Carpet Cleaning: Room Quote With a Minimum

All versions

Per-room pricing is easy until someone books a single bedroom and the job costs more in drive time than it earns. MAX solves it: quote the room total or the service minimum, whichever is bigger.

Quick formula: Take the higher of the room total and your minimum:

=MAX(B2*C2,D2)

Three rooms at $45 comes to $135, so the customer pays $135. Two rooms comes to $90 — below the $125 minimum, so the minimum applies.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

MAX PRODUCT

The example

Three bookings, all priced at $45 a room against a $125 service minimum.

	A	B	C	D	E
1	Customer	Rooms	Rate	Minimum	Quote
2	Smith	3	45	125	$135.00
3	Alvarez	2	45	125	$125.00
4	Nguyen	5	45	125	$225.00

The formula

MAX compares the two candidate prices and keeps the larger:

=MAX(B2*C2,D2) // rooms times rate, floored at the minimum

How it works

The quote is a floor, not a discount:

B2*C2 multiplies the room count by your per-room rate to get the raw total.
D2 is the minimum you will roll a truck for — keep it in its own cell so one edit reprices every job.
MAX(...) returns whichever number is larger, so small jobs land on the minimum and large jobs bill normally.

Once the room count passes the break-even point the minimum stops mattering; at $45 a room and a $125 minimum that happens at three rooms.

Try it: interactive demo

Interactive

Set the room count, per-room rate, and your service minimum.

Rooms

Rate per room ($)

Service minimum ($)

Variations

Add a stairs charge

Stairs are priced per flight on top of the room total, and they should not be swallowed by the minimum.

=MAX(B2*C2,D2)+F2

Show how much the minimum added

Useful when you explain the price on the phone.

=MAX(B2*C2,D2)-B2*C2

Pitfalls & errors

Hallways, walk-in closets, and landings are usually half-rooms. Decide your rule once and put it in the room-count column, not in your head.

MIN instead of MAX inverts the logic and caps every large job at your minimum — an expensive typo.

Practice workbook

📊

Download the free Carpet Cleaning: Room Quote With a Minimum practice workbook

Edit the yellow rooms, rate, and minimum cells; the quote recalculates.

Frequently asked questions

Should the minimum include the stairs and upholstery add-ons?

Most cleaners apply the minimum to carpet only, then add stairs and upholstery on top. That keeps the minimum meaningful and the add-ons profitable.

What if I price by square foot instead?

Same shape — swap the room math for area times rate: =MAX(SqFt*Rate,Minimum). The minimum still protects the small jobs.

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Function references: MAX PRODUCT