Gear and tools in one bucket
Wire, breakers, and devices are job materials that belong in cost of goods. A bender, meter, or thermal camera is a tool expense or fixed asset. Combine them and your job margins and your depreciation are both off.
Trade guide
Bookkeeping for Electricians
Electrical work spans quick service calls, new-construction rough-ins, panel upgrades, and low-voltage data jobs, and each one prices differently. Generic bookkeepers flatten all of it and hide where your real margin lives. Here is how trade-native bookkeeping handles an electrical business.
Quick answer
- Electrical books have to separate gear and wire (job materials) from durable tools and test equipment, or job margins read wrong.
- Service, new construction, panel upgrades, and low-voltage data each deserve their own class so you can see which work pays.
- Apprentice and helper labor plus 1099 subs need clean tracking all year so labor cost and January filing both stay accurate.
- We keep the books inside your own QuickBooks Online file, reconcile every account, and deliver a CPA-reviewed close by the 15th.
Why electrical books break with a generic bookkeeper
A service call, a new-construction rough-in, and a low-voltage data job are three different businesses sharing one truck. When a generalist categorizes all of it as "income" and "materials," you cannot tell whether your service department is funding your construction work or the other way around.
- Job materials (wire, conduit, breakers, panels, fixtures, devices) separated from durable tools and test gear
- Permit and inspection fees tracked against the job, not lost in overhead
- Apprentice and journeyman labor costed to the job so your effective labor rate is real
- Merchant fees and field deposits reconciled so revenue matches what actually landed
Job costing for electrical work
We set up Class or Location tracking in QuickBooks so every job carries its own labor, materials, and subcontractor cost. That replaces a gut feel with a Job Profit view: the panel upgrades that clear well, and the new-construction bids that run thin once gear and labor are in. On the Crew plan and up, that visibility is part of every monthly close.
What most electrical bookkeeping gets wrong
Apprentice labor not costed to jobs
If helper and apprentice hours never hit the job, your labor looks cheaper than it is and your bids drift low. Costed labor is what makes a Job Profit number trustworthy.
Low-voltage and service blended together
Data cabling and service work carry different materials and margins than construction. Without separate classes, a strong service month can hide a weak construction quarter.
Which plan fits a electrical business
- Truck, solo operator, 1 to 2 accounts, simple job tracking
- Crew, growing crew, job costing, FSM sync included
- Shop, payroll, 1099 subs, AR/AP, priority close
- Builder, multi-entity, high volume, custom mapping
Electrical bookkeeping FAQ
Do you track job costing for electricians?
Yes. We set up Class or Location tracking so each job carries its own labor, materials, and subcontractor cost. You see job-level profit across service, construction, and low-voltage work on the Crew plan and up.
How do you handle gear versus tools?
Wire, conduit, breakers, and devices are categorized as job materials so they flow into cost of goods. Durable tools and test equipment are tracked separately as tool expense or fixed assets, so both margins and depreciation stay accurate.
Can you connect ServiceTitan, Jobber, or Housecall Pro?
Yes. On the Crew plan and up we sync your field-service tool to QuickBooks so deposits, merchant fees, and invoices reconcile instead of drifting apart.
What about apprentice labor and 1099 subs?
We help cost in-house labor to jobs and track subcontractor payments through the year with W-9s on file, so labor cost is accurate and 1099 totals are ready. Full 1099 filing support is included on the Shop plan.
Do I keep my QuickBooks file?
Always. We work inside your own QuickBooks Online subscription. If you ever leave, you keep the file and a clean set of workpapers. No proprietary ledger, no hostage data.
My books are months behind. Can you catch up?
Yes. Our 6-month prepaid option includes a catch-up cleanup so you start current. We scope the backlog up front so there are no surprises.
Books built for electrical work
Trade-native categories, job costing, and a CPA-reviewed close by the 15th. You keep your QuickBooks file.