Cleaning Estimate Template: A Fill-In Estimate for House Cleaning, With a Worked Quote

The cleaning estimate template (copy this)

Paste this into a document, an email or the estimate screen of your software. Everything in brackets is a blank you fill in at the walkthrough or from the customer's answers on the phone.

Two lines do most of the work. "Price confirmed on first visit if the home differs" protects you when a "light clean" turns out to be a year of buildup. "Each add-on priced" stops the customer from assuming the oven was included.

Where the number comes from: time first

In twenty years around home improvement, the cleaning owners I watched lose money all priced by the room or by gut feel. The ones who made money priced from hours. The formula is short: estimated labor hours × your hourly rate per cleaner-hour, plus add-ons, rounded. Your hourly rate already has to carry wages, payroll tax, insurance, supplies, drive time and profit, so set it once from your own books and stop changing it per job.

For labor hours, keep a small table from your own jobs. A starting point that many owners use (and then correct with their own time logs) is below; treat every number as an assumption until you have timed ten of your own cleans.

A worked estimate, every assumption stated

Here is the template filled in for one home. The assumptions: an hourly rate of $55 per cleaner-hour, a two-person crew, and the time table above.

The estimate the customer sees says: first clean $410 (includes inside fridge), then $214 every two weeks, estimated 3.5 hours on site the first time and 2 hours after. That is clear enough that the customer can say yes on the phone, and every line ties back to a number you can check later. Run your own version with the free cleaning quote calculator, which uses the same time-based method.

First clean vs recurring: always quote both

The first clean takes longer, so price it separately. If you quote only the recurring price and then spend seven hours on the first visit, you either eat the cost or have an awkward conversation at the door. Quoting both on the same estimate also sells the recurring plan: the customer sees what they will pay after the first visit and books the schedule, not a one-off.

For move-out cleans, quote a single price with the empty-home assumption written in ("home empty of furniture and belongings"), because the landlord's checklist, not the tenant's, decides when the job is finished.

Estimating without a walkthrough

Most residential estimates now start on the phone or with photos. Ask the same six questions every time: square feet, bedrooms, bathrooms, pets, when it was last professionally cleaned, and which add-ons they want. Then send the estimate with the "price confirmed on first visit" line. The questions matter more than the format: an estimate built on the same six answers every time is consistent across your team, and a crew lead can quote without calling you.

Send it fast, then follow up once

Speed decides a lot of cleaning jobs because the customer usually asked two or three companies at once. Send the estimate the same day you get the answers, and follow up once two days later with a single question ("Want me to hold [day] for your first clean?"). After that, add the lead to a monthly check-in rather than chasing daily.

Where Unmanually fits

The part of this that eats an owner's evening is the phone: asking the six questions, typing up the estimate, sending it and remembering the follow-up. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager that answers the call, asks your questions, builds the estimate from your price list, sends it, follows up and books the first clean. See how it works for cleaning companies, or read how to price cleaning jobs and how to get more cleaning clients.