A pricing structure is not a price list. The list is the numbers you publish this year; the structure is the rules that produce them, and it is the structure that decides whether next year's list takes an afternoon or a fortnight. Most cleaning businesses have a list and no structure, which is why a wage rise turns into a crisis: there is no mechanism to push it through to prices, so it is absorbed until the year the business notices it has no margin left.
The five parts of a structure that works
A base rate derived from cost, expressed in whatever unit you sell in. A frequency modifier, because a fortnightly house is faster per visit than an annual one. Add-ons priced individually so the standard clean stays comparable. A minimum charge that reflects setup time. And a review date, written down, so the whole thing is rebuilt on a schedule rather than when someone complains.
Frequency, and pricing the thing you actually want
Recurring work is worth more to you than one-offs: the route is predictable, the house is easier each time, and the customer acquisition cost is spread over many visits. A structure should therefore make the weekly price attractive relative to the monthly one, and the discount should be sized on the real time difference rather than picked. If you have the hours data, that difference is measurable rather than a guess.
Passing a wage rise through without renegotiating everything
If the base rate is derived from a loaded hourly cost, a wage rise is one input change and the whole list moves. Do the arithmetic once, publish the new list with notice, and apply it on a date. The federal employer payroll taxes ride on the wage as a percentage, so they move with it automatically: Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45% on the employer side, plus federal unemployment at 6.0% on the first $7,000 per employee, 0.6% once the state credit applies.
The difficult house, and where it belongs in the structure
Every business has one or two houses that cost far more than they pay. A structure gives you somewhere to put them: a condition surcharge, a longer standard duration, or a decision to re-quote. What it stops you doing is pretending they are normal, which is the usual outcome when the price is a number with no argument behind it.
Questions people ask about cleaning business pricing structure
How often should I rebuild the structure?
The list annually, the structure only when the business changes shape: a new service line, a new market, a different crew model.
Should I discount for weekly cleaning?
Yes, if a weekly house genuinely takes less time per visit. Size the discount on the time, not on the customer's negotiation.
Do I need different structures for residential and commercial?
Yes. Commercial is priced from square feet and a contract term; residential from hours and a frequency. Trying to run both from one rule produces bad prices in both.