Larger companiesFacility services

How do I sell a larger facility services company? Cleaning, upkeep and grounds

Most cleaning, grounds and building services companies this size sell to a bigger facility services group or a private equity fund. Buyers pay for contracts that renew and managers who keep them. Your size, from $10,000,000 to $300,000,000 in sales, has its own section below.

Business services

15 min read

Figures: IRS tax year 2023Census 2022Market Pulse through Q2 2026Read November 12, 2026

Legend Atty · Founder, BridgeBook

Published November 12, 2026

Get My Free Valuation Talk to a Dedicated Advisor

What profit do facility services companies keep?

The short answer: about 9.8% of sales before interest, depreciation and amortization, and 7.6%^[1] as business profit, in tax year 2023. That's our math on the IRS row for administrative and support services S corporations of every size. Janitorial, building maintenance, grounds and security companies are filed there. Staffing firms share the row, so treat it as a rough guide.

Business profit on tax returns: 7.6%^[1]Support services S corporations, all sizes, tax year 2023
Before interest, depreciation and amortization: 9.8%^[1]Tax year 2023, our math, gains included
Depreciation alone: 1.5%^[1]Of receipts, by our math. S corporations with $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in sales: 1.3%
Support and waste firms your size: 11,794^[2]Employer firms, $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales, 2022

The 7.6% is the profit these S corporations put on their tax returns, before the owners' own income tax. Companies that lost money are counted in, so it's a pooled figure, not a typical company's.

Adding back interest, depreciation and amortization gives about 9.8%, by our math. That's close to EBITDA, the profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization that larger buyers use. It still holds any gain or loss on selling equipment, which the IRS doesn't publish for this row.

This row mixes several kinds of companies. Services to buildings, which covers janitorial, grounds and pest work, sits beside security guards, staffing firms, call centers and travel agencies. The IRS doesn't publish any of them alone for S corporations.

Depreciation took 1.5% of receipts here, close to the 1.3% for all S corporations with $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in sales. The money in a facility services company is in its people and its contracts more than its equipment. A buyer's first questions follow that.

Exhibit 1

Support services beside S corporations by size of sales, tax year 2023

Band is sales

Administrative and support services S corporations, and S corporations by size of sales, tax year 2023: business profit on tax returns and the figure before interest, depreciation and amortization.
Industry or size	Business profit on tax returns	Before interest, depreciation and amortization
Administrative and support services all sizes	7.6%	9.8%*
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000	7.3%	9.1%
$50,000,000 to $250,000,000	6.1%	8.0%
$250,000,000 or more	5.9%	8.2%
All S corporations	7.5%	9.7%

* Includes gains on selling equipment, which the IRS doesn't publish for this industry.

Sorted by business receipts, which this page calls sales. Before interest, depreciation and amortization = (business profit + interest + depreciation + amortization − net gains on selling equipment) ÷ total receipts, by our math on IRS figures.^[1]^[3]

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]. The support services row covers every size of company and several kinds of service. Size rows are all industries.

Census gives a count, not a margin: 11,794^[2] administrative, support and waste services firms had $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales in 2022, with janitorial, grounds and security companies among them. In the table, the size rows go by business receipts, which this page calls sales.

What does a facility services company earn at each size?

At the support services rate of 9.8%, a made-up company earns $1,960,000 on $20,000,000 of sales and $19,600,000 on $200,000,000. Our sold-deal data stops at companies that sold for $50,000,000. At this rate a company passes that at about $88,000,000 of sales.

