You bid a job at 18% margin. Rough-in went fine. Then trim dragged out because the GC changed the fixture spec twice, your material costs jumped, and your apprentice took longer on the panel than you estimated. When the job closed, your actual margin was 9%. Maybe less. You’re not entirely sure because your books don’t track costs at the phase level.
If that sounds familiar, your bookkeeping isn’t set up for electrical work.
What Electrical Contractors Need From Their Books
Electrical work has a financial rhythm that generic bookkeeping misses. Your jobs break into distinct phases: rough-in, trim, service, low voltage, fire alarm. Each phase has a different labor mix, different material profile, and different margin expectation. If your books lump everything into one bucket per job, you can’t see where money is made or lost.
Here’s what we set up and manage for electrical contractors:
Phase-based job costing. Costs tracked by rough-in, trim, service, and any other phases your estimator uses. When you pull a job report, you see exactly where each phase landed against the estimate.
T&M tracking that holds up. Time and material work requires airtight documentation. Hours by worker, material costs with markup, and billing that matches. We make sure your T&M billing is supported by the numbers in your books so there’s no argument when the GC reviews the invoice.
Service vs. project work separation. Many electrical contractors run both a service division and a project division. The financials for each need to be tracked separately because the margins, labor models, and cash flow patterns are completely different. We structure your books to give you clear visibility into both.
Material markup tracking. Wire, conduit, panels, fixtures. Material costs on electrical jobs can swing significantly, especially when specs change mid-project. We track material costs by job and flag when actual costs are running ahead of what you estimated so you know before the job closes, not after.
Prevailing wage and certified payroll. If you’re doing public work, your electrical crews are likely working under a wage determination. We handle certified payroll, fringe calculations, and DOL-compliant reporting.
The Problems We Solve for Electricians
Electrical contractors call us when they’re tired of guessing on margins. When their estimator and their bookkeeper are speaking different languages. When the bonding company sends their financials back because there’s no job-level detail. When they’re growing from a small crew to multiple crews and the back office can’t keep up.
We also hear from electrical contractors who’ve outgrown their general bookkeeper. Someone who’s great at keeping the bank reconciled but has no idea how to set up cost codes for rough-in vs. trim, or how to handle the retainage on a $500K school project.
If your bookkeeper treats your electrical company the same way they treat the hair salon down the street, you’re leaving money and visibility on the table.
Common Questions From Electrical Contractors
How do you handle change orders in the books? Change orders get tracked as modifications to the original job with their own cost tracking. Revenue adjustments are recorded when the change order is approved. You’ll see the impact on job profitability as it happens.
Can you handle multi-location or multi-state work? Yes. We track job costs by location and manage multi-state payroll tax obligations for crews working across state lines.
What if I’m on QuickBooks but my job costing isn’t set up right? We restructure your QuickBooks chart of accounts and job costing configuration for electrical work. Most electrical contractors are up and running on a proper setup within two to three weeks.
Let’s Look at Your Numbers
We’ll review your current books, chart of accounts, and job costing structure. If it’s working, we’ll tell you. If it’s not, we’ll show you what electrical-specific bookkeeping should look like.