How this calculator works

Overview

What this calculator is for

This calculator helps cleaning businesses build an estimated customer price using the selected service, job details, editable rates, add-ons, discounts and travel.

The quote total is not simply “hours × hourly rate”. Room rates, production rates, clean stages and selected extras drive the customer price.

Two ways to price a job

This calculator lets you price either way:

Itemised build-up — choose room quantities; each room is priced as quantity × the unit rate from Edit Pricing. Best if you quote line by line and want a breakdown for an invoice.
Package price — set one price for the whole clean, then add any extras on top. Best if you quote a single all-in figure.

Switch between them with the How do you price? toggle at the top of Regular, Deep Cleaning, End of Tenancy and Airbnb. For itemised pricing, change bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living rates in Edit Pricing (above the job details) — not beside the room counts.

Controls

Shared controls

Travel

Base postcode: The starting point for mileage. Enter your own operating base.
Job postcode: The customer or site postcode. Click Calculate Miles to estimate distance, or enter miles manually.
Free miles: The distance included before a travel charge starts. For example, if free mileage is 10 and the job is 15 miles away, only 5 miles are chargeable.
Rate per mile: The charge applied to chargeable miles.

Discount

Optional. None, percentage, or fixed amount. Discount applies to cleaning services and add-ons only — travel is excluded.

Materials & costing inputs

Choose how you pay cleaners (By the hour or Fixed price per job), then enter labour pay or an agreed job rate, materials and Labour Hours Used for This Job to understand delivery cost. Suggested hours continue updating from the job details. Labour Hours Used can be manually overridden and will remain in use until you select Use Suggested Hours or reset the job.

Labour

How Labour Time Works

The calculator shows two separate labour figures so you can follow the recommendation and still set the hours you will actually use.

Suggested Labour Hours: A read-only recommendation built from the job details. It is rounded up to the next quarter-hour (15 minutes). It keeps updating when you change rooms, services, stage, frequency, property condition or other job inputs — including while a manual override is in use. On Regular, Deep Cleaning and End of Tenancy, the same condition multiplier that increases the customer price also increases Suggested Labour Hours. Specialist add-on hours are not multiplied by condition.
Labour Hours Used for This Job: The editable hours used for labour cost, total job cost, profit and margin. It starts matching the suggestion. Once you edit it, it becomes a manual override and is not overwritten by Calculate Price, automatic recalculation, labour pay, materials, discounts, travel or condition changes.

Property condition and labour

On Regular, Deep Cleaning and End of Tenancy, property condition multiplies both the customer price and Suggested Labour Hours. Example: base price £100 and 4.00 suggested hours at ×1.25 become £125 and 5.00 hours. Specialist add-on hours stay based on the selected item and quantity only.

External users enter a condition percentage (0% = ×1.00, 25% = ×1.25, 60% = ×1.60). ClearLine’s internal calculator uses presets (Well Maintained ×1.00, Moderately Dirty ×1.25, Extremely Dirty ×1.60) plus an optional override.

Rounding

Labour time is always shown in quarter-hours only — for example 5.75 hours (5 hours 45 minutes). Values such as 5.7 are not used. If you enter another decimal, it is rounded up to the next quarter-hour when you finish editing.

Use Suggested Hours

Choose Use Suggested Hours to copy the latest suggestion into Labour Hours Used and return to automatic following. Your costing then updates from that recommendation again.

What labour changes affect

For room-, service- and item-based quotes, changing Labour Hours Used, labour pay or materials updates your cost and profit figures — not the customer price. Where a method is priced by labour hours (for example Post-construction By Hour), the hours used also update the customer price.

Customer price rounding

Round customer price up to nearest (£) only affects the final customer price. It does not control labour-time rounding.

Costing

Understanding Costs, Profit and Margin

These figures use the labour pay or agreed job rate, materials, travel and Labour Hours Used for This Job values that you enter.

