Takeoff
The inventory of included area, rooms, tasks, quantities and frequencies that will be priced. See what is cleaning takeoff.
Person-minutes
Paid labor time. Two people working 30 minutes is 60 person-minutes. Crew clock time can be shorter; payroll is not.
Frequency
How often a task occurs. SweepTally separates each visit from weekly, twice monthly, monthly and quarterly so monthly glass is not billed as if it happened every night.
Labor burden
Employer costs on top of wage: payroll tax, workers’ compensation, benefits you actually pay. Entered as a percent of wage in SweepTally.
Margin versus markup
Margin is (price − cost) ÷ price. Markup is (price − cost) ÷ cost. A 25% margin is not a 25% markup. The margin calculator shows both.
Workloading
Turning inventory and frequencies into staffing hours. See janitorial workloading.
Production rate
How much area or how many units one person completes per hour. SweepTally does not ship a proprietary rate book. You enter minutes.
Included area
The floor that will actually be cleaned. Not always the building’s gross square footage.
Common questions
Is this glossary a standard industry dictionary?
It is SweepTally’s usage, written so the calculators and articles stay consistent.
Where should I go next?
Contractors: [estimating software](/janitorial-estimating-software). Buyers: [hire a cleaning company](/hire-a-cleaning-company).
Do you sell leads under these terms?
Participating companies receive customer requests they are willing to take. SweepTally does not sell a paid lead list or promise a booking volume.