Two agencies can quote the same week of company, errands, and light housekeeping and land far apart on the total. The gap is usually not about one agency being more expensive than the other. It is about what each quote counts as an hour. Before you compare any totals, put every quote on the same hour sheet so the numbers mean the same thing.
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Start with the clock, not the summary line
Most quotes show a weekly total at the bottom and a short description above it. Read the description for the clock. For each quote, write down the start time of every visit, the end time, and how many visits fall in a week. Then find out how the agency measures the visit itself.
Ask three things in writing. First, does the hour start at the door or at the first task? Second, does the time spent traveling from one home to another count? Third, are preparation and cleanup inside the visit, or are they added on? Two agencies can plan visits of the same length and still bill very different hours if one counts the drive and the other does not.
Know the minimums and the short visits
Many agencies set a minimum block for each visit. A visit you plan to last one hour may be billed as a longer block. Find the minimum for each agency and write it into your sheet.
Then ask what happens when a visit ends early, for example because the person being helped wants to rest or a family member returns. Some agencies bill the planned block no matter what. Others bill the actual time. Either practice can be reasonable, but you need to know which one you are agreeing to before the first visit.
Build a one-week hour sheet
Draw seven rows, one for each day, with columns for start time, end time, and what the visit covers. Fill in the schedule you actually need, not the schedule an agency suggested on the phone. Then apply each quote's rules to every row. Add the minimum blocks, add the travel time, add the preparation time, and list any early, late, or weekend hours on their own line so they stay visible. The total of that sheet is the number to compare.
Put the gaps on the sheet too
Hours you do not buy still belong on the sheet. Mark which days the family covers, which days a neighbor or relative covers, and which tasks sit on nobody's list at all. The sheet shows where hired hours do real work and where they duplicate what the family already does. A quote that looks lean may cover only the hours with the least need, while the hours that matter most stay unfilled.
Ask the questions that change the count
Bring these to every intake call and every tour:
What is the shortest visit you will schedule, and how is it billed?
Is travel between clients counted in the hour, and if it is, how is it measured?
Are preparation, cleanup, and visit notes counted, and are they added to the visit or included in it?
If a visit runs long because of a delivery or a late appointment, who approves the extra time, and how is it recorded?
What does a change to the schedule do to the hour count, and how much notice do you need to give?
Write down the answers beside each row of your sheet. A vague answer is a finding too, so note it and ask again in writing. The companion checklist on what to ask before you hire anyone covers the wider set of questions to bring to the table.
Compare the sheets, then the agencies
When each agency has filled in the same sheet, put the totals side by side. If one total is much higher, find the row that caused the difference. Usually it is a minimum block, a travel rule, or a set of hours the other agency left out of its quote.
Only then decide whether the difference buys something you need. Short, regular visits for company and light housekeeping often fit a pattern that differs from longer blocks for errands that require a car and a longer trip. Compare the work each agency will actually do in each hour, not just the number on the bottom line. If you want a wider view of how families build a support plan from several sources, the guide on building the non-medical support ring lays out how to divide the week among family, neighbors, and hired help.
Keep the sheet current
Hours change when the person needs more company, when a regular visit moves, or when a relative stops covering a day. Keep the sheet in a shared folder that the whole family can open. Add a short note each time something changes, saying what moved and why. When you revisit the agreement, check that its hours match the current sheet, not the sheet from the first conversation.
The area agency on aging and county senior services offices in the St. Louis region can help you think through which hours other supports might cover. Ask them what their programs include and what they do not, and write down their answers next to your sheet. Never assume a program covers a row until someone confirms it in writing.