WINDOW CLEANING ESTIMATE TEMPLATE
Free window cleaning estimate template
A window cleaning estimate priced the way customers compare it: the windows counted by type, the outside and the inside on separate lines, screens, tracks and sills and hard-water spot removal as their own lines, the gutters as an add-on while the ladder is up, and the quarterly exterior clean as an option. Free in Word and PDF, with every line explained.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
A window cleaning estimate counts the windows — how many, what type, how many stories — and prices the outside and the inside on separate lines per window, because half your customers want the outside only and the other half want to see what the inside adds.
Then the lines around the glass, each priced on its own: screens removed and washed, tracks and sills, hard-water spot removal on the panes the sprinklers hit, skylights, and the gutters while the ladder is up. A recurring exterior clean — quarterly, or monthly for a storefront — goes on as an option.
Around that go your business and insurance details, the customer and the address, the estimate number and the date it holds until, how long the job takes and when you can start, what's included and what isn't — paint and construction debris are the usual exceptions — and how to pay, which for window cleaning is almost always on the day.
FREE TEMPLATE · WORD AND PDF
The window cleaning estimate template, filled in
Below is the template filled in for Northlight Window Cleaning, a fictional window 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 Window Cleaning Estimate Template — the blank fill-in estimate as it downloads, with [bracketed] lines to replace](/estimate-templates/window-cleaning-estimate-template-preview.png)
Example · fictional business
Northlight Window Cleaning Boise, ID (208) 555-0164 · hello@northlightwindows.example Insured: general liability | ESTIMATE |
Prepared for Grace and Tom Alder 1612 N 15th St Boise, ID | Windows Two-story home: 28 windows — 18 double-hung, 6 casement, 4 picture — inside and out, plus screens and tracks About 4 hours, one cleaner · water-fed pole for the upper floor outside, ladder for the picture windows Start: the first dry morning after you book; rain reschedules at no charge |
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exterior glass 28 windows, pure-water pole on the upper floor, squeegee on the ground floor — per window | 28 | $6.00 | $168.00 |
| Interior glass 28 windows, squeegee and detail, sills wiped — per window | 28 | $5.00 | $140.00 |
| Screens Removed, washed, dried and refitted — per screen | 24 | $3.00 | $72.00 |
| Tracks and sills Vacuumed and wiped — per window | 28 | $1.50 | $42.00 |
| Hard-water spot removal The 4 picture windows facing the sprinklers; mineral remover and polish — per window | 4 | $15.00 | $60.00 |
| Gutters cleared while the ladder is up About 140 linear feet, debris bagged and taken away — per linear foot | 140 | $1.25 | +$175.00 |
| Quarterly exterior clean The same 28 windows, outside only, every 3 months — per visit | 1 | $150.00 | +$150.00 |
| Subtotal | $482.00 | ||
| Sales tax (if your state charges it on cleaning services) | $0.00 | ||
| Estimated total | $482.00 | ||
What's included
All 28 windows inside and out, the screens, the tracks and sills, the spot removal on the four picture windows, and a walk-round with you at the end. Not included: paint, stickers or construction debris on the glass (priced per window if we find it), skylights, and the two options above. Please move anything on the sills before we arrive.
How to pay
Nothing to pay until the windows are done. Card, check or bank transfer on the day — or we leave the invoice if you're out.
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 window cleaning website — quoting is built in
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds your window 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 window 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 — on a two-story home, insurance is the first thing a careful customer asks about. Add your city business license number if your city issues one. |
| Estimate number, date and valid-until date | A number that never repeats, the date, and the date the price holds until — 30 days is plenty; window prices don't move the way material prices do. |
| Prepared for and the windows | The customer and the address, then the count: how many windows, of what type, over how many stories, inside and out or outside only, how long it takes and how you'll reach the upper floor. |
| Exterior and interior glass, priced apart | Per window, with the count. Divided-light windows — French panes — are priced per pane, so say which. The two lines let the customer choose outside-only without re-asking, and see what the inside adds. |
| Screens, tracks and sills | Each on its own line with a count. Screens are the add-on most customers assume is included and most cleaners charge for; a line settles it before the day. |
| Spots, paint and stickers | Hard-water spot removal on the panes the sprinklers hit, paint from the last decorator, stickers — per window, the affected ones only. Say in the notes that debris you find on the day is priced per window. |
| Options: gutters and the recurring clean | The gutters while the ladder is already up, by the linear foot, and the recurring exterior clean per visit — quarterly for a home, monthly for a storefront — as options the customer can tick. |
| Tax and total | Sales tax where your state charges it on cleaning services (most don't; Texas and New York among the ones that do), and the estimated total. |
| What's included and how to pay | The scope in plain words, what you need moved before you arrive, your rain rule, and how to pay — on the day, by card, check or bank transfer. |
STEP BY STEP
How to write a window cleaning estimate
Ten minutes from the curb — count the windows, note the access, and send it before you drive off.
