Pricing is the lever that affects everything else in a janitorial business — what you can pay your crews, whether you can afford supervision, how fast you can grow, and eventually what the business is worth. It deserves more than working backwards from what you heard a competitor charges per square foot.
Start with the walkthrough, not the spreadsheet
Walk every building you bid, even when the RFP includes square footage. Measure or confirm the cleanable area yourself, count restrooms and fixtures, note floor types, occupancy, trash volume and anything that will slow a crew down — stairs without an elevator, a loading dock, secure areas. A bid built on numbers you didn't check is a guess.
Build the labor hours from production rates
Labor is typically the largest cost in the job, so the heart of any bid is how many hours the scope takes. Break the building into space types and apply a production rate to each — how much of that kind of space one person cleans to your standard in an hour. Published industry references can be a starting point, but your own crews' real pace is the number that matters; track it on the accounts you already have.
Then add the periodic tasks, spread across the month, and supervision time. That total, not square footage, is what you're actually selling.
Price from fully loaded cost
Turn hours into cost using fully loaded labor — wages plus payroll taxes, workers' compensation, insurance and any benefits — not the wage alone. Add supplies and consumables, equipment wear, supervision, and your share of overhead. That's your floor. Everything above it is what funds growth and your own pay.
Decide your margin before you see the total
Set your target margin before you finish the bid, not after you see a number that feels high. A price that only covers costs isn't a growth strategy — it's a plan to stay exactly the size you are, with no cushion for the night a crew member doesn't show.
Itemize what can be itemized
- Routine service as a monthly figure
- Periodic work — floor stripping and refinishing, carpet extraction, windows — as separate lines
- Consumables as their own line, or clearly stated as excluded
- Day porter service at an hourly rate with a stated minimum
An itemized bid is easier for a facility manager to approve, and it stops a competitor who left out floor care from looking cheaper than you.
Plan for costs that will change
Wages rarely stay flat over a multi-year contract. Ask for a price-adjustment clause, or an annual review, in writing at the start. It's a much easier conversation before you sign than eighteen months later, when your margin on the building has quietly disappeared.
Review your accounts on a schedule
Once or twice a year, check actual hours against bid hours on every building. Accounts drift: occupancy rises, scope creeps, a tenant adds a floor. Catching it early lets you have a calm conversation about scope or price, rather than an urgent one.