Commercial cleaning franchise finance
The median brand here reports average revenue of $897,792 a unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 11.5% of sales. The median cost to open runs $111,800 to $187,500.
Commercial cleaning franchises at a glance
- Averan Franchise compares thirteen commercial cleaning franchise brands, each from its own 2026 FDD.
- The cost to open a commercial cleaning franchise runs from $4,250 at OpenWorks to $472,556 at Vanguard Cleaning Systems.
- Vanguard Cleaning Systems reports the highest average sales of these brands, at $5,744,512, and Kitchen Guard the lowest, at $209,719.
- Franchise fees take 5.5% to 21.6% of sales across the thirteen brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure.
These figures come from each brand's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
Find a commercial cleaning brand
This guide covers thirteen brands, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
All 13 brands
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own page on how its locations make money, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- Anago Cleaning Systems Minimum performance standard rises every anniversary
- Corporate Cleaning Group 44 locations · Gross profit percentage by group
- Coverall Initial volume fulfilment compliance (FTC consent decree)
- Enviro-Master Full P&L · Revenue per business in territory
- Fleet Clean 54 locations · Cost statement covers a subset
- JAN-PRO Per-outlet Gross Billings, 8 unit franchises sold in FY2025
- Kitchen Guard 38 locations · First-full-year territories, a mature county business and a month-by-month ramp
- Maid Brigade Ten subsets by NUMBER OF TERRITORIES OWNED (1 through more than 10), each with franchisee count, territory count, lowest, highest
- Office Pride Revenue quartiles for 2025, the same quartiles again for standard territories only, a three-year average and median history, and the franchisor's own restatement of its top quartile with the single largest franchisee removed
- OpenWorks No financial performance representation
- ServiceMaster Clean 584 locations · Minimum sales requirement against reported sales
- Stratus Building Solutions No financial performance representation
- Vanguard Cleaning Systems Most of the headline figure passes through to unit franchisees
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $897,792 | 9 of 13 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $624,363 | 9 of 13 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $45,000 | 13 of 13 | |
| Royalty | 6.9% | 13 of 13 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 1.5% | 11 of 13 | |
| Fees paid to the brand | 11.5% | 13 of 13 | Royalty, brand fund and other fees paid to the brand or its affiliates, as a share of average sales |
| Cost to open, low | $111,800 | 13 of 13 | |
| Cost to open, high | $187,500 | 13 of 13 | |
| Profit margin | Fewer than three disclose | 1 of 13 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 1 of 13 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 13 | |
| Unit growth over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | 1.4% | 11 of 13 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | 6.5% | 9 of 13 | Terminated, non-renewed, reacquired and ceased, ÷ opening units; transfers excluded |
Each figure is the median of the brands that disclose it, and the Brands column counts them.
How we calculated this
Revenue is each brand's own reported figure on its own unit basis, so the median describes the group and no single brand. Growth and customers lost are our calculations from each brand's outlet table. Where fewer than three brands disclose a figure, no benchmark is shown.
The model
The business model the top performers in commercial cleaning are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
Twelve of the thirteen brands here sell a contract. Three of them run a recurring plan, and turning a first visit into a standing arrangement is a skill in itself. Rostering against demand is the constraint.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a recurring account billed monthly. At two of them the model is different: the customer buys work that repeats on a schedule, which asks something else of the owner. A location at the middle brand sells $922,278 a year, and the median top group sells $2,785,923. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume. The product is the same.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is a retention business. The money is made in the second year of a customer, not the first month, so the number that decides the year is how many stay. A median 37% of locations reach their own brand’s average, so most of the system is below the number the brand advertises, and the gap usually comes from low demand. Effort is usually not the cause. The top group sells $2,785,923 against $77,001 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $4,250 to $472,556 across the group, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 2.4 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs wages 40.4%, cost of sales 29.7%, franchise fees 11.5% of sales. Cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods here, so the cash forecast matters more than the profit line in any given month.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in commercial cleaning
Across the commercial cleaning brands that publish both figures, the median top group of locations sells $2,785,923 a year and the median bottom group sells $77,001. Across these brands, a median of 37% of locations reach their own brand’s average.
Decided before you open
- Opening cost against sales.The top group sells $2,785,923 a year against a build that tops out at $472,556, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $5.90 for every dollar it cost to open.
