A proposal is not a quote with a cover page. It is the document that answers the four questions a buyer has before they hand a stranger a key: what exactly will you clean, how often, what does it cost, and why should we believe you will keep doing it. Templates are freely available and they are all the same shape, because the shape is settled. What they cannot supply is the specification and the price, which are the only two parts the customer actually reads twice.
The sections, in the order a buyer reads them
A short cover paragraph naming their building or home and the problem they described. The scope: what is cleaned, listed by area and frequency, with what is explicitly excluded. The schedule: days, times, crew size, access arrangements. The price, stated plainly with what it includes. Your credentials: insurance, bonding, how long you have traded, references. Terms: notice period, what happens on holidays, how changes are priced. Then a signature line and a date.
The scope section is the whole document
Everything else can be adequate; the scope has to be precise, because it is the thing that will be argued about in month four. List areas and frequencies rather than adjectives. 'Restrooms cleaned and restocked daily' is a specification. 'Restrooms maintained to a high standard' is a future disagreement. Include the exclusions in the same list, in the same voice, so they read as scope rather than as small print.
Price it before you write it
The most common failure is a beautifully written proposal at a number pulled from the air. Cost the work first: paid hours across the crew, the wage with employer payroll tax on it, supplies, travel and overhead, then apply the margin by dividing rather than adding. The free sheets on this site do that arithmetic. A proposal at a price you can defend survives the negotiation; one at a price you guessed does not.
Questions people ask about cleaning proposal
How long should a cleaning proposal be?
Two to four pages for most work. Longer is not more convincing, and the scope section is the only part that benefits from detail.
Should I send a proposal or just a price?
For recurring commercial work, a proposal. For a one-off house clean, a price. The proposal earns its length when there is a specification to agree.
Is a proposal legally binding?
Usually not on its own; the contract that follows it is. Say plainly on the document how long the price stands for.