Labour pay per hour: When paying by the hour: the £/hr you enter for the people doing the work.
Labour cost (hourly): Labour Hours Used for This Job × labour pay per hour.
Agreed job rate (fixed): When paying a fixed price per job: the single labour amount you agree with the cleaner for the job. That amount is the labour cost.
Target margin %: Used only in fixed-price mode to suggest a job rate: customer price × (1 − target margin). You can override the suggested rate.
Implied £/hour: Agreed job rate ÷ Labour Hours Used — a fairness check, not an automatic payment rule.
Materials/product cost: The materials/product £ amount you enter.
Mileage / travel cost: The travel charge already calculated for the job (chargeable miles × rate), included in total job cost.
Total estimated job cost: Labour cost + materials/product cost + mileage/travel.
Estimated gross profit (before overheads and tax): Final estimated customer price − total estimated job cost.
Estimated gross margin: Gross profit ÷ final estimated customer price × 100, shown as a percentage.

What changing costs does

In hourly mode, labour cost uses Labour Hours Used for This Job × labour pay.
In fixed-price mode, labour cost is the agreed job rate; hours stay visible as a guide.
Changing labour pay, job rate, Labour Hours Used or materials updates estimated cost, profit and margin.
For room-, item- and service-based pricing, those cost changes do not automatically change the customer price.
For methods priced directly by labour hours (Post-construction By Hour), changing the hours used may also change the customer price.
Gross profit and margin are estimates before general overheads and tax unless you have already included those costs in the figures you entered.

Worked example — by the hour (matches the calculator formulas)

Regular defaults: final estimated customer price £100.00, Suggested / Used labour hours 3.75, labour pay £15.00/hr, materials £12.00, travel £0.00.

Labour cost = 3.75 × £15.00 = £56.25
Total estimated job cost = £56.25 + £12.00 + £0.00 = £68.25
Estimated gross profit = £100.00 − £68.25 = £31.75
Estimated gross margin = £31.75 ÷ £100.00 = 31.8%

Worked example — fixed price per job

Same £100.00 customer price, 3.75 hours used, materials £12.00, travel £0.00, target margin 30%.

Suggested job rate = £100.00 × (1 − 0.30) = £70.00
If you agree £70.00: labour cost = £70.00
Implied £/hour = £70.00 ÷ 3.75 ≈ £18.67/hr (fairness check)
Total estimated job cost = £70.00 + £12.00 = £82.00
Estimated gross profit = £100.00 − £82.00 = £18.00 (18.0% margin)

Pay model

Paying by the hour or by the job?

Paying by the hour is simple, but it hands control of your costs to the cleaner — if a job runs long, you pay more, even though your customer has already paid a fixed price. Many established cleaning businesses instead agree a fixed price per job with the cleaner before the work starts. The cleaner knows exactly what they'll earn, you know exactly what you'll pay, and an overrun is no longer your problem. Use the hours as a guide to set a fair job rate — then agree it up front. This calculator lets you work either way.

By the hour: Labour cost = Labour Hours Used × labour pay (£/hr). This is the default.
Fixed price per job: Set a target margin to suggest a job rate, or enter your own agreed rate. Labour cost = that rate. Hours remain editable as a guide; implied £/hour = rate ÷ hours.

Every field stays editable. The calculator does not force minimums or ClearLine’s own figures — you enter the numbers for your business.

Rates

Edit Pricing and Reset

Use Edit Pricing to set your room and service unit rates. In Itemised build-up, room counts use these rates — results show quantity × unit price = line total. You do not enter prices next to the quantities.

Changing rates: Open Edit Pricing and edit the unit rates there. After Calculate Price (or live recalculation), line totals and the customer price update from those rates.
Reset to default rates: Restores the calculator’s built-in starting rates and clears optional core-room overrides.
Persistence: Edited rates are kept for the current browser session while the page stays open. They are not saved to browser storage — refreshing or closing the tab returns you to the default rates.