Exhibit 2

Seven made-up facility services companies at the IRS rate of 9.8%

Band is sales

Seven made-up facility services companies: sales, the IRS size row for that size, EBITDA at the support services rate, and what the sold-deal data behind our calculator puts on it
Sales	IRS size row	EBITDA at 9.8%	Our sold-deal range
$10,000,000	9.1%	$980,000	$3,049,565 to $4,832,879
$20,000,000	9.1%	$1,960,000	$7,840,000 to $11,368,000
$30,000,000	9.1%	$2,940,000	$11,760,000 to $17,052,000
$50,000,000	8.0%	$4,900,000	$19,600,000 to $28,420,000
$100,000,000	8.0%	$9,800,000	Past our data
$200,000,000	8.0%	$19,600,000	Past our data
$300,000,000	8.2%	$29,400,000	Past our data

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]; IBBA and M&A Source, Second quarter of 2026^[4]. Made-up examples. The rate is administrative and support services S corporations of every size, gains included. Ranges are the sold-deal data behind our calculator, all industries together, checked November 2, 2026.

The support services rate sits above the size row at every size here. A company that earns less keeps inside our data further up.

How do I sell a facility services company with $10,000,000 in sales?

Often to a regional facility services company that wants your buildings and your crews, or to one buyer using a bank loan. A made-up example at the IRS support services rate of 9.8% earns about $980,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $3,049,565 to $4,832,879, on a blend of owner's earnings and EBITDA.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row: $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in sales, 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, all industries^[3]. Support services, all sizes: 9.8%, gains included. Our sold-deal data: reaches this example.

Our cleaning calculator asks how many recurring service contracts you have: 100 or more, 50 to 99, 20 to 49, or fewer than 20. It also asks whether you personally do the service work.

With profit this size, our calculator weighs both owner's earnings, called SDE (profit plus the owner's own pay), and EBITDA. A buyer with an SBA 7(a) loan, one the U.S. Small Business Administration backs, can borrow up to $5,000,000^[5], and this whole range fits under it.

Our view: buyers this size ask who walks the buildings and answers the property manager's call. If that's you, they want a site manager in place before closing.

Across every industry: what a company with $10,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a facility services company with $20,000,000 in sales?

Often to a search fund or to a private equity fund buying you to join a company it owns. A made-up example at the IRS support services rate of 9.8% earns about $1,960,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $7,840,000 to $11,368,000, priced on EBITDA.^[1]^[4]

A search fund is a small investor-backed group that buys one company to run. Stanford found U.S. and Canadian search funds paid a median $16,000,000^[6] in 2024 and 2025. This range sits under that median.

Funds backed by outside investors, called private equity, also buy here, mostly to grow a company they already own. In the second quarter of 2026, PitchBook counted about three of every four U.S. buyouts as those add-ons^[7]. Our view: facility services funds often grow this way, city by city.

Our calculator prices this size on EBITDA alone, the profit left after paying a manager to run the company.

Across every industry: what a company with $20,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a facility services company with $30,000,000 in sales?

To bigger facility services companies and funds, often in a sale where several of them make offers. A made-up example at the IRS support services rate of 9.8% earns about $2,940,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $11,760,000 to $17,052,000, priced on EBITDA.^[1]^[4]

In IBBA's survey of advisors for the second quarter of 2026, 87% of deals over $5,000,000 drew at least three offers^[8]. Several offers give you terms to compare, not just prices.

This range starts past $10,000,000^[9] of company value. Lockton says reps and warranties insurance is often available from there. It pays the buyer if a promise in the contract proves wrong.

Each dollar of profit a buyer can't confirm can cost you several dollars of price. In KSM's worked example, $500,000 less EBITDA cut the company's value by $3,000,000^[10]. Our view: in facility services, lost contracts and unpaid overtime are where that gap most often opens.

Across every industry: what a company with $30,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a facility services company with $50,000,000 in sales?

By running a sale with an outside accountant's test of your profit ready before buyers see your books. A made-up example at the IRS support services rate of 9.8% earns about $4,900,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $19,600,000 to $28,420,000.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row: $50,000,000 to $250,000,000 in sales, 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, all industries^[3]. Support services, all sizes: 9.8%, gains included. Our sold-deal data: reaches this example.

