hours. Without that last point the shortfall becomes a complaint.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
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How to use this calculator
- Hours on site (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 3 h.
- People needed. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $55.
- Parts and materials ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $12.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $95.
- Sales tax (%). Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to estimated total, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Hours on site | 3 h |
| People needed | 1 |
| Labour rate charged | $55 |
| Parts and materials | $12 |
| Call-out or diagnostic fee | $95 |
| Sales tax | 0% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total main result | $272 |
| Labour | $165 |
| Before tax | $272 |
| Sales tax | $0 |
About $272: $165 of labour, $12 of parts and a $95 call-out.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour rate charged, this is what happens to estimated total. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour rate charged ($) | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| $28 | $191 |
| $41 | $230 |
| $55 example above | $272 |
| $83 | $356 |
| $110 | $437 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Hours on site (h)
- Measured in h, between 0 and 400, starting at 3 h.
- People needed
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($)
- A money amount, starting at $55.
- Parts and materials ($)
- A money amount, starting at $12.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($)
- A money amount, starting at $95.
- Sales tax (%)
- Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Estimated total | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour | A money figure. |
| Before tax | A money figure. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Time is the variable that bites
Pricing that works out on paper fails when the job takes longer than quoted. First cleans, heavily soiled sites and access problems all run over, so it is worth pricing the first visit separately from the recurring one.
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.