Overview

Which tab to use

Pick the tab for the service you are quoting. Do not stack the same job across tabs.

Regular — routine one-off or recurring maintenance. Property condition is soiling only; it is not a deep-clean switch.
Deep Cleaning — a full detailed reset. Use this tab when the job is a deep clean. The price and labour multipliers on that tab are how the deep board is calculated from the Regular/Standard figure — not a second “make it deep” control.
End of Tenancy — move-out / handover. Priced from Deep × EOT multiplier.
Airbnb / Specialist / Commercial / Post-construction — use only for those job types.

There is no deep-clean option inside Regular. If the property needs a detailed reset, open the Deep Cleaning tab.

Regular Cleaning

Domestic · standard maintenance

Use Regular for one-off or recurring standard maintenance cleaning. It is intended for homes that need routine upkeep rather than a detailed reset. Deep Cleaning is a separate primary service — there is no Standard/Deep toggle inside Regular.

Main information

Property type
Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms
Other selected rooms and spaces
Property condition
Cleaning frequency
Optional specialist add-ons

What affects the price

Room and space quantities
Editable room and service rates
Property condition (increases customer price and Suggested Labour Hours)
Cleaning frequency
Optional specialist services
Travel and discount settings

Common mistake: Choose Deep Cleaning rather than Regular when the property requires a detailed reset rather than routine maintenance.

Open Regular in calculator →

Deep Cleaning

Domestic · detailed reset

Use Deep Cleaning for a detailed reset of a property that requires more intensive work than standard maintenance cleaning. It is its own primary service — not an option inside Regular.

Deep Cleaning is suitable for first-time professional cleans, properties that have not been cleaned thoroughly for some time, detailed seasonal resets, heavier grease, dust, residue or limescale, cleaning before beginning a Regular Cleaning schedule, and situations where detailed attention is required beyond routine upkeep.

Main information

Property type
Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms
Other rooms and spaces
Property condition
Optional specialist services
Travel and discounts

Why there are multipliers on an already-deep tab

Deep Cleaning is already the deep service. The multipliers are not a second deep switch — they keep one price board for Regular, Deep and End of Tenancy:

Deep price multiplier — customer package price = Regular/Standard × this factor (then rounded). That is why Deep is more expensive than Regular for the same rooms.
Deep labour multiplier (×1.60 / 160%) — increases Suggested Labour Hours only, because a deep clean takes longer. It does not stack a second price uplift on top of the price multiplier.

Do not change these multipliers unless ClearLine explicitly approves a future change.

Included items — do not double-charge

Standard oven, fridge, extractor and standard internal-window cleaning are included within the Deep Cleaning service. Do not add them again as specialist services unless the customer requests work that is genuinely outside the included standard specification.

What affects the price

Room and space quantities and editable rates
Deep price multiplier (× Standard / Regular board)
Deep labour multiplier (×1.60) — hours only
Property condition (price and Suggested Labour Hours)
Optional specialist add-ons outside the included specification
Travel and discounts

Common mistake: Double-charging included items (standard oven, fridge, extractor, standard internal windows) on top of the Deep Cleaning price — or using Regular plus a “deep” condition instead of the Deep Cleaning tab.

Open Deep Cleaning in calculator →

End of Tenancy

Move-out

Use End of Tenancy for move-out or handover cleans. Bedrooms and bathrooms set the base price, then extra rooms and condition adjustments are added. Specialist add-ons can also be included when they fall outside the included standard specification.

Main information

Bedrooms and bathrooms (base)
Extra rooms and spaces
Property condition
Optional specialist add-ons

Included items — do not double-charge

Standard oven, fridge, extractor and standard internal-window cleaning are included within End of Tenancy Cleaning. Do not add them again as specialist services unless the requested work is outside the included standard specification.

