Clean Service Ledger / GUIDE
Assign supplies and travel to a quote consistently
Small expenses matter when a job is repeated many times.
Choose a costing method
Some supplies can be tracked directly to a job; others are shared across many visits. Pick a documented method and use it consistently. A flat allowance is easier to maintain but should be checked against purchases and job volume. A precise-looking number based on stale assumptions is not necessarily more accurate.
Distinguish use from purchase
Buying a case of product affects cash today, while only part may be consumed on one visit. Keep purchase records separate from the amount allocated to a job. Do not count the same purchase once as a direct job cost and again as overhead. Your accounting method may differ from this estimating worksheet.
Count travel deliberately
Record whether the quote includes driving time, vehicle use, parking or tolls. A nearby account and an isolated account can have the same cleaning hours but different delivery costs. Do not treat a tax mileage rate as proof of your actual operating cost. Enter the travel allowance appropriate to your own model.
Protect the service scope
Product suitability follows surface requirements and label instructions, not the lowest unit price. Store and use products according to their labels and applicable workplace requirements. This site focuses on estimating and workflow; it does not provide chemical-mixing recipes or specialized remediation procedures.
Reconcile monthly
Add allocated supply and travel costs across completed jobs, then compare them with the relevant expenses. Investigate persistent gaps. Update the allowance prospectively and keep a note of the change. This simple review helps prevent a profitable-looking job quote from hiding costs elsewhere in the business.
Primary references
Checked November 12, 2026. Consult the current original guidance for context.
Prepared with AI assistance. Examples are constructed for explanation, not reported client results. Corrections are welcome.