This article is general information for New Zealand cleaning business owners, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the official sources linked below or talk to an employment lawyer or adviser about your situation.
Underpricing is one of the quickest ways to grow a cleaning company into trouble. A contract that looks fine on paper can lose money once you add travel, supervision, supplies and the hours a site really takes. This guide walks through a simple, repeatable way to price commercial cleaning work in New Zealand, with a worked example. The numbers in the example are illustrations only. Use your own costs.
Step 1: Get the scope in writing
Before any numbers, pin down exactly what the client wants. Walk the site, ideally at the time the cleaning will happen. Record:
- areas and approximate floor space by type (offices, bathrooms, kitchens, meeting rooms, stairs, entrances)
- number of toilets, basins, kitchens and bins
- floor types (carpet, vinyl, tiles) and any specialised surfaces
- frequency: nightly, a few times a week, weekly and periodic tasks like windows or carpet cleaning
- access: after-hours entry, alarms, keys, parking, security inductions
- consumables: who supplies toilet paper, hand towels, soap and bin liners.
Turn this into a written scope and a site checklist. It becomes the basis of your quote, the cleaner's instructions and your proof later on. (Our free checklist template can help.)
Step 2: Estimate the hours per visit
Labour is usually the largest cost in commercial cleaning, so the hours estimate matters most. Two ways to estimate:
- Task by task. Time each task from your own experience (a bathroom with four toilets, vacuuming an open-plan floor, emptying 30 bins) and add them up.
- From your own history. If you clean similar sites, look at how long they actually take. Real check-in and check-out data beats any rule of thumb.
Add time for setting up, packing away and walking between floors. Be honest. If a site really takes 2.5 hours, pricing it at 2 hours means someone is either rushing or unpaid.
Step 3: Work out your true hourly labour cost
The wage rate is only the start. Your real cost per hour worked includes:
- the hourly wage (from 1 April 2026, the adult minimum wage in New Zealand is NZ$23.95 an hour, and many companies pay more)
- holiday pay, public holidays and sick leave entitlements
- employer KiwiSaver contributions
- ACC levies
- paid time that isn't on site, such as training, travel between sites where it's paid, and handovers
- supervision and quality checks.
Many owners add these up as a percentage on top of the base wage. Work out your own figure from last year's payroll rather than borrowing someone else's.
Step 4: Add direct costs
- Supplies and consumables: chemicals, cloths, mop heads, bin liners and, if you supply them, washroom consumables. These can be a big line on sites with heavy bathroom use.
- Equipment: vacuums, scrubbers and their wear and replacement.
- Travel: vehicle costs, parking and any travel time you pay for.
Step 5: Add overheads and margin
Overheads are the costs of running the business that aren't tied to one site: insurance, software, phones, accounting, uniforms, your office and your own time. Spread them across your contracts, for example as a percentage of labour cost or a fixed amount per site per month.
Then add profit margin. Margin is not a luxury; it's what pays for a cleaner calling in sick, a broken vacuum or a slow month. Decide your target margin and stick to it.
Step 6: Convert to a monthly price, then add GST
Most commercial clients prefer a fixed monthly price. Multiply the cost per visit by visits per year and divide by 12. GST in New Zealand is 15%. Quote clearly whether prices are plus GST or GST inclusive. Business clients usually expect prices plus GST.
A worked example (illustrative only)
An office cleaned 5 nights a week. These figures are made up to show the method, not market rates.
| Item | Example figure |
|---|---|
| Hours per visit | 2.5 hours |
| Visits per year | 5 × 52 = 260 |
| Labour hours per year | 650 hours |
| True labour cost per hour (wage plus on-costs, your own figure) | NZ$32.00 |
| Labour per year | 650 × 32 = NZ$20,800 |
| Supplies, equipment and travel | NZ$2,400 |
| Overheads allocated | NZ$2,300 |
| Total cost per year | NZ$25,500 |
| Price with a 20% margin on price (cost ÷ 0.8) | NZ$31,875 |
| Monthly price | NZ$2,656.25 + GST |
| Monthly incl. 15% GST | NZ$3,054.69 |
Note the difference between margin and markup. Adding 20% to cost (markup) gives a lower price than a 20% margin on the final price.
Step 7: Write a quote that protects you
- Attach the scope and checklist so it's clear what's included and what isn't.
- State the frequency, times and any periodic tasks separately.
- Say how price reviews work, for example an annual review and when minimum wage increases.
- Set out how complaints are raised and fixed.
- Explain how you'll show the work was done, such as check-in records and before and after photos. Clients value this, and it supports your price.
Step 8: Check the contract after you win it
Your estimate is a guess until the site is running. Compare actual hours against quoted hours for the first two months. If a site consistently takes longer, find out why: scope creep, an untrained cleaner or a bad estimate. Then fix the process or talk to the client.
Sprux shows hours per site from real check-ins and check-outs, so you can see which contracts run over. See timesheets or see Sprux pricing.
Sources
Sources checked 15 November 2026.