What markup percentage should I use?

Most cleaning businesses apply a 15-30% markup on top of their costs. 20% is common for regular domestic work, while specialist or one-off cleans may warrant 25-40%. The markup covers your profit and accounts for risk, admin time and warranty on your work.

Do I need to charge VAT?

You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 per year (2024/25 threshold). Below this, VAT registration is optional. The calculator shows both ex-VAT and inc-VAT totals so you can provide the correct figure.

Should I include travel costs in my quote?

Yes. Travel costs (fuel, vehicle wear, parking) are a real business expense. You can either include them as a visible line item or absorb them into your hourly rate. Being transparent about travel costs is generally better for client relationships.

How do I estimate material costs?

Track your actual cleaning product usage over several jobs to build an accurate per-job material cost. Typical domestic cleaning might cost £2-5 in products per visit. Specialist jobs like carpet cleaning or oven cleaning will have higher material costs.

CleanCalcs

Quote Builder Calculator

Build a detailed cleaning quote with line items for labour, materials and markup.

Labour Hours

Total hours for the job

Hourly Rate

Your charge rate per hour

Material Cost

Products and consumables

Travel Cost

Fuel, parking, etc.

Markup

Profit markup percentage

How We Calculate This

This calculator assembles a quote from individual cost components:

Formula

Labour total = hours × hourly rate

Subtotal = labour + materials + travel

Quote total = subtotal + (subtotal × markup %)

VAT at 20% is calculated on the quote total for VAT-registered businesses.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Last updated: February 2026

All calculations are estimates. Always verify quantities and timings for your specific situation.