A commercial window cleaning chief financial officer builds the budget, tracks cost by building and contract, and keeps cash steady between property managers' payment runs. They price the risks of high-rise work, from insurance to lift time, and tell the CEO when growth changes which government contracts the company can bid.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building services companies · BLS, May 2025
Serve as the strategic financial leader for our Commercial Window Cleaning division ensuring fiscal discipline and robust financial health. Oversee budgeting, cost tracking, and financial planning aligning with the company’s growth and operational needs. Collaborate with senior management to drive financial strategies that support business expansion and customer satisfaction.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop and implement financial strategies to safeguard and enhance the company’s financial health.
Manage the budgeting process ensuring accurate forecasting and cost control.
Oversee cost tracking and financial reporting to identify areas for process improvement and efficiency gains.
Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards.
Collaborate with operational teams to assess and mitigate financial risks.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily financial reports and budget variances to ensure timely course corrections.
Monitor cash flow and working capital, ensuring all expenditures align with approved budgets.
Conduct regular meetings with department heads to review financial performance and forecast upcoming needs.
Provide financial insights to guide business decisions and operational strategies.
Engage with external auditors and financial institutions as required.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Budget adherence: ±3% variance on annual budgets.
Cost reduction initiatives: Achieve a minimum 5% reduction in operational costs year-over-year.
Gross margin: Maintain a minimum gross margin of 35%.
Timely financial reporting: 100% on-time submission of monthly financial statements.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field; CPA or MBA preferred.
Minimum of 10 years’ progressive financial management experience with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
Proven expertise in budgeting, cost tracking, and financial forecasting.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and strategic planning skills.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively across departments.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the home services or commercial cleaning industry.
Familiarity with financial software and ERP systems specific to service operations.
Prior experience in a CFO role within a similar market.
Demonstrated success in scaling financial operations during periods of growth.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to use standard office equipment (computers, printers, etc.).
Prolonged periods of sitting and focused computer work.
Occasional visits to field locations may require walking on uneven surfaces.
Minimal physical exertion is expected in a primarily office-based role.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Occasional extended hours during critical financial close periods.
Minimal travel required for meetings, conferences, and audit visits.
Primarily an office-based role with occasional site visits.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $150,000 - $200,000 per year, based on experience and qualifications.
Annual performance-based bonus opportunities.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company matching contributions.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off and professional development assistance.
10. Company Culture and Overview
[INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE] is a growth-oriented company committed to excellence and customer satisfaction. We foster an environment of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. Our team is empowered to drive change and succeed together, ensuring every member contributes to our collective success and mission to deliver outstanding commercial window cleaning services.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
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What a commercial window cleaning CFO does differently
Money comes in here on long service contracts and goes out on labor, insurance and lift time. The CFO's job is to see both sides, building by building.
The SBA size line sits close to your revenue
The SBA sets the size standard for NAICS 561720, janitorial services, at 22.0 million dollars in average annual receipts. If that's the code your company uses for government work, a company near 20 million sits just under the line. Model when growth will cross it, so the CEO knows how long small business set-aside bids stay open. Source: GovInfo: 13 CFR 121.201, SBA size standards by NAICS industry (2025 edition).
Federal bids are priced from a Labor Department sheet
On federal service contracts over 2,500 dollars, the Service Contract Act sets a floor for wages and fringe benefits. The Labor Department issues that floor contract by contract as a wage determination. Those determinations list window cleaner as its own job, code 11360. Price each federal bid from that sheet, not from your usual crew rates. Source: U.S. Department of Labor: Service Contract Act.
Lift time belongs on the job, not in overhead
Storefronts and low buildings often run off rented boom lifts or bucket trucks. Rental days, delivery fees and days a lift sits through rain all belong to the building that needed it. Cost them there, or the high-rise accounts will look worse and the lift jobs better than they are.
Payroll records shape the workers' comp bill
Ask your agent how your state's workers' comp manual classes high glass work compared with ground-level and janitorial work. Then keep payroll records that show hours by type of work, so the carrier's yearly payroll audit can follow the split instead of guessing.
