How to write a cleaning quote (with a template)

A quote does two jobs. It wins the work, and it sets out what you've agreed to do, so there's no argument three months later about whether the inside of the fridge was included. Most disagreements between cleaning companies and their customers start with a quote that was a price in a text message.

This guide assumes you've already worked out your price. If you haven't, start with how to price cleaning jobs.

Before you write it

• See the property. A visit, a video call or a set of photos. Quoting blind is how you end up doing a four-hour job for a two-hour price.
• Ask what matters to them. The customer who mentions the bathrooms three times will judge you on the bathrooms.
• Find out who decides. In an office, the person showing you round often isn't the person who signs.
• Send it quickly. Within a day of the visit. The first good quote often wins.

What to include

The scope: be specific

“General clean of the house” will cause you trouble. A scope that works lists the rooms and what's done in each:

For offices, attach or refer to a cleaning specification: each area, each task, and how often. Our guide to commercial cleaning contracts covers what goes in one.

Price it so they can say yes

• Show the total they'll pay. If you're VAT registered, show the VAT and the total. Domestic customers think in the price including VAT.
• For regular cleans, show the visit and the month. “£60 a visit, weekly, about £260 a month” saves them doing the sum.
• Price the first clean separately. It takes longer. Say so, and why.
• Offer extras as options, not surprises. Inside the oven, inside the fridge, windows, ironing. A customer who ticks two extras on the quote is worth more to you, and happier, than one who finds out later they weren't included.

Write down what isn't included

Exclusions protect you more than anything else on the page. Common ones:

• Inside the oven, fridge and cupboards, unless chosen as extras
• Walls, outside windows, carpets and upholstery
• Moving heavy furniture
• Biohazards, mould treatment and pest problems
• Anything higher than you can safely reach from a step ladder

The terms

Keep them short, and on the quote itself, not in a separate document nobody opens:

• Cancellation: for example, the full charge for less than 48 hours' notice.
• Payment: when and how. Domestic work is often paid on the day or monthly; offices usually monthly with 14 or 30 days to pay.
• Price reviews: once a year, with a month's notice.
• Complaints: tell you within 24 hours and you'll come back to put it right.
• Keys: how you hold them, and what happens to them if the arrangement ends.

A template to copy

Follow it up

Send a short follow-up two or three days later if you haven't heard. One line is enough: do they have any questions, and would they like to book a start date? Most quotes that go nowhere were never followed up, not turned down.

When a quote is accepted, turn it into the job straight away. For commercial work, the client may ask for a risk assessment and method statement before you start.

How RoomZoom helps

In RoomZoom you send numbered quotes for one-off or repeating cleans, with optional extras the customer can tick. Each quote is valid for 30 days unless you set another date. The client opens a link, with no login, and accepts, asks for changes or declines, and you hear straight away. Once it's accepted, add a RAMS if the job needs one and schedule the work.

At the end of the month, invoice from the visits that were actually done, with VAT and your own numbering. Quotes and invoices are part of Pro, free for your first 14 days, and RoomZoom is free for up to 5 properties after that. Sign up free, with no card needed.