A quality of earnings report is an outside accountant's test of whether your profit holds up. BD Emerson's price list puts a buyer's report on a $15,000,000 to $75,000,000 deal at $45,000 to $90,000^[11], with seller-side work 10% to 30% higher. Ordering your own first lets you fix what it finds.

The price at this size also depends on working capital, explained in the box below.

What the peg means

Working capital is the money tied up in running the business day to day. It's what customers owe you, plus inventory, minus the bills you owe. You and the buyer agree on a normal amount of it that the business hands over at closing. That agreed amount is called the peg, or the target. If the business has less than the target on closing day, the price goes down by the gap. If it has more, the price goes up by the difference.

A made-up example

What customers owe you: $3,000,000
Plus inventory: $2,500,000
Minus the bills you owe: $1,800,000
Working capital on closing day: $3,700,000
The target (the peg): $4,000,000
Short of the target: $300,000
Price in the letter: $40,000,000
Price at closing: $39,700,000

Had it come in $300,000 over the target, the price would have been $40,300,000. Some deals set a small band around the target where the price doesn't move.

In a facility services company, working capital is mostly what property managers and tenants owe you. Against that sit wages your crews have earned but you haven't paid yet, and your supplier bills. Supplies on the shelf are small.

Payroll timing matters here. Close the day before payday and the wages you owe are at their highest. That lowers working capital on closing day, so ask how the target handles it. BDO says the letter of intent usually sets out how working capital will be treated^[12], so settle it before you sign. The working capital peg, step by step.

Across every industry: what a company with $50,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a facility services company with $100,000,000 in sales?

To a fund buying its first company in your field, or to a national facility services group. A made-up example at the IRS support services rate of 9.8% earns about $9,800,000 a year. That's past the sold-deal data behind our calculator, so we don't put a figure on it.^[1]

Past our sold-deal data. The group behind our calculator stops at companies that sold for $50,000,000, so we don't put a figure on this one. Other publishers' figures are beside it.

Our data reaches $8,620,690 of EBITDA. A $100,000,000 company keeping less than about 8.6% before interest, depreciation and amortization, more than a point under this row's 9.8%, would still be inside it.

Exhibit 3

Other publishers' figures for company values of $50,000,000 and up

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$50,000,000 to $100,000,000Near yours	8.7x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[13]
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[13]
$100,000,000 to $500,000,000	9.8x against 7.0x under $100,000,000	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[13]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[14]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[14]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[13]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[14].

In each publisher's table, the marked row is the one nearest $9,800,000 of EBITDA. It shows what other deals did, not what yours will.

A platform is the first company a fund buys in a field. PitchBook counted 289^[7] U.S. platform buyouts in the second quarter of 2026, down 34%. A fund buying you as one asks you to keep part of the price as shares "very often," in Porter Hedges' words^[15]. CLA notes those shares may be a different class from the fund's, with different rights^[16].

Across every industry: what a company with $100,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a facility services company with $200,000,000 in sales?

In rounds, with national groups and larger funds bidding, after buyers have met the managers who'd run it without you. A made-up example at the IRS support services rate of 9.8% earns about $19,600,000 a year. That's past our data, so only other publishers' figures show here.^[1]

For $19,600,000 of EBITDA, the closest bands other publishers print are below. They describe deals that already closed, not an offer for you.

Exhibit 4

Other publishers' figures near $19,600,000 of EBITDA

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[13]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[14]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000Near yours	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[14]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[13]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[14].

Before the letter of intent, buyers judge the leadership team, the growth plan, the culture and how deep the operation runs, PCE writes^[17]. At this size that means your regional managers, each with buildings they keep without you.

SRS Acquiom found 59% of 2024 deals signed first and closed later^[18]. Our view: in facility services the gap often waits on large customers agreeing to a new owner, and on any union agreement your crews work under.

Across every industry: what a company with $200,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a facility services company with $300,000,000 in sales?

