What is loaded wage in cleaning contracts?

Loaded wage is the true hourly cost of an employee including base pay, payroll taxes, workers compensation insurance, benefits, and paid time off. It typically runs 1.25 to 1.45 times the base hourly rate depending on your state and benefit structure.

How do I calculate overhead allocation per account?

Divide your total monthly overhead costs (rent, utilities, office staff, insurance, vehicles) by total monthly revenue across all accounts, then multiply that percentage by the individual account's monthly revenue. Some contractors use labor hours instead of revenue as the allocation base.

What gross margin should a cleaning account have?

Most commercial cleaning contractors target 15% to 25% gross margin per account after direct labor, supplies, equipment costs, and allocated overhead. Accounts below 15% often lose money once you factor in billing delays, scope creep, and untracked touch-up visits.

Why can revenue look fine while the account is a loss?

Because clocked hours, supplies, allocated overhead, and risk never hit the invoice line. Revenue without margin is a busy loss — this tool surfaces that gap.

What should I do first if margin is under threshold?

Re-price with Bill Rate, cut scope creep, or reduce hours via a real production plan. Do not add stops to a losing account hoping volume will fix it.

Account Profitability Auditor

Revenue without margin is just a busy loss.

Inputs

Monthly revenue ($)

Clocked hours

Loaded wage ($/hr)

Supplies (% of labor)

Equipment depreciation ($/mo)

Overhead allocation ($)

Risk premium ($)

Net margin threshold (%)

Compares the gross margin percentage of a cleaning account against your target threshold to identify unprofitable contracts. Enter monthly revenue, labor hours, loaded wage, supply costs, equipment depreciation, overhead allocation, and risk premium.

Instruction

Enter monthly revenue and clocked hours for the account.
Set loaded wage per hour, supplies as percentage of labor, equipment depreciation, overhead allocation, and risk premium.
Read gross margin percentage and compare it to your margin threshold.

Worked example

An account bills $4,200/mo with 48 clocked hours at $24/hr loaded wage, 8% supplies, $25 depreciation, $504 overhead, and $74 risk (defaults).

Gross margin prints ~56% vs a 20% threshold — Healthy. If it flipped under threshold, fix price, hours, or scope before you grow the loss.

Questions operators ask

What is loaded wage in cleaning contracts?: Loaded wage is the true hourly cost of an employee including base pay, payroll taxes, workers compensation insurance, benefits, and paid time off. It typically runs 1.25 to 1.45 times the base hourly rate depending on your state and benefit structure.
How do I calculate overhead allocation per account?: Divide your total monthly overhead costs (rent, utilities, office staff, insurance, vehicles) by total monthly revenue across all accounts, then multiply that percentage by the individual account's monthly revenue. Some contractors use labor hours instead of revenue as the allocation base.
What gross margin should a cleaning account have?: Most commercial cleaning contractors target 15% to 25% gross margin per account after direct labor, supplies, equipment costs, and allocated overhead. Accounts below 15% often lose money once you factor in billing delays, scope creep, and untracked touch-up visits.
Why can revenue look fine while the account is a loss?: Because clocked hours, supplies, allocated overhead, and risk never hit the invoice line. Revenue without margin is a busy loss — this tool surfaces that gap.
What should I do first if margin is under threshold?: Re-price with Bill Rate, cut scope creep, or reduce hours via a real production plan. Do not add stops to a losing account hoping volume will fix it.