CLEANING ESTIMATE TEMPLATE
Free cleaning estimate template
A cleaning estimate for homes and offices: the home sized in one line, the first deep clean priced on its own, the recurring visit price, add-ons as their own lines and what you need on the day. Free in Word and PDF, with every line explained.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
A cleaning estimate sizes the home in one line — bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, pets — then prices the first visit and the recurring visit separately: the first clean is a deep clean and takes twice as long, and the every-two-weeks price that follows is the number the customer is really deciding on.
Add-ons go on their own lines — inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows, laundry — so a customer can add or drop one without the whole price changing, and so the invoice later matches the estimate line for line.
Around that go your business and insurance details, the customer and the address, the estimate number and the date it holds until, what's included and what isn't, what you need on the day (a key, the alarm code, pets put away) and how to pay — usually a card on file charged after each visit.
FREE TEMPLATE · WORD AND PDF
The cleaning estimate template, filled in
Below is the template filled in for Brightline Home Cleaning, a fictional cleaning business, so you can see every line in use. The downloads are the same estimate with [bracketed] lines to replace — free, no email address, no sign-up.
![Free Cleaning Estimate Template — the blank fill-in estimate as it downloads, with [bracketed] lines to replace](/estimate-templates/cleaning-estimate-template-preview.png)
Example · fictional business
Brightline Home Cleaning Raleigh, NC (919) 555-0167 · book@brightline.example Insured and bonded | ESTIMATE |
Prepared for Dana Whitfield 2210 Oberlin Rd Raleigh, NC | Home 3 bed / 2.5 bath, about 2,200 sq ft, two adults and one dog First visit: deep clean · then a standard clean every two weeks First visit about 5 hours with two cleaners; recurring visits about 2.5 hours |
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial deep clean Whole home: baseboards, cabinet fronts, light fixtures, under and behind furniture we can move, inside the microwave; two cleaners, about 5 hours | 1 | $385.00 | $385.00 |
| Inside the oven At the first visit | 1 | $35.00 | $35.00 |
| Inside the fridge At the first visit | 1 | $30.00 | $30.00 |
| Recurring standard clean Per visit, every two weeks from the second visit: kitchen, bathrooms, floors, dusting, beds made, trash out | 1 | $165.00 | +$165.00 |
| Interior windows Reachable panes, as an add-on to any visit | 1 | $60.00 | +$60.00 |
| Subtotal | $450.00 | ||
| Sales tax (if your state taxes cleaning) | $0.00 | ||
| Estimated total | $450.00 | ||
What's included
The deep clean covers every room listed above with our supplies and equipment. Not included: carpet shampooing, exterior windows, walls, and moving heavy furniture or appliances. Recurring visits are the standard clean; add-ons can be added to any visit.
How to pay
No deposit. We charge the card on file after each visit, or send an invoice due within 3 days. The recurring price holds while visits stay every two weeks; please leave a key or the door code and put the dog away before we arrive.
Every figure on the example is an example, not a price guide — use your own rates. The Word file is a standard .docx you can edit in Word or any app that opens Word documents; the PDF prints as-is if you'd rather fill it in by hand.
Quotes and a website, one place
Start your cleaning website — quoting is built in
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds your cleaning website from this one line. The same dashboard sends quotes like this one as a link your customer accepts online, and drafts the invoice when they do.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
LINE BY LINE
What goes on a cleaning estimate
Every line on the template, in order, and what to write on it.
| The line | What to put there |
|---|---|
| Business name, contact and insurance | Your trading name, phone, email and address, and that you're insured and bonded — the first thing a customer handing over a house key wants to know. |
| Estimate number, date and valid-until date | A number that never repeats, the date, and the date the price holds until — 30 days is common; for recurring work, say how long the per-visit price holds. |
| Prepared for and the home in one line | The customer and the address, then the home: bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, pets, and how often you'll come. |
| The first visit | The initial deep clean on its own line, with what it covers and roughly how many cleaner-hours — it is always more than a recurring visit, and the customer should see why. |
| The recurring visit | The per-visit price for the standard clean and what it covers. For an office, the per-visit price with the days and whether it's after hours. |
| Add-ons | Inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows, laundry, baseboards — one line each, so they can be added to any visit and show up on the invoice by name. |
| Supplies | Whether you bring supplies and equipment (most do) or charge for them; a customer who wants a particular product should see that on its own line. |
| Tax and total | Sales tax where your state charges it on cleaning, and the estimated total for the first visit; the recurring price stands on its own line. |
| What's included and how to pay | The scope in plain words — what each visit covers and what it doesn't — then how you charge (card on file, invoice) and what you need on the day: a key, the alarm code, pets, parking. |
STEP BY STEP
How to write a cleaning estimate
From a walk-through, a video call or the customer's photos to an estimate they approve by text the same evening.
Put your details at the top
Business name, phone, email, address, and that you're insured and bonded. Save the file once with these filled in so every estimate starts ready.
Number it, date it, set the valid-until date
The next number in your series, today's date and the day the price stops holding. Add how often you'll come.
Size the home in one line
Bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, pets and the first-visit type — a deep clean the first time, then the standard clean. Note anything that adds time: a lot of glass, a home office, kids' rooms.
