5 Numbers Every Solo Cleaner Should Track Each Month
When your schedule is full, it's easy to assume business is good. But a packed calendar can hide low prices, creeping costs, and clients who haven't paid. Spend 15 minutes at the end of each month checking these five numbers.
1. Total revenue
Everything clients paid you this month. It's the simplest number and the one most people already know. On its own it doesn't tell you much, but it's the starting point for everything else.
Watch for: month-to-month changes. A dip in January or a jump in spring is normal for many cleaners. A slow, steady decline is not.
2. Profit after expenses
Revenue minus everything you spent to earn it: supplies, gas, phone, apps, insurance, and fees. This is the money that's actually yours.
Revenue $4,800 − expenses $650 = $4,150 profit
Watch for: expenses growing faster than revenue. That usually means it's time to raise prices or cut a cost that crept in.
3. Your real hourly rate
Take your profit and divide it by every hour you worked, including driving, quoting, texting clients, and restocking supplies, not just the cleaning time.
$4,150 profit ÷ 110 total hours = $37.73 per hour
This number is often a wake-up call. If it's lower than you expected, look at drive time between jobs and your lowest-priced clients first.
4. Money still owed to you
Add up every finished job that hasn't been paid. Small amounts slip through easily, like a client who'll "get you next time" or a check that never arrived. Over a year, that adds up to real money.
Watch for: the same names showing up month after month. Consider asking for payment on the day of the clean, or switching those clients to card on file.
5. Recurring clients
Count how many clients are on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedule. Recurring clients make your income predictable and your cleans faster, because the home never gets too far behind.
Watch for: one-time clients who could become regulars. A quick "Want me to put you on the schedule every other week?" after a great first clean converts more often than you'd think.
Make it a monthly habit
Pick a day, like the first Sunday of each month, and write these five numbers down. After three months you'll see patterns. After a year you'll know your business better than most cleaners ever do, and you'll make decisions about prices, clients, and time off based on facts instead of feelings.
Get all five numbers automatically
The Profit Dashboard calculates your revenue, profit, and real hourly rate, and the Client & Job Tracker keeps tabs on who still owes you. Get both, plus the Price Calculator, in the bundle.