Commercial cleaning franchise finance
Averan read the 2026 FDDs of 11 commercial cleaning brands.
The median brand here reports average revenue of $956,780 an unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 13% of sales. The median cost to open runs $71,000 to $171,400.
Brands11
Median revenue an unit$956,780
Median percentage fees13%
Median royalty5%
Find a commercial cleaning brand
11 brands in this guide, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own business model breakdown, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- Aire-Master Average monthly sales for 104 single-unit and 5 multi-unit franchises, read against a tiered royalty that slides 5% to 3% and a territory whose price equals one year of its own minimum sales test
- Anago Cleaning Systemsquartile · Minimum performance standard rises every anniversary
- City Wide Facility Solutionsquartile · Flat gross profit across a fifteen-fold revenue range
- Coverall Initial volume fulfilment compliance (FTC consent decree) · Buying_billing_not_territory
- Enviro-Master Full P&L · Revenue per business in territory
- JAN-PRO Per-outlet Gross Billings, 8 unit franchises sold in FY2025 · Revenue_is_bought
- Maid Brigadegross-sales-split-into-ten-subsets-by-the-number-of-territories-each-franchisee-owns · 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 · Deducted_before_remittance
- Stratus Building Solutions No financial performance representation · Buying_billing_not_territory
- Vanguard Cleaning Systemsquartile · Most of the headline figure passes through to unit franchisees
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $956,780 | 7 of 11 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $838,881 | 7 of 11 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $45,000 | 11 of 11 | |
| Royalty | 5% | 11 of 11 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 1% | 9 of 11 | |
| Percentage fees, all in | 13% | 11 of 11 | Royalty, funds and local marketing set as a share of sales |
| Cost to open, low | $71,000 | 11 of 11 | |
| Cost to open, high | $171,400 | 11 of 11 | |
| Profit margin | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 11 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 1 of 11 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 11 | |
| Unit growth, 2025 | 1.6% | 10 of 11 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost, 2025 | 3.4% | 8 of 11 | 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
9 of the 11 brands here sell a contract. 3 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: wages run 62.6% of sales at the middle brand, more than any other line.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a recurring account billed monthly. At 2 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 $956,780 a year; the top group sells $3,026,206. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume rather than product.
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 is usually a demand gap rather than an effort gap. The top group sells $3,026,206 against $317,171 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 2.9 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs wages 62.6%, franchise fees 13.0% 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.
Also disclosed across this group: $0, $356,676, $9,568, $9,821,794, 12.3, 83.5.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in commercial cleaning
At the typical commercial cleaning brand, the best group of locations sells $3,026,206 a year. The worst group sells $317,171. That is $2,709,035 more a year, 9.5 times over, for the same brand on the same agreement. Across these brands, a median of 37% of locations reach their own brand’s average. The average describes the top of a system, not the middle. 8 of the 11 brands here publish bands; the rest disclose no spread at all.
Decided before you open
- What it costs to open.Opening costs run $4,250 to $472,556 across the group, and the top of a single brand’s range is typically 2.9 times its bottom. The top group sells $3,026,206 a year against a build that tops out at $472,556, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $6.40 for every dollar it cost to open. That build is recovered inside a year or two of sales at that end of the system.
- What a location sells.Average sales run $956,780 at the middle brand and $3,026,206 at the top group. Format and site decide most of that before an owner does anything, which is why the same operator produces different results in different trade areas.
Live operating levers
- 9 of the 11 brands here sell a contract that bills every month.An account signed this year still bills next year, so the owner who keeps accounts beats the owner who wins them. Losing one account and winning two sounds like growth and usually is not, once the cost of winning them is counted.
- 3 of the 11 brands here run a recurring plan.A plan turns a business that waits for the phone to ring into one that knows roughly what next month looks like, and that predictability is what lets an owner staff properly. It is built by asking the customer to book the next visit before they walk out, not by spending more on marketing afterwards. They are Anago Cleaning Systems, Enviro-Master, Office Pride.
- 2 of the 11 brands here run routes.The van is paid for by the day, so what matters is how many stops fit into that day. Two owners with the same brand and the same hours earn different money when one has customers clustered together and the other drives across town between jobs. The top performers fill in the map they already have before they buy more territory. They are Aire-Master, Enviro-Master.
