Cleaning Business Proposal Template

A three-page proposal template for commercial cleaning bids — the document a property manager, office manager, or facilities lead expects when the contract is worth more than a Google Doc draft. Commercial buyers compare bids side by side; the proposal is what makes you look like the company they want signing in their building, not the company they want quoting one room.

What this template covers

• Page 1 — Cover. Client name, project title (e.g. "Janitorial services for [building name]"), your business name and logo, submission date, and a line for the prospect's RFP number if there is one.
• Page 2 — Substance.
  • Executive summary: one short paragraph naming the scope and why your crew is a safe fit for the building.
  • Scope of work: areas covered, cleaning frequency by area, supplies and equipment you're providing vs. the building provides, and the specific deliverables (e.g. "weekly carpet vacuum, monthly carpet hot-water extraction in lobby").
  • Team and approach: who's on the account, whether you're using employees or subcontractors, and how supervision works.
  • Pricing table: line items by service category with monthly and annual totals.
• Page 3 — Closing.
  • Terms: insurance coverage (general liability, workers' comp, auto), Certificate of Insurance availability, cancellation policy, payment terms (typically Net 30 for commercial), scope-change pricing.
  • Acceptance: signature block for client and operator, dated.

Who it's for

Operators bidding offices, medical buildings, post-construction sites, recurring janitorial contracts, and any account where the buyer's process is "send me a proposal." If you're quoting a residential clean, a one-time move-out, or a sub-$500 small commercial job, the quote template is the right document — the proposal is overkill and slows the booking down.

How to use it well

• Walk the site before you write a word. The commercial cleaning walkthrough checklist feeds directly into the scope-of-work section.
• Bid from data, not gut. Square footage and frequency drive the price; vague scopes get cut on the buyer's side.
• Lock the price for 30 days, in writing. "Pricing valid for proposals accepted within 30 days of submission" — protects you against cost changes between bid and signature.
• State your insurance numbers in the terms section. Many commercial buyers ask for a general liability minimum and want to see workers' comp coverage. Naming the numbers up front saves a round of back-and-forth.
• Include scope-change pricing. "Additions to scope billed at $XX per labor hour or quoted separately for material changes." This single line saves the relationship the first time the client adds the lobby to the nightly rotation.

Common mistakes

• Copy-pasting the same template across radically different scopes — an office bid and a medical bid use different cleaning frequencies, different chemicals, and different insurance asks.
• No termination clause. Commercial contracts assume one — typically 30 days written notice from either party.
• Pricing as a single number with no breakdown. Buyers comparing three bids need to see what they're paying for in each line.
• Skipping the COI mention. If the building requires a Certificate of Insurance and you don't have one ready, you've already lost.

Related tools and next steps

Pair the proposal with the commercial cleaning walkthrough checklist — the checklist captures every input the proposal needs. Once you're bidding more than a couple of jobs a month, look at a real proposals tool for quote, e-signature, and deposit in one flow. Background on the categories of work commercial buyers actually contract for lives in the commercial cleaning and janitorial pages.