Price the first visit and the recurring visit separately
The deep clean on its own line with its cleaner-hours; the recurring visit on its own line as a per-visit price. Then every add-on as its own line.
Add tax and the total
Sales tax where your state charges it on cleaning, and the estimated total for the first visit. Say the recurring price holds while the schedule does.
Write what's included and how to pay
Scope in, scope out, whose supplies, how you charge and what you need on the day. Send it the same evening — the first estimate in usually wins the recurring customer.
How cleaning estimates win the job
Price the first visit on its own. The first clean of any home is a deep clean — it takes twice as long and the customer should see that number separately from the every-two-weeks price. A single blended number either scares them off or leaves you working the first visit for free.
Quote per visit, not per hour. A customer wants a number, and a per-visit price rewards you for getting faster. If you're still setting your rates, how much to charge for house cleaning has the US ranges per square foot, by bedrooms and for every add-on on this estimate; quote hourly only for a first deep clean of a home you haven't seen, and say how many cleaners.
Put add-ons on their own lines. Inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows — a customer adds one to a visit without renegotiating, and the invoice matches the estimate line for line.
Say what you need on the day. A key or the door code, the alarm, pets put away, parking, and whether you bring supplies. Four lines on the estimate prevent the four most common day-one problems.
Tax. In the US, whether sales tax applies to cleaning depends on your state — some states tax cleaning services (Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio among them), most don't, and some treat office cleaning differently from homes — so check your state's revenue department or your accountant before you add a line. Outside the US the rule is the other way around: in Australia and New Zealand a GST-registered business gives a consumer a price that includes GST, and in the UK and EU a VAT-registered business shows the VAT and quotes consumers a price with it included. Confirm the details with your accountant.
Send it from Zarla and get it accepted online
A Word estimate is a fine way to start. The slow part is everything after you send it: waiting for a reply, wondering whether they opened it, and retyping every line into the invoice when they say yes.
If you build your cleaning website with Zarla, quotes are in the same dashboard. Build the quote from your own price book — one price, or up to three options side by side with the one you'd pick marked Recommended, and any line as a checkbox extra. Send it as one link, by email. Your customer picks an option, ticks any extras, types their name to accept, and gets a copy; Zarla drafts the invoice for exactly what they chose, with any deposit you asked for, and the job moves to Won. The quote template is already in your brand: your website's logo, colors and fonts, set once for every quote and invoice. On a paid plan, with your Stripe account connected, that invoice carries a pay-now button, so the deposit comes in as soon as you send it.
Want to see the website first? Browse cleaning website templates or see how Zarla builds cleaning websites. Still setting up? Read how to start a cleaning business and write your cleaning business plan. Setting your rates? See how much to charge for house cleaning.
The whole paper trail of a job, step by step: how to write a quote, then the cleaning invoice template, then how to write a receipt — with a free receipt template. For any other trade, start from the free estimate template. Once the customer says yes, the cleaning work order template is the sheet for the crew — and the cleaning price list template is the list an estimate like this one is priced from.
Cleaning estimates: common questions
Your business, contact and insurance details; the customer and the address; an estimate number, the date and a valid-until date; the home in one line (bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, pets, frequency); the first deep clean on its own line with its cleaner-hours; the recurring visit as a per-visit price; each add-on on its own line; whose supplies; tax where it applies and the estimated total; then what's included, what you need on the day and how to pay.
An estimate is your best calculation of what the job will cost, given what you can see today; the final price can move if the work turns out different. A quote (or a fixed price) is the price you will charge for the work described. A bid is a quote submitted against someone else's specification, usually in construction. Say which one your document is in its title.
Per visit for the recurring clean — the customer gets a number they can plan around and you keep the gain when you get faster. Hourly suits a first deep clean of a home you haven't seen; if you quote hourly, show the rate, the number of cleaners and your best guess at the hours.
A walk-through is best for a large home or a deep clean; for a standard home a video call or a few photos plus the bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet is enough. Say on the estimate what the price assumes — the size, the condition, pets — so a surprise on the day is a conversation, not an argument.
Thirty days is the common choice for a home-services estimate, and shorter when material prices move (roofing, lumber, copper). Print the date on the estimate: a customer who comes back after it can be re-quoted at today's prices without an argument, and one who accepts inside it knows the price holds.
Usually not — the job is a few hours and payment is by card on file after each visit. Take a deposit for a large one-time job such as a move-out clean of an empty house, and say so on the estimate.
Yes. The cleaning estimate template on this page downloads free as a Word document and a PDF — no email address, no sign-up. Edit it in Word or any app that opens Word documents, or print the PDF and fill it in by hand.
Not from a Word file — the customer replies by email or phone, and you type the job into an invoice later. To get a yes in one tap, send it from quoting software. If your cleaning website is on Zarla, the quote tool is in the same dashboard: your customer opens one link, picks an option, ticks any extras and types their name to accept, and Zarla drafts the invoice for what they chose — which, on a paid plan with Stripe connected, carries a pay-now button. Jobber, Housecall Pro, Wix and Squarespace send quotes customers accept online too.
Send estimates from your own cleaning website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with quoting in the same dashboard.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.