Put your details and insurance at the top
Business name, phone, email, address, that you're insured, and your city business license number if there is one. Save the file once with these filled in.
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.
Count the windows and note the access
Windows by type — double-hung, casement, picture, divided-light — the stories, the screens, and how you'll reach the upper floor: pole, ladder, lift. Look for sprinkler spots and construction debris while you count.
Price outside and inside apart, then each extra
Exterior and interior per window with the count; screens, tracks and sills, spot removal, skylights on their own lines; gutters and the recurring clean as options.
Add tax, if any, and total it
Sales tax where your state charges it on cleaning services, and the estimated total.
Write what's included and how to pay, then send it
Scope in and out, what to move before you arrive, your rain rule, payment on the day. Text or email it from the curb — the first estimate in usually wins.
How window cleaning estimates win the job
Price outside and inside apart. Most calls start as “just the outside” and end as both once the customer sees the inside is five dollars a window. Two lines let them choose on the page, and a per-window price beats a lump sum every time a neighbor asks what you charge.
Count panes on divided-light windows. A twelve-pane French window takes four times the work of a picture window; price it per pane and say so on the line. It's the estimate most likely to go wrong on a lump sum, and the easiest to get right with a count.
Put screens and tracks on their own lines. They're the add-ons customers assume are included and most cleaners charge for. On the estimate they're a choice, not a surprise, and most customers take them once they see the price.
Sell the gutters while the ladder is up. You're already there; the option costs the customer less than a separate visit and earns you more per hour than the windows. The same logic sells the quarterly exterior clean — a route stop, priced per visit, that turns one job into four a year.
Say what's not included, and your rain rule. Paint from the last decorator, stickers, construction debris and sprinkler spots are priced per affected pane, not folded into the window price — say so, and say that rain reschedules at no charge. Both lines prevent the conversation at the door.
Licensing, insurance and heights. In the US no state licenses window cleaning as a trade; your city's business license usually applies, and your customers will ask about insurance before they ask about price. If you have employees working on ladders, rope-descent systems or roofs, OSHA's walking-working-surfaces and fall-protection rules apply to them. Check your city.
Tax. In the US most states don't charge sales tax on window cleaning, but several tax cleaning or janitorial services — Texas and New York among them — so check your state's revenue department or your accountant before you add a tax 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 window 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 window cleaning website templates or see how Zarla builds window cleaning websites. Still setting up? Read how to start a window cleaning business and write your window cleaning business plan.
The whole paper trail of a job, step by step: how to write a quote, then how to write an invoice, then how to write a receipt — with a free receipt template. For any other trade, start from the free estimate template.
Window 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 windows counted by type and story, inside and out or outside only, with the hours and how you'll reach the upper floor; exterior and interior glass per window; screens, tracks and sills, spot removal and skylights on their own lines; gutters and the recurring clean as options; tax where it applies and the estimated total; what's included, what to move before you arrive and your rain rule; 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 window for ordinary windows, per pane for divided-light and French windows, and per hour only for commercial work where the count changes week to week. Per-window pricing is what every customer compares and what lets them add the inside, the screens or the tracks as separate decisions. Say the count on the estimate so the price can be checked against the house.
From the curb or from photos, with the count written on the estimate and one line saying the price is for that count — if the house has more windows than you counted, the extras are priced at the same per-window rate. Hard-water spots and construction debris are the two things photos miss; say they're priced per pane if found.
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.
For a home, usually not — the job takes a morning and is paid on the day. Ask for one on a large commercial job that needs a lift or a crew, or a first clean after construction, and say on the estimate what it books.
Yes. The window 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 window 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 window 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.