Live operating levers
- Twelve of the thirteen brands here sell a contract that bills every month.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Service contracts that bill every month
- Unit economics
- Accounts times monthly billing, less accounts lost
- Three of the thirteen brands here run a recurring plan.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Recurring plans and booked return visits
- Unit economics
- Customers on a plan times visits a month
- One of the thirteen brands here run routes.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Scheduled service on van routes
- Unit economics
- Stops a day for each van
- Two of the thirteen brands here sell gift cards in volume.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Gift cards paid for before the service
- Unit economics
- Gift card sales, counted as revenue when redeemed
- Three of the thirteen brands here publish how a new location builds up.
Business model attribute
- Service
- The FDD’s month-by-month build-up of a new location
- Unit economics
- Months until sales cover costs
- Wages by brand.Wages run 40.4% of sales at Fleet Clean, the one brand that discloses them. The levers are scheduling against booked demand hour by hour, sales per paid hour, and keeping part of pay variable. On the top group’s $2,785,923 of sales, a point of wages is $27,859 a year; on the bottom group’s $77,001 it is $770.
- Fees as a share of sales.Fees run a median 11.5% of sales across thirteen brands, from 5.5% to 21.6%. Where a minimum applies, lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. At $2,785,923 the fees cost $320,381 a year; at $77,001 they cost $8,855.
Context you underwrite around
- First-year build-up.Three of thirteen filings in this group show how a new location builds up. The others do not show it.
- Brands without sales bands.Four brands publish only an average, with no sales bands.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
These are the levers each brand's filing supports. Each brand has three to five, read from its own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
13 brands
Anago Cleaning Systems
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Gift cards. Gift cards are sold before the service is delivered, and sales peak around the holidays. A gift card is deferred revenue until it is redeemed, so cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 7.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Corporate Cleaning Group
Commercial cleaning
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 7.3% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
Coverall
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Fees. Fees run about 15.0% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
Enviro-Master
Commercial cleaning
- Routes. Each van costs the same per day. Track stops per van and the distance between them.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 13.8% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Fleet Clean
Commercial cleaning
- Fees. Fees run about 11.3% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Wages. Wages take 40.4% of sales, against 20.3% kept at the end. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
JAN-PRO
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 13.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Kitchen Guard
Commercial cleaning
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 14.9% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
Maid Brigade
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 9.1% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Office Pride
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Gift cards. Gift cards are sold before the service is delivered, and sales peak around the holidays. A gift card is deferred revenue until it is redeemed, so cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 11.5% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
OpenWorks
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 21.6% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
ServiceMaster Clean
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 7.1% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Stratus Building Solutions
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 15.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Vanguard Cleaning Systems
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts. Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
- Fees. Fees run about 5.5% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
Commercial cleaning cost lines as a share of sales
Two of the thirteen commercial cleaning brands in Averan Franchise disclose what their locations spend on wages, rent and space, or cost of goods. Each figure is a share of the average location's sales, from the brand's 2026 FDD. Rent and space covers rent and the other costs of the premises.
| Brand | Wages | Rent and space | Cost of goods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Cleaning Group | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 54.2% |
| Fleet Clean | 40.4% | Not disclosed | 5.1% |
Common questions
How much does a commercial cleaning franchise cost to open?
Among the thirteen commercial cleaning brands in Averan Franchise that publish it, the cost to open runs from $4,250 at OpenWorks to $472,556 at Vanguard Cleaning Systems, according to their 2026 FDDs.
Which commercial cleaning franchise costs the least to open?
OpenWorks has the lowest starting cost of the commercial cleaning brands in Averan Franchise, at $4,250 to $134,480.
Which commercial cleaning franchise has the highest average sales?
Vanguard Cleaning Systems reports the highest average sales of the commercial cleaning brands in Averan Franchise, at $5,744,512 in its 2026 FDD.
What do commercial cleaning franchise fees cost as a share of sales?
Across the thirteen commercial cleaning brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure, franchise fees take 5.5% to 21.6% of sales.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- Money arrives before the service does. How should that be booked?It explains deferred revenue and why the bank balance and the profit line disagree.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- What should I be looking at every week?It lists the handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?It explains what each role owns and when the next hire pays for itself.
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →How many jobs did you run last week?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around job count, a minimum fee your brand imposes. A chart of accounts mapped to the benchmark you are being measured against.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from
Every figure here comes from the brands' 2026 FDDs and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brands. The medians, growth and customers lost figures are our own calculations. The figures describe past performance at other businesses. They are not a projection of your results. This page is an educational summary and is not an offer to sell a franchise or financial, legal or tax advice. All trademarks belong to their owners. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.