Flat rate vs hourly pricing for cleaners

Break-even time = flat price ÷ your hourly rate. Finish faster than that and the flat price pays more; take longer and billing by the hour would have paid more.

With hourly pricing the client pays for the time the clean takes. With a flat rate (also called a flat fee or job price) the client pays one agreed price for an agreed list of tasks, however long it takes. Neither is right for every job. The real difference is who carries the risk when a job takes longer than expected.

How hourly pricing works

Price = cleaner-hours × hourly rate. You are paid for every hour you work, so a slow job does not cost you. On the other hand, the client does not know the final price in advance, and you earn less as you get faster at the same job.

How flat-rate pricing works

Effective hourly rate = flat price ÷ hours the job actually took. The client knows the price before you start. If you get faster, you keep the difference. If the home is messier than described, or the client adds tasks, the extra time is unpaid unless your quote says how extras are charged.

Worked example (fictional numbers)

A cleaner charges $40 per cleaner-hour and estimates a job at 4 cleaner-hours, which would bill $160.00 by the hour. Instead they quote a flat $170.00. These are example numbers, not suggested prices.

Break-even time = $170 ÷ $40 = 4.25 hours, or 4 h 15 min.

The job takes 3 h 30 min. Hourly billing would have been 3.5 × $40 = $140.00. The flat price pays $30.00 more, an effective $170 ÷ 3.5 = $48.57 an hour.
The job takes 5 hours. Hourly billing would have been 5 × $40 = $200.00. The flat price pays $30.00 less, an effective $170 ÷ 5 = $34.00 an hour.

Same job, same flat price: one outcome beats the hourly rate and the other falls below it. That is why a flat price is only as good as the time estimate behind it.

Making a flat rate safer

Build it from your own times. Price rooms and tasks from minutes you have measured, as in how to price house cleaning jobs.
Write down the scope. List what the flat price includes, and how extras such as the inside of the oven or laundry are charged.
Review after the first visits. If the first visits run past the break-even time, re-quote before the arrangement becomes routine.
Track actual time. Compare each job's effective hourly rate with your hourly rate regularly, not just once.

When hourly pricing may suit better

Hourly pricing can make sense when you cannot estimate the time well: a first deep clean, a move-out clean of a home you have not seen, or a job where the task list keeps changing. You can also quote hourly with an estimated range for the first visit, then move a regular client to a flat price once you know the home.

Questions to ask yourself

How confident am I in my time estimate for this home?
If the job runs an hour over, can I live with the lower effective rate?
Does the client want a fixed price, or are they happy to pay for time?
Is the scope written down clearly enough that extras are easy to charge?

Compare both methods for a job of your own in the hourly vs flat rate cleaning calculator, or build a flat price from rooms and minutes in the house cleaning price calculator.