What employer cost uplift should I use?

Many cleaning firms use 20% to 30% once national insurance, pension, holiday and sickness cover are included. Use your own payroll history if you have it.

Should supervision be in the hours?

Yes, if the specification requires a supervisor presence. Add those hours in, or add the cost to consumables.

How do I handle periodic deep cleans?

Price them separately as a schedule of rates rather than absorbing them into the routine hourly figure.

Free tender toolkit

Cleaning Contract Profit Calculator

Cleaning contracts live or die on the hourly maths. Enter the hours you will deliver each week, what you pay your cleaners, the employer costs on top, and your consumables, and see what is left each month.

Cleaning hours per week

Cleaner pay rate per hour

Employer cost uplift

National insurance, pension, holiday and absence cover.

Charge rate per hour

Consumables and equipment per month

Monthly revenue: £4,550
Monthly profit: £405
Margin: 8.9%

Loaded pay rate: £15.25 an hour across 260 monthly hours. Annual profit: £4,860.

Estimate only, not financial or regulatory advice. This is an estimate only, provided for general guidance. It is not tax, accounting, financial or legal advice. Check any figures with a qualified professional before relying on them.

How it works

Weekly hours are converted to a monthly figure using 52 weeks divided by 12.
The pay rate is uplifted by an employer cost percentage covering national insurance, pension and holiday cover.
Consumables and equipment are added as a monthly cost.
Revenue comes from your charge rate per hour, and profit is revenue minus total monthly cost.

Worked UK example

A site needing 60 hours a week, cleaners paid 12.50 an hour with 22% employer costs, 180 a month of consumables, charged at 17.50 an hour.

Monthly hours: 60 x 52 / 12 = 260.
Loaded pay rate: 12.50 x 1.22 = 15.25.
Monthly labour cost: 3,965, plus 180 consumables = 4,145.
Monthly revenue: 260 x 17.50 = 4,550.

About 405 a month of profit, a margin near 9%, which leaves very little room for absence cover.

Understanding your result

The gap between your pay rate and your charge rate is not your margin. Employer costs, holiday cover, supervision, consumables and travel all sit inside it. If the calculated margin is in low single figures, either the charge rate is too low or the specified hours are unrealistic for the site.

Frequently asked questions

What employer cost uplift should I use?: Many cleaning firms use 20% to 30% once national insurance, pension, holiday and sickness cover are included. Use your own payroll history if you have it.
Should supervision be in the hours?: Yes, if the specification requires a supervisor presence. Add those hours in, or add the cost to consumables.
How do I handle periodic deep cleans?: Price them separately as a schedule of rates rather than absorbing them into the routine hourly figure.

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