What you'll get from this guide
- Labor calculator (hourly wage × hours × crew size + payroll burden)
- Supplies cost tracker per visit with restocking and equipment depreciation
- Overhead allocation + target margin columns — see your profit before you bid
Download the Job Costing Spreadsheet
Get the fully editable version of this spreadsheet. Includes labor, supplies, overhead, and margin columns pre-formatted for every common janitorial job type.
Disclaimer
This template is provided for general informational purposes only. Legal, tax, and regulatory requirements vary by business and jurisdiction, so you are responsible for reviewing and adapting it before use. LeadDuo makes no warranties and is not liable for outcomes resulting from use of this template.
Powered by LeadDuo ServiceHub — www.leadduo.io
Why Most Cleaning Businesses Underbid
Underbidding is the number-one reason cleaning businesses fail. And it almost never happens because the owner is bad at math — it happens because they're missing costs they didn't know to count.
The three most common mistakes:
- Ignoring overhead entirely. Insurance, fuel, vehicle wear, software subscriptions, and your time managing the account all cost money. If you only calculate labor and supplies, you're eating those costs out of your margin every single job.
- Underestimating supply cost. New owners often estimate supplies based on what they think they'll use, not what they actually use. Chemicals diluted incorrectly, equipment that wears out faster than expected, and restocking more often than planned all add up. The industry benchmark is 8–12% of revenue — if you're guessing lower, your bids are likely under.
- Forgetting drive time and unpaid hours. The 30–45 minutes driving to a job, loading and unloading equipment, and the admin time to schedule and invoice don't show up in a per-job labor cost if you're only counting cleaning time. For routes with multiple jobs, this can easily add 10–15% to your true labor cost.
This spreadsheet forces you to account for all three. Fill in every row before you submit a bid.
2026 Janitorial Industry Benchmarks (USA)
Target Gross Margin
50–65%
Supplies as % of Revenue
8–12%
Labor as % of Revenue
30–40%
Overhead as % of Revenue
15–20%
How to Use This Spreadsheet
List Your Job Types
Add a row for each type of account you bid on: small office, medical office, retail, warehouse, school, etc. Keep job types separate — a 1,000 sq ft office and a 10,000 sq ft warehouse are not the same job.
Enter Your Labor Rates
For each job type, enter: hourly wage, crew size, estimated hours on site, and drive time. Multiply by your payroll burden rate (wages + payroll taxes + workers comp — typically 1.15× to 1.25× base wages) to get fully loaded labor cost.
Calculate Supplies Per Visit
Use your actual supply cost per visit — not an estimate. Track what you spend per month on chemicals, paper goods, and disposables, divide by the number of visits that month, and use that number. Update it quarterly.
Allocate Overhead
Total your monthly overhead (insurance, vehicle, fuel, software, marketing, your management time) and divide it across your jobs by revenue share or visit frequency. A simple method: if a job represents 10% of your revenue, it should absorb 10% of your overhead.
Set Your Target Margin
Add a margin column showing what you want to keep after all costs. Most janitorial businesses target 15–25% net margin. If your current bids don't hit that number, you have three options: raise your price, reduce your cost, or walk away from the job.
The Full Cost Breakdown
| Cost Category | What to Include | Typical % of Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | Hourly wages, payroll taxes (~7.65%), workers comp (3–8%), and drive/unpaid time | 30–40% |
| Supplies | Cleaning chemicals, paper goods (trash liners, paper towels, TP), consumables, and equipment depreciation | 8–12% |
| Overhead | General liability insurance, commercial auto, fuel, software (scheduling, invoicing), phone, and admin/office time | 15–20% |
| Owner Salary | Your pay if you are working in the business as a cleaner or supervisor — must be counted as a labor cost, not profit | Varies |
| Target Profit | What you want to keep after all the above. This is your business's return — used for equipment, savings, and growth | 15–25% |
These percentages are benchmarks for a well-run US janitorial operation. New businesses often run higher labor and overhead percentages until they scale. If your combined costs exceed 85% of revenue, your pricing needs to be reviewed.
Sample Job Costing by Job Type
| Job Type | Sq Ft | Hours | Labor Cost | Supplies | Overhead | Total Cost | Bid Price | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Office | 1,000 | 1.5 hrs | $42 | $8 | $15 | $65 | $95 | 32% |
| Medical Office | 2,000 | 3.5 hrs | $98 | $22 | $30 | $150 | $225 | 33% |
| Retail Store | 3,000 | 4.0 hrs | $112 | $20 | $33 | $165 | $240 | 31% |
| Warehouse | 10,000 | 6.0 hrs (2-person crew) | $168 | $35 | $52 | $255 | $375 | 32% |
Labor cost assumes $18/hr fully loaded (wages + payroll burden). Overhead is allocated at 16% of bid price. Adjust all figures for your local wage rates, crew size, and actual supply cost. Medical offices typically warrant a 15–25% premium over standard office rates due to sanitization requirements.
Common Job Costing Mistakes
Not including drive time in labor cost
Track your actual drive time per job for one week. For most routes, drive and transit time adds 15–25% to raw cleaning hours. Add it to your labor calculation as a line item — it is real cost.
Forgetting equipment depreciation
Your vacuums, floor machines, and carts wear out. Divide the purchase price by the expected service life (in jobs or months) and add a small depreciation line to each job cost. A $400 backpack vacuum used 5 days/week lasts about 2 years — that's roughly $0.40 per job.
Using retail price for supplies instead of your actual cost
If you buy supplies at Costco or a janitorial distributor, use what you actually pay — not Home Depot retail prices. And divide by actual usage, not estimated usage. Over-diluted chemicals still cost money.
Not updating the spreadsheet when wages rise
Minimum wage increases, employee raises, and workers comp rate changes all affect your labor cost. Review your job costing spreadsheet every January and whenever you change crew pay rates. A $1/hr raise across a 3-person crew adds $3/hr to your labor cost — that can swing a thin-margin job into a loss.
?FAQ
What should I include in a janitorial job costing spreadsheet?▼
What is a good profit margin for a janitorial business?▼
How do I calculate the cost to clean a building per square foot?▼
How much should supplies cost as a percentage of revenue for a cleaning business?▼
How often should I update my job costing spreadsheet?▼
Stop Rebuilding This Spreadsheet Every Time
If you want to stop recalculating job costs manually every time wages change, supply costs shift, or you add a new account — ServiceHub's built-in pricing engine does this automatically.
- Enter your labor rates, supply costs, and overhead once — every new bid auto-calculates
- Margin is shown in real time as you build the quote, so you know your number before you send
- When wages or costs change, update them once and every future quote reflects the new numbers automatically