ElectricalBossPro Blog — Electrical Contractor Software

Building the Service List That Every Electrical Estimate and Invoice Pulls From

The service list is the least exciting part of setting up electrical contractor software and one of the most important. Every estimate pulls from it. Every invoice pulls from it. Every recurring plan is built on it. Get it right once, and the rest of the system gets easier. Get it wrong, and you will be fixing line items on invoices for months.

Why the List Comes First

Estimates are only as good as the list behind them, as covered in Electrical Estimates in Software: From Your Service List to an Approved, Scheduled Job.

In ElectricalBossPro, the service list is where you write down what you sell and what you charge. When the office builds an estimate, they pick from the list. When the tech completes a job, the invoice is built from the services on it. When a customer signs up for a yearly plan in the customer app, they are signing up for a service on the list. Nothing in the system invents a price; it all comes from here.

Start With What You Actually Sell

Pull out your old invoices, your price sheet and your memory of the last busy month. Write down every kind of work you charge for. A typical residential electrical list includes:

• Calls and diagnosis: service call, troubleshooting.
• Devices: outlets, GFCI outlets, switches, breakers.
• Lighting and fans: ceiling fans, light fixtures, recessed lighting.
• Circuits: dedicated circuits for appliances, shops or hot tubs.
• Safety devices: smoke detectors, surge protectors.
• Larger installs: EV charger installs, panel upgrades, generator installs.
• Whole-house work: rewires priced per square foot.
• Recurring: yearly safety inspection, yearly generator maintenance, commercial relamping.

Do not try to list every possible variation on day one. Start with the work you do every week. You can add the rare ones the first time they come up.

Use Your Own Prices

Every service on the list gets your price. A $99 service call. A $165 GFCI replacement. A $149 safety inspection. A $189 generator maintenance visit. A $1,295 EV charger install. Whatever your market and your shop charge, the list holds it.

When prices change, change them on the list. New estimates and invoices use the new price from then on. That beats hunting down every place a price lives in a spreadsheet, or relying on each tech to remember this year's number.

Name Services the Way Customers Read Them

The names on your list end up on estimates and invoices that customers read. “GFCI outlet replacement” is clearer than “GFCI R&R.” “Yearly generator maintenance” is clearer than “GEN PM.” A homeowner who understands the line item is less likely to call with questions and more likely to pay without delay.

Keep shorthand for your internal notes. Keep the service list in plain English.

Pricing Off Measurements

Some work is priced by size or count rather than as a flat number. A rewire priced per square foot. Lighting work priced per fixture. Each property can hold measurements such as square feet, fixtures and circuits, and services can be priced off them.

Set the service up with its per-unit price, enter the measurement on the property, and the estimate for that address comes out right. For landlords with many similar units, that keeps pricing consistent from one address to the next. More in Square Feet, Fixtures and Circuits: Property Measurements That Price Electrical Work.

Recurring Services on the List

Recurring plans are services with a minimum number of days between visits. A yearly safety inspection at 365 days. Yearly generator maintenance at 365 days. Commercial lighting maintenance or relamping every 14 or 30 days. Once they are on the list, the office can add them to a customer, customers can sign up for them in the customer app or on a website sign-up form, and each visit comes due on the Waiting List on its own.

Choose which services and prices you show customers in the customer app. A sensible start is to show the plans and leave install pricing for estimates.

Review It After the First Month

After a month of real work, look at the invoices. Are techs or the office adding the same custom line item again and again? That is a service that belongs on the list. Are some services never used? Clean them out. Are customers asking what a line means? Rename it.

A good service list grows with the business. The first version just has to cover the work you do most. To see how the list connects to estimates, invoices and plans, go back to the electrical contractor software page.