Wednesday, 24 June 2026 UK SME Intelligence Get the weekly brief
Trades & services

Commercial cleaning contract cost calculator

Pricing a recurring cleaning contract is about covering labour and on-costs, then adding a margin that survives. Enter the schedule and your costs for a monthly cost, a suggested price at your target margin, and the profit.

The schedule and your costs

£
%

NI, pension and holiday cover on top of pay, roughly 18-25%.

£
£
%

How it works

The cost to deliver starts with labour. We turn your weekly schedule into monthly hours using an average of 4.33 weeks per month, multiply by the cleaner's pay rate, then add employer on-costs for National Insurance, pension and holiday cover. Materials and travel are added on top to give the full monthly cost.

The suggested price works back from your target net margin rather than just marking the cost up. A 25% margin means the cost is 75% of the price, so the price is the cost divided by 0.75. That is why a 25% margin needs a markup of a third on cost, not a quarter.

How to use the result

Use the effective charge-out per hour as your reality check. It is the suggested monthly price divided by the hours your team is actually on site, and it is the number to compare against what other firms charge in your area. If it looks high for the local market, trim materials and travel or revisit the hours per visit before you cut the margin.

An estimate to sanity-check a quote. It excludes equipment and machinery, management and quoting time, bad debt and VAT. Check cleaner pay is at least the National Minimum or Living Wage once on-costs are added.

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