Operations guide · September 2026
The short answer: track actual hours per account, compare against your target hourly, announce increases 30 days out with a specific date, tier the rise (underpriced accounts take more, fair ones take less), and offer a grandfather lock for price-sensitive clients. Most owners who "feel" an account is bad are right — but two quarters late, because creep is gradual.
On your schedule sheet, keep three numbers per recurring account: monthly price, actual hours worked (written down at the end of each visit, not estimated), and price ÷ real hours. At month end, any account below your target hourly goes on the repricing list.
For solo residential work, most cleaners need $45–60/hour loaded to actually survive — wage, taxes, insurance, supplies and drive time all come out of that number. An account that pencils at $28/hour isn't a client; it's a subscription you're paying for.
| Cause | How it happens | The tell |
|---|---|---|
| Labor time drift | Same rooms, more minutes, every visit — nobody notices 8 extra minutes a week | Price ÷ real hours has slid over 2–3 months |
| Scope creep | "While you're here..." requests that never come with a price | The task list on the quote no longer matches reality |
| Drive time | 20 minutes each way eats a full hour of weekly capacity | Two accounts, same price, one takes 5 hrs the other 9 |
Callbacks and re-cleans are the hidden column almost nobody tracks — one free re-do can erase a month of margin on a small account. Log them like any other visit. And the uncomfortable one: your oldest accounts are usually your worst, precisely because loyalty makes you rationalize what the hours math would flag immediately.
A reprice is a process, not a conversation. The structure that works:
The lever almost nobody uses: offer to lock the current rate for 12 months in exchange for an annual commitment (paid upfront or on contract). A meaningful chunk of your price-sensitive clients take it — which is upfront cash for you and guaranteed retention — while the rest move to the new rate without a fight.
Expect the cancellation calls in the two weeks after notices go out, not on the effective date. Have one scripted concession ready (midpoint rate, or the old rate for quarterly prepay) — most callers just want to feel heard once.
Going back for another 5% next year hurts twice. Operators who price in 8–10% annual steps train their market; the ones who do 3% train their clients to expect a fight every time. The increase funds the next year's wage rise — if you skip it, you're the one paying it.
Two tools carry the math: the Labor Cost Percentage Calculator shows what your target hourly actually needs to be (fully loaded with taxes and benefits), and the Cleaning Estimate Calculator prices new accounts at the correct band from day one — so the repricing list stays short. Every benchmark band on this page is also on the 2026 Service Business Pricing Benchmarks page with sources.
Monthly on the hours column (it's three numbers, five minutes), and a full re-time of every recurring account twice a year. Scope creep is invisible month to month — the six-month mark is where it shows up in the math.
30 days minimum for residential, 60 for commercial contracts. The notice must contain the specific effective date — "prices going up next month" creates arguments, "your new rate begins March 1" creates calendar entries.
8–10% per year is the band that keeps pace with wage growth without re-arguing every year. Under 5% reads as negotiable; over 15% on a fair-priced account reads as greedy. Tier it — underpriced accounts can take 15%+ precisely because they were wrong to begin with.
Yes, sometimes. If the account needs more than a 20% correction AND the client is difficult, the polite version of firing is the unbundle offer — they either accept a properly scoped price or self-select out. Don't keep an account that costs you money out of loyalty; that money is coming from your family, not from nostalgia.