To national groups, big funds or your own employees through an ownership plan, in a sale run in rounds. A made-up example at the IRS support services rate of 9.8% earns about $29,400,000 a year. That's in the IRS top size band and past our data.^[1]

IRS size row: $250,000,000 or more in sales, 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization, all industries^[3]. Support services, all sizes: 9.8%, gains included. Our sold-deal data: stops short of it.

At $300,000,000 you're in the IRS's top band, which starts at exactly $250,000,000. All S corporations there kept 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization, so this row's 9.8% sits above them.

Exhibit 5

Other publishers' figures near $29,400,000 of EBITDA

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[13]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000Near yours	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[14]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[13]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[14].

For scale, PitchBook put the typical U.S. buyout under $1,000,000,000 at $206,000,000^[7] of company value. That's what a buyer paid, not the company's sales. Ask your advisor where your own profit puts you beside it.

An employee stock ownership plan, an ESOP, buys the company for your employees. NCEO says 67% of private ESOPs are in S corporations^[19], and an ESOP can't pay more than the fair market value an appraiser sets^[20]. Here's who buys a company your size.

Across every industry: what a company with $300,000,000 in sales is worth.

What do buyers check first in a facility services company?

Your contracts, your labor and your insurance. This is what buyers ask for, in the order they usually ask.

A list of every contract: customer, buildings, monthly fee, end date and how much notice ends it.
Revenue by customer and by building, with what's under contract and what's one-off work orders.
Labor: pay rates, overtime, turnover by month, and any union agreement.
Your insurance history: workers' compensation and general liability claims.
The managers under you, and which customers each one keeps.

Our view: many cleaning and grounds contracts can be ended on a month's notice. Buyers count how long customers actually stay, so a list of renewals by year helps.

What moves the price of a facility services company?

Profit first, then how much of next year is already signed. Our cleaning calculator asks how many recurring contracts you have, and whether you do the service work yourself.

A made-up example: 120 buildings on yearly contracts at an average $15,000 a month comes to $21,600,000 a year of contracted sales. A buyer prices that above the same sales from one-off jobs.

Then the people. Our view: steady wages and low turnover keep buildings clean and customers renewing, and a buyer reads your turnover as a sign of both.

What would your own numbers show?

Type your own sales and margin below. The tool opens on all S corporations your size and marks where the sold-deal data behind our calculator ends.

Your numbers

Yearly sales

Or type your sales

Industry: All industries

Profit margin before interest, depreciation and amortization

IRS, S corporations with $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in sales, tax year 2023, our math. Change it to yours.

A made-up example at the IRS rate

$2,730,000

A made-up example: 9.1% of $30,000,000 in yearly sales. EBITDA is yearly profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Our sold-deal data puts that EBITDA at

$10,920,000 to $15,834,000

Typical $13,377,000, priced on EBITDA.

IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals of $5,000,000 to $50,000,000. Typical is the middle of its recent readings. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Publisher
$10,000,000 to $25,000,000Near yours	5.9x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$25,000,000 to $50,000,000	6.6x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$50,000,000 to $100,000,000	8.7x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000	10.0x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$1,000,000 to $10,000,000	5.5x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000Near yours	7.3x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000	9.0x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000	11.4x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Why the two differ

At this profit you can book a call with a dedicated advisor.

Get my free valuation Talk to a dedicated advisor

The valuation asks your sales and profit again, then your name, email and cell phone, and shows a range.

What we'd look at first

Your first call is with a dedicated advisor, who reads your numbers with you. For a facility services company, we start with four.

Margin by customer and by building, for the last two years.
Your contract list, with end dates and notice terms.
Wages, overtime and turnover by month.
Which managers keep which customers the week after you leave.

From there your advisor tells you what the sold-deal data says about your profit, or that your size is past it. Expect a number lower than you hoped. A buyer's accountants will test it against your contract list and your payroll.

