Commercial Cleaning Bid Checklist | TailorScan Field Guides

A price is only as good as the work it includes.

A recurring cleaning quote can look healthy until an extra service date, a longer shift or an omitted task absorbs the allowance. Start with the actual scope, then make the arithmetic visible.

Commercial disclosure: TailorScan LLC publishes this guide and sells the optional Bid Studio 2 download linked below. You can use this checklist with your own spreadsheet. Purchasing is not required.

Use the checklist · Check the arithmetic · Choose your next step

Seven checks before sending a bid

1. Count the dates. Write the contract start and end, service weekdays, holidays and skipped visits. Count the actual dates; four weeks is not a calendar month. Confirm how partial months will be billed.
2. Separate task frequencies. Distinguish every-visit work from monthly detail work and periodic tasks. Record quantities, access restrictions and exclusions from the walkthrough.
3. Count every worker’s paid time. Two cleaners working two hours represent four worker-hours. Add paid setup and travel where applicable. Use observed times from representative work, not a universal square-foot rule.
4. Build the cost list. Include labor burden, supplies, equipment allocation, overhead, startup recovery and payment costs. Unknown costs need investigation; they are not automatically zero.
5. Distinguish markup from margin. Markup divides the difference by cost. Margin divides it by price. A 25% markup does not produce a 25% margin.
6. Test a difficult month. Keep the proposed customer price unchanged and increase labor-hours or visits. Review which costs change and whether the remaining margin is acceptable.
7. Check the customer-facing scope. Make service dates, inclusions, exclusions, access requirements, price and change-request process clear. Review the agreement separately before acceptance.

A small example you can check by hand

Fictional arithmetic, not a market-rate recommendation: suppose selected monthly costs total $1,000. For a 25% margin on those costs, before taxes and any omitted costs or fees:

Price = $1,000 ÷ (1 − 0.25) = $1,333.33

A 25% markup would instead give $1,250: ($1,250 − $1,000) ÷ $1,250 = 20% margin. If selected costs then rise to $1,100 at the unchanged $1,333.33 price, the margin falls to approximately 17.5%.

These figures are a simplified teaching example. They are not company net profit, a tax calculation or a forecast. Percentage payment fees and other omitted costs require a fuller model.

Your reusable bid-review record

Copy these headings into your existing notes or spreadsheet. Keep customer details in your own approved systems.

• Contract dates, service weekdays and skipped dates
• Tasks, quantities, frequencies and exclusions
• Worker-hours per visit and periodic task
• Labor burden, supplies, equipment and overhead assumptions
• Quoted price, selected-cost margin and difficult-month scenario
• Open questions, reviewer, decision and review date

After the first completed month, compare actual hours and costs with the estimate. Record what changed before using the same assumptions for another bid.

Choose the amount of help you need.

Start free: try the interactive calendar demonstration

Choose the service days for a real calendar month, change worker-hours and loaded wages, then compare three illustrative scopes and a labor-overrun stress test. This separate free demo is not a full or exact copy of the purchased product.

Run the free bid calendar demo ↗

Alternative: inspect a complete example

See a service calendar, separate task frequencies and three scope options in the existing Forge walkthrough. Use it to decide whether your current method is sufficient.

Read the free cleaning-bid example →

Optional paid tool: Commercial Cleaning Bid Studio 2

For repeated bids, the existing download combines actual service dates, measured tasks, cost assumptions, three scope options, a labor-overrun scenario and printable proposals. Its value is a reusable workflow; the checklist and basic arithmetic remain free.

$19 one-time, repriced October 16, 2026. Check the store for the current price and purchase terms. Digital ZIP for a current desktop browser; no Excel, subscription or AI key required. Native iPhone/iPad file workflows are not verified. One-business internal use; no reseller rights are offered.

Review Bid Studio 2 and purchase options →

Read download and device help before buying

The tool is not a hosted CRM, payroll system or contract-signing service. It does not guarantee accepted bids or profit. A capable spreadsheet may be enough for a simple, infrequent quote.

Another operational question?

For inquiry records and open quotes, try the free Lead Response Diagnostic. It examines documentation coverage rather than claiming lost or recovered revenue.

Educators and advisors can share this guide’s public link. Paid downloads retain their stated license; sharing a guide does not grant redistribution rights to the software.

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