A window cleaning round is valued by taking its monthly round value and multiplying it by a figure that UK trade guides (Cleaning Matters 2015, Window Cleaning Warehouse 2022) put between two and five, rising to six to nine for compact, well-priced four-weekly rounds.
A tight £3,200 a month round on one estate could be worth around £19,000 to £29,000, while a scattered £2,000 a month cash round might fetch nearer £4,000 to £6,000.
Monthly round value is what your regular customers pay you in an average month, and the simplest way to find it is to add up one full cycle of the round and convert it to a monthly figure using the number of cleans each customer has in a year. One-off jobs, gutter clearing and conservatory roofs should be left out, since buyers will strip them out anyway when they check your list.
| Cycle | Cleans a year | Monthly value from one cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Every four weeks | 13 | Cycle total times 13, divided by 12 |
| Every six weeks | About 8.7 | Cycle total times 8.7, divided by 12 |
| Every eight weeks | 6.5 | Cycle total times 6.5, divided by 12 |
A four-weekly round that bills £2,950 for each full cycle therefore has a monthly value of about £3,200, and most rounds with mixed cycles are easiest to work out customer by customer in a spreadsheet.
The price of a round is its monthly round value multiplied by a figure that reflects how easy the round is to work and how likely its customers are to stay. Cleaning Matters put that figure at two to five times monthly turnover, occasionally up to ten, and Window Cleaning Warehouse put it at three to five times, with compact, well-priced rounds justifying six to nine times. Buyers also commonly expect 5 to 10% of customers to drop off after a round changes hands, and a careful buyer will price with that loss in mind or ask for part of the price to be held back until the round has settled.
Asking prices on the largest UK round marketplace currently run from about 4.5 to 12 times the stated monthly value, though these are what sellers are hoping for, and the price a round finally sells for after the buyer has checked the list is often lower.
This example shows how a strong round is valued once its figures have been checked.
The round bills £3,200 a month on a four-weekly cycle, almost all of it on one estate and two neighbouring streets, with most customers paying by card or direct debit, prices raised last spring without many complaints, and a written list giving every address, price and start date. A round like this sits in the six to nine times range for compact, well-priced rounds, giving a price of £19,200 to £28,800.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Monthly round value | £3,200 |
| Price at six times monthly value | £19,200 |
| Price at nine times monthly value | £28,800 |
| Monthly value if 10% of customers leave | £2,880 |
| Price range on that reduced figure | £17,280 to £25,920 |
A buyer who wants protection against customers leaving might offer a price near the top of the range with part of it held back, or a lower price paid in full, and both are fair ways of dealing with the same risk.
This example shows how a weaker round is valued and what the seller could do to lift the price.
The round bills £2,000 a month from a mix of six-weekly and eight-weekly customers spread across several villages, nearly all paying cash, with the customer details kept in a diary rather than a written list. A buyer would place this at the bottom of the published range, around two to three times monthly value, giving a price of roughly £4,000 to £6,000, and if 10% of customers leave after the sale the monthly value falls to £1,800 and the price to £3,600 to £5,400.
The same round could be priced higher if the seller spent the months before listing writing up a full customer list, moving customers on to card or direct debit payments, and dropping or swapping the most distant addresses so the remaining work sits closer together. Each of those changes makes the round easier for a buyer to check and to hold on to.
This table lists the factors buyers look at and the direction each one pushes the price.
| Factor | Raises the price | Lowers the price |
|---|---|---|
| Geography | Houses close together with little travel | Customers scattered across a wide area |
| Cycle | Regular four-weekly cleans | Irregular cycles and many one-off jobs |
| Payment | Card, direct debit or app payments | Cash only |
| Customer history | Long-standing customers | Many recent or short-lived customers |
| Records | Written list with addresses, frequency and prices | No records, or details kept only in a diary |
| Mix of work | Some commercial accounts alongside houses | Income relying on one-offs |
| Pricing | Price increases already accepted | Prices held low with a rise still to come |
| Relationships | Customers loyal to the round and the service | Customers tied to the owner personally |
Most rounds have a mix of both columns, and an honest valuation weighs them against each other rather than picking the best figure.
The calculator gives a starting range from your monthly round value, and the figure a round finally sells for depends on your actual customer list, how the addresses sit on a map and how customers pay. Current window cleaning rounds for sale show what similar rounds are being offered at, and if your business has grown beyond a single round, with vans, staff or commercial contracts, our guide to selling a window cleaning business explains how it is valued on profit and how we market it.
UK trade guides (Cleaning Matters 2015, Window Cleaning Warehouse 2022) put most window rounds at two to five times their monthly round value, and compact, well-priced four-weekly rounds at six to nine times. A round taking £2,500 a month would usually be priced between £5,000 and £12,500, or up to £22,500 if it is tight, regular and paid by card. Your own figure depends on geography, cycle, payment method and records.
Yes, a cash round is usually priced lower because a buyer cannot check payments against the customer list. Cash customers also tend to drop off more often when a new cleaner takes over. Moving customers on to card or direct debit before you sell can lift the price.
Commercial accounts mixed in with houses usually raise the price, since they tend to be regular and pay by invoice or bank transfer. A buyer will want to see any written agreement and check that the account will stay with the round after the sale. A round that relies heavily on one large commercial customer carries more risk.
No, one-off jobs such as gutter clearing and conservatory roofs should be left out of monthly round value. Buyers price regular customers on a fixed cycle and will remove one-offs when they check your list. They can still be mentioned as extra work the round brings in.
Asking prices are what sellers hope to get, and buyers usually negotiate down once they have checked the customer list and allowed for customers leaving. Asking prices on the largest UK round marketplace currently run from about 4.5 to 12 times monthly value, above the published ranges at the top end. The price agreed after checks is the figure that counts.
A free valuation from us looks at your contracts one by one and comes back with a figure and the reasoning behind it.