What affects the price

Room counts and supplements
Condition adjustment for customer price and Suggested Labour Hours
Optional specialist add-ons outside the included specification
Travel and discounts

Common mistake: Understating condition on a tired property — or charging included oven, fridge, extractor or standard internal windows again as specialist lines.

Open End of Tenancy in calculator →

Airbnb

Short-stay

Use Airbnb for changeovers and short-stay accommodation. The calculator uses bedrooms, bathrooms and other room supplements, then allows linen and guest-supply extras such as single linen sets, double/king sets, towel sets, restock and same-day express.

Main information

Bedrooms, bathrooms, other rooms
Linen and guest-supply extras

What affects the price

Room supplements
Selected linen / restock / express options
Travel and optional discount (shared controls)

Common mistake: Forgetting linen or restock lines that the host expects on every changeover.

Open Airbnb in calculator →

Specialist

Add-ons only

Use Specialist when there is no main clean and the customer only wants extras such as ovens, carpets, upholstery, mattresses, kitchen deep clean or windows.

Main information

Selected specialist items and quantities

What affects the price

Enter the specialist services and quantities requested. The calculator prices only the items selected.
Bundle discounts can reduce add-ons when multiple specialist services are selected

Common mistake: Leaving out specialist items the customer actually wants on the day.

Open Specialist in calculator →

Commercial

What the commercial calculator does

The commercial section estimates a monthly price for offices, clinics, gyms, retail, communal areas and similar sites. It combines area hours, fixture hours, shift/service-level multipliers, cleans per week, cleaners, client hourly rate, consumables, supervision and periodic tasks.

Information needed before starting

Site type: Context for the premises (does not by itself change the formula).
Cleans per week: How often the site is cleaned — used with cleaners and client rate to form the monthly labour charge.
Cleaners per visit: Headcount for the visit. Visit hours are multiplied by this number to form total labour hours and the monthly labour charge.
Client rate (£/hr): The hourly rate charged to the client for labour hours.

Visit hours, cleaners and total labour

Area and fixture work first produce visit hours (workload hours for the visit, after shift/service-level multipliers, and not below the minimum visit hours). Those visit hours are the estimated time for the visit workload — they are not already total team labour hours.

Cleaners per visit then multiplies visit hours:

Total labour hours for the visit = visit hours × cleaners per visit
Monthly labour charge = visit hours × cleaners × client rate × cleans per week × 52 ÷ 12
Suggested monthly labour hours also use visit hours × cleaners × visits × 52 ÷ 12 (plus periodic hours)

Example

Two cleaners with two visit hours each represent four total labour hours for that visit (2 × 2 = 4). If they work that pattern five times a week, monthly labour hours and the monthly labour charge both use that total-labour relationship.

Elapsed time on site is what you schedule for the team; total labour hours are what the calculator multiplies by the client rate. With more cleaners, total billed labour hours rise for the same visit-hours figure.

Areas and cleanable square metres

Each area contributes hours from its cleanable floor area. For each area:

Working relationship

Hours ≈ cleanable m² ÷ production rate (m²/hr) × Cleaning Workload / Usage Intensity

Production rate

Production rate is how many square metres a cleaner can cover per hour in that area type. A lower rate means more hours for the same floor area.

Cleaning Workload / Usage Intensity

This setting multiplies estimated area hours for that zone only. It does not change the client hourly rate.

Level	Multiplier	Meaning
Low	×1.00	The calculator’s baseline for that area.
Normal	×1.15	Adds approximately 15% to that area’s hours.
High	×1.35	Adds approximately 35% to that area’s hours.

Fixtures

Toilets, sinks, showers, kitchens, bins, waste stations and high-touch zones add fixed hours per visit on top of area hours.

Service level & frequency

Shift / service level: Multiplies visit hours after areas and fixtures are combined.
Frequency: Cleans per week turn visit hours into a monthly labour charge together with cleaners and client rate.
Number of cleaners: Multiplies visit hours into total labour hours and the monthly labour charge (see above).

