Commercial Cleaning Bid Template — What to Include and How to Build One

Every accurate cleaning bid has the same 5 components. Whether you build yours in a spreadsheet, on paper, or in dedicated software, getting these sections right is the difference between profitable contracts and ones that slowly bleed money.

This guide breaks down exactly what goes into each section of a commercial cleaning bid, with real formulas and examples you can use immediately.

The 5 Sections of a Complete Bid

A solid bid template covers the complete calculation in 5 sections:

1. Facility Information

Enter the basics about the building:

Facility type (office, medical, school, industrial, retail, religious, restaurant)
Total square footage
Breakdown by floor type (carpet, hard floor, specialty)
Number of restrooms
Number of trash containers
Cleaning frequency (nights per week)
Building condition and occupant density

2. Labor Hours Calculation

This is where ISSA 612 production rates come in. For each cleaning task, the template calculates hours per visit:

Hours = Square footage / Production rate (sq ft/hr)

Or for unit-based tasks:

Hours = Number of units × Minutes per unit / 60

Here are the standard production rates your bid should reference:

| Task | Default Rate | Unit | |------|-------------|------| | Vacuum carpet (upright) | 3,250 sq ft/hr | sq ft/hr | | Vacuum carpet (wide-area) | 6,000 sq ft/hr | sq ft/hr | | Damp mop (flat mop) | 4,750 sq ft/hr | sq ft/hr | | Wet mop (string mop) | 3,750 sq ft/hr | sq ft/hr | | Restroom clean | 12 min/restroom | min/unit | | Trash removal | 2.5 min/container | min/unit | | High dusting | 5,000 sq ft/hr | sq ft/hr | | Surface dusting | 7,000 sq ft/hr | sq ft/hr | | Interior glass | 300 sq ft/hr | sq ft/hr | | Kitchen/break room | 20 min/room | min/unit |

You should override any rate based on your crew's actual performance — these are starting points, not gospel.

Your bid should also account for adjustment factors:

Building condition (0.9x for new, 1.2x for poorly maintained)
Occupant density (0.85x for low, 1.15x for high)
Furniture density (0.9x for open, 1.1x for cubicle-heavy)
Transition time (default: 10% added)

3. Burden Rate Calculation

Your employees' wage is not your cost. Your bid needs to include the fully burdened labor rate:

Burdened Rate = Base Wage + FICA + FUTA + SUTA + Workers Comp + Benefits

Here are the inputs you need:

| Input | What it is | Where to find it | |-------|-----------|-----------------| | Base wage | Hourly pay rate | Your payroll | | State | Where employees work | — | | SUTA rate | State unemployment rate | Quarterly tax filing (Form 940) | | SUTA wage base | State taxable wage cap | State labor department | | Workers comp rate | Per $100 of payroll | Your insurance policy | | EMR | Experience modification rate | Your insurance policy (1.00 = average) | | Health insurance | Monthly employer cost | Your benefits plan | | Paid time off | Days per year | Your employee handbook | | Uniforms | Monthly cost per employee | Your expenses |

FICA (7.65%) and FUTA (0.6% on first $7,000) are federal rates that don't change — every employer pays these.

Example output:

A $15/hr cleaner in Texas at a small BSC (no health insurance):

| Component | $/hour | |-----------|--------| | Base wage | $15.00 | | FICA (7.65%) | $1.15 | | FUTA | $0.02 | | SUTA (2.7%) | $0.12 | | Workers comp (3.5%) | $0.53 | | Uniforms | $0.17 | | Burdened rate | $16.99 | | Burden multiplier | 1.133x |

That 13.3% above wage is money you're losing if you bid based on wage alone.

4. Cost Summary

Now total everything:

Monthly labor cost    = Burdened rate × Hours/visit × Visits/month
Monthly supply cost   = Labor cost × Supply factor (default: 6%)
Monthly equipment     = Your allocated monthly equipment cost

Total monthly cost    = Labor + Supplies + Equipment

5. Pricing and Margin

Set your target gross margin and calculate your bid price:

Monthly price = Total cost / (1 - Margin%)

Always know both margin and markup — your client may think in terms of one while you calculate the other.

A simple rule of thumb for margin health:

Above 28%: Healthy, sustainable
20-28%: Thin but viable for high-value contracts
Below 20%: Danger zone — one callback wipes your profit

Putting It All Together: The Bidding Workflow

Step 1: Do your walkthrough

Visit the facility. Measure square footage by area type. Count restrooms and trash containers. Note floor types and building condition. Take photos.

Step 2: Calculate labor hours

Apply ISSA production rates to each task. Adjust for building condition, density, and transition time.

Step 3: Calculate your burdened labor rate

Add FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers comp, and any benefits to your base wage. This is your true cost per hour.

Step 4: Set your margin and price the bid

Total your costs (labor + supplies + equipment), apply your target margin, and arrive at the monthly price.

Step 5: Create your proposal

Put your numbers into a professional proposal with your scope of work, schedule, and pricing. Never show the cost breakdown to the client — they see the monthly price and the scope, nothing else.

Common Questions

What if I don't know my workers comp rate?

Check your insurance policy or call your insurance agent. Typical rates for janitorial services (NCCI class 9014) are $3-$5 per $100 of payroll, depending on your state and claims history.

What if I don't know my SUTA rate?

Check your quarterly unemployment tax filing (state equivalent of Form 940). If you're a new business, use your state's "new employer" rate — typically 2.5-3.5%.

Should I include overhead in the burden rate?

This template separates overhead from burden rate. The burden rate covers mandatory employer costs (taxes, insurance, benefits). Overhead (vehicles, supervision, office expenses) is a separate consideration in your overall company profitability. For bidding purposes, the burden rate plus a healthy margin covers your overhead.

What if the client asks for a per-square-foot price?

Divide your monthly price by the total square footage. In our example: $6,900 / 20,000 = $0.345/sq ft/month. Industry range for general office is $0.15-$0.50/sq ft/month depending on frequency and scope.

Is this template enough for large facilities (100K+ sq ft)?

The math is the same regardless of size. For very large facilities, you may want to break the building into zones and calculate each zone separately, especially if different areas have different cleaning frequencies.

When Manual Calculations Break Down

This process works well when you're doing a few bids per month. But as you grow, the manual approach has real limitations:

Re-entering the same data. Your burden rate, SUTA rate, workers comp — you look these up every time instead of setting them once.
No client history. You can't quickly see what you bid for this client last year or how it compared to actual costs.
Proposal creation is separate. The calculation gives you numbers, but you still need to format a professional PDF.
Your sales rep can't bid independently. The knowledge is in your head and your spreadsheet, not in a system.
One bad cell reference breaks everything. And you might not catch it until the contract is signed.

If you're hitting these limits, BidLoom automates this entire workflow — ISSA rates, burden calculation, margin pricing, and PDF proposal generation in a single guided process. The free tier includes 3 bids.