Property managers pay on their own calendar
Large management firms often pay through vendor portals and won't release payment until the certificate of insurance and tax forms on file are current. Keep a calendar of each client's paperwork dates, and build the cash forecast from when each firm actually pays, not from the invoice terms.
How much commercial window cleaning chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for commercial window cleaning chief financial officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 430 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for building services companies.
Paid as a salary, with a yearly bonus linked to company results.
Building services companies
$130,000$130,000 median Middle half $102,340–$208,630 10th–90th $93,610–$275,020
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Building services companies
$93,610
$102,340
$130,000
$208,630
$275,020
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for window cleaning companies on their own. These figures cover services to buildings and dwellings, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Builds job costing by building, contract and crew, not just by branch
Keeps a rolling cash forecast built from each contract's billing cycle
Sets up controls over purchasing, payroll and approvals across branches
Works with brokers on liability, umbrella and workers' comp renewals
Has led budgeting and reporting at a multi-site service company
Teach these on the job
How rope, stage and lift work is bid and scheduled
Your field service and accounting software
Federal contracting rules and wage determinations
Property management vendor portals and their paperwork
Expect the CFO to run the ledger in NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks Online or something similar, linked to the field service software that holds contracts and crew hours. List your systems in the ad, and tell candidates whether job costing by building already works or is their first project.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Weather timing
Wind delays push high-rise revenue into next month, but crew costs keep coming. How do you plan for it?
A strong answer: Builds weather days into bids and cash forecasts, keeps storefront routes as steady base revenue, and sets terms for progress billing on long jobs.
Behavioral · Finance leadership
Tell me about a time you changed how a company priced its work based on your analysis.
A strong answer: Names the analysis (job cost versus bid by building type, rigging and standby time), how they got sales and operations to agree, and the margin change on later jobs.
Start from the template's targets, reset them from your own budget history and margins, and revisit them with the CEO at each quarter's close.
Budget adherence
Each month, set actual revenue and spending against the approved budget, by branch and cost line. Explain each large variance in writing, separating weather holds from real overruns.
Cost reduction initiatives
Compare operating cost per service hour with last year, using the same cost lines. Count only savings that last, such as better lift rental terms, not one-time cuts.
Gross margin
Revenue minus field labor, lift rentals, chemicals, gear wear and job-level insurance, divided by revenue. Report it by contract type: recurring, high-rise and post-construction.
Timely financial reporting
Give each monthly statement a due date on a written close calendar and log the day it reaches the CEO. Late months get a short note on what held them up.
Career path
Accountant at a facility services companyLearns contract billing and payroll across many sites.
Finance director at a regional contractorRuns budgets, insurance renewals and bank lending.
Chief Financial OfficerOwns the budget, cash and contract pricing across every market.
Operating partner at a building services investorHelps an investment group buy and grow cleaning and facade companies.
Other roles in a commercial window cleaning business
How should a CFO cost a high-rise window cleaning account?
Start with the drops: how many per side of the building, the setup and teardown time for each, and the crew size. Add platform or lift days, travel, the time lost waiting on roof access, an allowance for weather days and any extra insurance the contract needs. Then compare the result with what similar buildings actually cost last year, not just with the estimate.
How much does a commercial window cleaning chief financial officer make?
Chief executives who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $102,340 and $208,630 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What should a CFO check in a property management contract before it's signed?
Read the payment terms, the automatic renewal date and the notice needed to cancel. Look for a price increase clause, who pays when the building cancels a booked day, and whether the client can hold payment over a complaint. Contracts that can end on short notice should be priced and forecast as month-to-month work.
Should a commercial window cleaning company bid federal buildings?
It can be steady work, but every bidder prices labor from the same sheet, so the winner is usually the company with the leaner crew plan and lower overhead. Start with one building, and make sure payroll can track fringe benefits by the hour before bidding on more.
Why does the CFO template mention walking on uneven surfaces?
Now and then the CFO visits a building with the operations team: crossing a gravel roof to see how a drop is set up, or walking a construction site before a large bid. Those visits help with pricing and insurance talks. The rest of the job is office work, as the template says.
