Job costing for electrical contractors

Electrical work is labor-heavy, and it happens in phases. The risk is that rough-in quietly uses up hours that were meant for trim, and nobody notices until the last week. JobMargin puts crew hours on the job as they happen, so you can check labor at the end of each phase.

What electrical contractors track in JobMargin

• Labor against each phase. Crews clock in to the job; compare labor spent to where you are in rough-in, trim, and finish.
• Materials vs. fixtures. Wire, conduit, and gear in one category, fixtures in another, so owner-supplied fixture changes stand out.
• Permits and inspections. Small costs, but they add up across jobs if they aren’t tracked.
• Changes in the field. Added circuits and relocated devices get logged as change orders before the work is done.

Set up for electrical from the first day

When you pick Electrical as your trade, JobMargin loads these cost categories for budgets, receipts, and job costs. You can rename or add your own at any time.

• Materials
• Labor
• Fixtures
• Equipment Rental
• Permits
• Fuel
• Subcontractor
• Other

Bid line items use the units electrical actually bid in: linear feet (LF), each (EA), and lump sum (LS).

Example: what a electrical job looks like mid-way

Rough-in is complete and trim-out starts next week. Fixtures haven’t been bought yet.

Labor is 72% spent at the end of rough-in. If you planned rough-in at about 60% of your labor, trim starts 12 points behind. Now is the time to plan the crew for trim, or find the change order that explains the extra hours.

Guides and tools for electrical contractors