- 2 of the 11 brands here sell gift cards in volume.The top performers run a deliberate push into the holidays rather than selling a card when somebody asks for one. The money arrives when the card is bought and the service is delivered months later, so the bank balance and the profit line tell different stories in the same quarter. They are Anago Cleaning Systems, Office Pride.
- 2 of the 11 brands here publish how a new location builds up.Where a brand shows its first year month by month, an owner can see when sales finally cover the costs and how much cash has to be put in before that point arrives. Where a brand does not show it, that curve has to be guessed at, and the guess is usually optimistic. They are Anago Cleaning Systems, City Wide Facility Solutions.
- Wages. Same labor market, different result.Wages run 62.6% of sales at the middle brand and 62.6% to 62.6% across the 1 that disclose it. These brands hire from the same pool at the same rates, so a 0-point spread is not a pay-rate gap. It is scheduling and productivity: rostering against booked demand hour by hour, managing sales per paid hour as the number, and keeping enough of the pay variable that the line falls when the week is quiet. On the top group’s $3,026,206 of sales, a point of wages is $30,262 a year; on the bottom group’s $317,171 it is $3,172. The same discipline is worth more where the volume already is.
- What the brand charges. The line that works backwards.Fees run a median 13.0% of sales across 11 brands, from 5.5% to 21.6%. Where a minimum sits underneath the percentage, the weakest location pays the highest effective rate, so the fee line costs most exactly where it can least be afforded. The top performers clear the minimum early and stop thinking about it. At $3,026,206 the fees cost $393,407 a year; at $317,171 they cost $41,232. The percentage is the same and the burden is not.
Context you underwrite around
- How many brands show a ramp.2 of 11 filings in this group show how a new location builds up. For the rest the first year has to be assumed, and the assumption is usually wrong in the same direction.
- What is not banded.3 brands publish no bands at all, so their spread is unknown rather than narrow. Read a single average as the upper-middle of a distribution you cannot see.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
The levers the filing supports, brand by brand. Three to five each, read from that brand’s own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
11 brands
Aire-Master
Commercial cleaning
- Routes, the operating driver. This model bills on routes. The van costs the same whatever it does that day, so the owner works on how many stops fit into it and how far apart they are. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Service and retail mix. Attachment rate on retail, and the share of customers on the higher service tiers, lift what each hour earns without adding an hour or a room. It is the only lever that raises the ceiling without spending capital.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 6.7% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Anago Cleaning Systems
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- The gift card book. Gift cards are sold before the service is delivered. The top performers are not selling more of them by accident, they are running a deliberate seasonal push into the holidays and out of it again. The accounting follows: a gift card is deferred revenue until it is redeemed, so cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 7.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
- The first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up, so the ramp can be underwritten from the document rather than assumed. Read two things out of it: the month sales cross the point where costs are covered, and how much cash you fund before that month arrives. Everything before break-even is paid for by you.
City Wide Facility Solutions
Commercial cleaning
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 62.6% of sales. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won.
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 6.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
- The first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up, so the ramp can be underwritten from the document rather than assumed. Read two things out of it: the month sales cross the point where costs are covered, and how much cash you fund before that month arrives. Everything before break-even is paid for by you.
Coverall
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 15.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Enviro-Master
Commercial cleaning
- Routes, the operating driver. This model bills on routes. The van costs the same whatever it does that day, so the owner works on how many stops fit into it and how far apart they are. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 15.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
JAN-PRO
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 13.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Maid Brigade
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 19.6% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Office Pride
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- The gift card book. Gift cards are sold before the service is delivered. The top performers are not selling more of them by accident, they are running a deliberate seasonal push into the holidays and out of it again. The accounting follows: a gift card is deferred revenue until it is redeemed, so cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 11.5% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
OpenWorks
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 21.6% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Stratus Building Solutions
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 15.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Vanguard Cleaning Systems
Commercial cleaning
- Accounts, the operating driver. This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 5.5% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
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?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?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- What should I be looking at every week?The handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?What each one owns, and the point at which the next one pays for itself.
Part of our Home & Commercial Services Franchise Finance guide · Other types: Restoration · Mechanical trades · Lawn, pest and irrigation · Carpet and floor care · Remodel, garage and closets · Painting · Residential cleaning · Window cleaning and exteriors · Handyman and home repair
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Request the reviewWhere 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.