The calculator uses these inputs to calculate cleaning costs based on building size, location, complexity, and service type, applying appropriate margins to generate competitive but profitable bids.


Basic Setup

Estimate Details

  • Estimate name: Where you name the project (e.g., “Final Clean — Project / Client”)
  • Description/notes: A text field for adding scope notes, site constraints, and inclusions/exclusions

Location

  • Country & State: Select where the job is located (United States, California in this example)
  • “Auto from California” checkbox: Automatically applies California-specific rates and requirements

Project Section

  • Project Type: Choose the type of building (Corporate, Residential, etc.)
  • Total Area: Enter the building’s square footage (15,000 ft² shown)
  • Levels/Stories: Number of floors in the building (1 shown)
  • “Use detailed per-building sizes”: Option to break down areas by building if multiple buildings

Phases Section

  • Phase Count dropdown: Choose 1, 2, or 3 cleaning phases
  • Phase Type selector: Pick which cleaning phase(s) to include:
    • Rough Clean: Initial construction debris removal
    • Final Clean: Detailed finish cleaning (selected here)
    • Fluff Clean: Touch-up before occupancy
  • Weight percentages: Shows work distribution (100% for single phase)
  • Passes fields: Number of times each phase is performed (1 pass shown)
  • “Show phase breakdown” checkbox: Displays cost details per phase
  • Phase Details box: Shows hours (20), cost ($947), and per-pass rate

Operations & Pricing

Pricing Settings

  • Labor Rate: Hourly wage for workers ($48/hr)
  • Crew Size: Number of workers (4 people)
  • Effective Rate: Calculated price per square foot ($0.340/ft²)
  • National Base seed: Productivity baseline (0.26)

Special Labor Requirements

Options for Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and union requirements

Time & Material (T&M)

  • Bill Rate: Hourly client billing rate ($79/hr)
  • Manual Hours override: Option to manually set hours instead of using calculated values
  • “Use T&M as Selected Bid”: Makes T&M pricing the primary quote method

Calculation Details

Shows multipliers affecting the estimate:

  • Location: 1.21× (California premium)
  • Type: 1.08× (Corporate building factor)
  • Phase: 1.00× (single phase, no premium)
  • Level: 1.00× (single story, no penalty)
  • Productivity rates: m²/hr for each phase type

Travel/Site Visits

  • Visits field: Number of trips to site
  • Cost per additional visit: Price for visits beyond the first two ($23 shown)
  • “Auto visits from phases/days”: Automatically calculates visits based on work duration

Add-ons

Windows

  • Mode selector: “Auto (by ft² × levels)” calculates window count automatically
  • Panes/1000 ft²: Window density calculation
  • Price per pane: Cost to clean each window ($5)
  • Shows formula and calculation details

Lift Equipment

  • Daily cost & Days needed: For scissor lifts or other equipment
  • Auto calculation: Based on 1 day per site visit

Simple Rooms/Units (for multi-unit buildings)

  • Units × Rate: Number of units and price per unit
  • Baths × Rate: Number of bathrooms and price per bathroom

Units Mix (detailed breakdown)

Table showing different apartment types (Studio, 1BR, 2BR, etc.) with:

  • Square footage per unit type
  • Base price and bathroom counts
  • Pricing for different bathroom configurations

Additional Services

Pressure Wash

  • Preset dropdown: Quick configurations (Around building, Sidewalks, Full plaza)
  • Area field: Square footage to pressure wash
  • Rate per unit: Price per square foot ($0.2)

Special Flooring

  • Area & Coats: Special floor treatment area and number of coating applications
  • Price per coat: Cost per application ($0.14)

Recurring Janitorial

Recurring Janitorial Setup

  • Preset: Service frequency templates
  • Visits per day: How many times daily (1)
  • Days per week: Service days (5 = weekdays)
  • Scope: Service level (Standard shown)
  • Apply basis: Monthly billing schedule
  • Supplies %: Material costs markup (5%)
  • “Use as Selected Bid”: Makes janitorial the primary pricing
  • Shows per-visit, weekly, monthly, and annual totals

Final Pricing

Selected Bid Display

  • Shows final price ($6,950) with pricing model buttons (MW, Lean, PH)

Pricing Methods

Three pricing tiers with different profit margins:

  • Market-Win: 7% margin – lowest price to win competitive bids ($6,466)
  • Lean: 15% margin – balanced pricing (selected at $6,950)
  • Profit-Heavy: 28% margin – premium for complex/risky work ($7,735)

Cost Breakdown

  • Core phases: Labor cost ($1,089)
  • Effective ft² seed: Area-based pricing ($5,861)
  • Sum: Total before margin ($6,950)
  • Phase breakdown: Shows hours per phase (20 Final hours in this example)

Action Buttons

  • Save Estimate: Saves current configuration
  • Save Estimate & Create Proposal: Saves and generates client proposal