Periodic work

Periodic tasks contribute hours × times per month, added to monthly labour hours (for example interior glass or detail cleans).

Materials and consumables

Consumables and supervision are monthly £ amounts added to the monthly price. Separate materials and labour inputs on the shared panel help you estimate the cost of delivering the job.

Reading the result

Expect an itemised view of area and fixture contributions, visit hours, monthly labour charge, periodic work, consumables, supervision, then discount and travel where used, ending at the final estimated monthly customer price.

Common mistakes

Leaving intensity at Low on a high-touch reception or clinical area.
Omitting fixtures that dominate visit time (toilets, kitchens, bins).
Confusing production rate with client hourly rate — they serve different parts of the estimate.

Post-Construction

Choosing By Size, By Rooms or By Hour

Method	When to use (summary)	What drives price
By Size (m²)	You know cleanable floor area	Cleanable m² × builders and/or sparkle £/m² (stage selects which). Floors are contextual. Condition/complexity can scale the m² price when not Standard.
By Rooms	You are quoting from room counts	Individual room/space quantities drive labour hours, then room rate, stage multiplier and debris/complexity.
By Hour	You are selling agreed labour time	Cleaners × hours per cleaner × hourly rate. Stage is shown for context only.

Apply minimum charge is optional and off by default. Enable an optional minimum only if your own business uses a minimum charge. When enabled, the quote will not fall below the amount you set.

Property / Project Type

Property / Project Type is context only (house, flat, HMO, new-build, commercial premises, and similar). It does not create bedrooms or change the formula by itself.

Cleanable square metres

Used in By Size. Enter the cleanable area in m². Number of floors is contextual and does not change the m² rate.

Individual rooms and spaces

Used in By Rooms. Each room or space quantity is itemised. Labour hours, room base rate, stage and debris/complexity then form the cleaning subtotal.

Labour hours

Used in By Hour as cleaners × hours per cleaner for the suggestion. Labour Hours Used can be overridden; on By Hour that also updates the customer price. In other methods, suggested and used hours still appear for costing after Calculate.

Builders Clean, Sparkle Clean, Both stages

Builders clean: First-pass post-build clean; priced via builders £/m² when using By Size, or via stage multiplier on room methods.
Sparkle clean: Final presentation clean; priced via sparkle £/m² when using By Size, or via stage on room methods.
Both stages: Combines builders and sparkle where the method supports it (By Size uses both rates; room methods apply the combined stage factor).

Condition and complexity

Condition / complexity (By Size) and debris / complexity multiplier (By Rooms) scale the estimate when the site is harder than a standard finish. Job multiplier on By Rooms further adjusts labour.

Materials & travel

Materials/product inputs support your costing notes. Travel uses the shared postcode and mileage controls (free miles, rate per mile, Calculate Miles or manual miles).

Reading the result

The breakdown shows the chosen method’s drivers (area, rooms or hours), stage context, cleaning subtotal, add-ons, materials (costing), discount, travel and final estimated customer price.

Common mistakes

Choosing By Hour when you only know m² — or By Size when the site is better described by room counts.
Leaving complexity at Standard on a heavily soiled builders site.
Enable an optional minimum only if your own business uses a minimum charge.

Results

Reading the breakdown

Read the itemised result top to bottom. The How do you price? toggle changes how the clean is shown — not the job details you already entered:

Itemised build-up: Each room type as quantity × unit price from Edit Pricing, plus selected add-ons. Change unit rates in Edit Pricing — not beside the room counts.
Package price: One editable base clean price for the property, then add-ons listed separately on top.
Cleaning subtotal: Cleaning services before discount (add-ons are listed next).
Discount: Optional % or fixed off cleaning and add-ons (travel excluded).
Travel / call-out / minimum: Optional mileage, flat call-out fee, or your own minimum charge — all editable, none forced.
Final estimated price: Rounded quote figure you can copy into your own invoice.