Questions about selling a facility services company

How do I sell a facility services company with $10,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a facility services company with $20,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a facility services company with $30,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a facility services company with $50,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a facility services company with $100,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a facility services company with $200,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a facility services company with $300,000,000 in sales?

What profit margin do facility services companies make?

The IRS files janitorial, building maintenance, grounds and security companies under administrative and support services, with staffing firms and others. Those S corporations reported 7.6% as business profit in tax year 2023 and about 9.8% before interest, depreciation and amortization, by our math. The IRS doesn't publish each kind of company alone.

Do recurring contracts raise the price of a facility services company?

They make next year's revenue easier to count on, which is what buyers pay for. Our cleaning calculator asks how many recurring service contracts you have: 100 or more, 50 to 99, 20 to 49, or fewer than 20.

More for larger owners: what a company sells for, by revenue, selling a larger staffing company and sell all of it, or part of it.

Where these numbers come from

The sold-deal data behind our calculator: IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.

IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 6.1, Form 1120-S by major industry. Tax Year 2023. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022, by enterprise receipts size. 2022, released April 10, 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 3.2, Form 1120-S by size of business receipts. Tax Year 2023, released September 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
IBBA and M&A Source, Market Pulse Q2 2026 Highlights. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loans. Opened November 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Stanford Graduate School of Business, Search Funds Keep Offering a Proven Path to Ownership. Purchases in 2024 and 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
PitchBook, Q2 2026 US PE Breakdown. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
IBBA and M&A Source (PR Newswire), The Market Pulse Survey Q2 2026 Reports the Latest Trends in Business Sales up to $50,000,000. Second quarter of 2026: 255 advisors, 181 closed deals. Read November 12, 2026.
Lockton, Transaction Liability Market Update 2025, The Americas. 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
KSM (Katz, Sapper & Miller), What's Actually Killing Deals in Diligence?. August 25, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
BD Emerson, How Much Does a Quality of Earnings Report Cost?. Page dated July 25, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
BDO, Net Working Capital in Mergers and Acquisitions. February 15, 2019. Read November 12, 2026.
GF Data, The Size Premium Returns to 2.8x: How Employee Ownership Helps Smaller Platforms Compete. Through the third quarter of 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
TagniFi, PowerComps Middle Market Update for the first quarter of 2026: Quality Over Quantity. Twelve months to March 31, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Porter Hedges, Middle Market M&A Planning: What is Rollover Equity?. June 25, 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
CLA, Rollover Equity and Valuation Techniques. Undated. Read November 12, 2026.
PCE Companies, M&A Process Stages Timeline: What Business Owners Should Expect. July 14, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
SRS Acquiom, 2025 M&A Deal Terms Study. Deals closed 2019 to 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
National Center for Employee Ownership, Employee Ownership by the Numbers. 2023 data, updated January 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
National Center for Employee Ownership, How an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Works. Opened November 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.

Percentages are BridgeBook's arithmetic on the IRS dollar figures.

Outside figures are other publishers', named and dated, and they don't feed our calculator. How we use outside figures

Keep reading

Tools and data

One important decision. Two good places to start.

Start from your own numbers

The valuation opens on Cleaning / Janitorial. You answer a few short questions, including your sales, profit and how many recurring contracts you hold, then give your name, email and cell phone. It shows a range, not one number.

Your exit credit comes off our success fee at closing and grows with your yearly sales: $5,000 under $5,000,000 in sales ($2,500 for your valuation report, plus $2,500 for your advisor call or for starting your listing), up to $50,000 at $100,000,000 or more.

I want to understand my value

Start with your numbers.

Get an initial range and a clearer starting point for your plans.

Get my free valuationYour private report. No commitment to sell.

I want to talk through my options

Start with a dedicated advisor.

Discuss your goals, timing and questions in a private conversation.

Talk to a dedicated advisorFree. Booked calls start at $700,000 in yearly profit.