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Commercial cleaning estimate template and how to bid

A commercial cleaning estimate needs eight parts: your company info, the client and site, a scope of work by area, the square footage, the cleaning frequency, the per-visit and monthly price, the exclusions, and your terms. Below is each line spelled out, plus the two ways to price the bid so you do not under-quote a contract you have to live with for a year.

We run a cleaning company in Tucson, so this is the estimate format we actually use — clear enough that the client knows exactly what they are buying and you do not get nickel-and-dimed on scope.

The template, line by line

1. Header — your company

Business name, logo, phone, email, license and insurance details, and an estimate number and date. This is also a trust signal — a clean header reads as a real company.

2. Client & site

Client name, contact, billing address, and the site address with building type (office, medical, retail, industrial). Note total cleanable square footage.

3. Scope of work, by area

List restrooms, offices, breakroom, lobby, floors, and what gets done in each — vacuum, mop, trash, restock, disinfect touch points. Specific scope is what stops "but you didn't clean the windows" arguments.

4. Frequency

Nightly, three times a week, weekly, or one-time. Frequency drives both the price and the per-visit rate, so state it plainly.

5. Pricing — per visit and monthly

Show the per-visit rate and the monthly total. Clients budget monthly; the per-visit rate makes add-ons easy to price.

6. Exclusions & add-ons

Carpet extraction, floor stripping and waxing, window washing, and post-event cleanup — listed as optional add-ons with their own prices. Keeps the base contract honest.

7. Terms

Start date, contract length, payment terms, cancellation notice, and who supplies consumables. Spell this out before the first night, not after.

8. Signature & validity

Space for both signatures and a "valid for 30 days" line so your pricing is not held open forever.

How to actually price it

Use the hours method as your base, then sanity-check with a per-square-foot rate:

When a template is all you need

For a few accounts, a clean document and a walkthrough are plenty — you do not need software or an agency to bid well. Keep it simple until you are quoting often enough that a faster system pays for itself. We will say the same thing if you ask us.

Where we fit (and where we don't)

We do not sell estimate software — we build the website and lead system that gets those office and facility managers to call you in the first place. A clean site with reviews and an AI assistant that answers "do you do nightly office cleaning?" turns more bids into contracts.

See cleaning company marketing, office cleaning marketing, SEO for home services, and the AI receptionist. Sites start at $249/mo with a free demo in 48 hours.

We don't post stock testimonials. On a 15-minute call we screen-share the real dashboards behind our own businesses — live leads, rankings, and the exact page that produced each one. See the proof →

Common questions

How do I price a bid?

Estimate labor hours per visit times your loaded rate, then add supplies, equipment, overhead, and profit. Cross-check against $0.05–$0.25 per square foot depending on scope and frequency.

What should I charge per square foot?

Office cleaning commonly runs $0.05–$0.20 per square foot per visit. Medical, industrial, and post-construction price higher. Frequency lowers the per-visit rate.

Per-visit or monthly price?

Show both. Clients budget monthly, but a per-visit rate makes add-ons easy and keeps your math transparent.

Want more accounts to bid on?

Send your company name and metro — we will build a working demo of a cleaning site within 48 hours. Free, no card, no commitment.

Prefer email? [email protected]

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