Bookkeeping for electricians is trade bookkeeping with the features a general bookkeeper has to be told about: every job has parts, labour and sometimes a subcontractor that need costing against it; larger contracts are billed in stages with retainage held back; and deposits taken before a job starts are not income yet. A bookkeeper who codes parts to one account and labour to another, with nothing tied to a job, produces a profit and loss that cannot say which work pays. This page explains what the books need, and the pricing calculator on this site prices the monthly scope from your own counts.
Job costing: parts, labour and subs by job
At minimum, every parts purchase and every hour of labour is tagged to a job, so that service calls, small installs and contract work can be compared. The field software or the timesheets give hours by job; supplier invoices give parts by job if the job number is on the order. With both flowing, the bookkeeper produces a costed job report every month and the owner learns which kind of work pays and which is subsidising the others.
Progress billing, deposits and retainage
A larger contract is billed as stages complete, and the customer often holds back a percentage as retainage until the end. Each progress invoice is income for the stage, the retainage is a receivable that will be paid later, and a deposit taken before the job starts is a liability until the work is done. Booking a deposit as a sale overstates the month it arrived and understates the month the work was done, and the same error in reverse hides the retainage that is still owed to you.
Materials, the van, and equipment
Parts on the van are stock until they go on a job. Materials bought for a specific contract are costs of that job. Tools and test equipment are assets rather than parts. A bookkeeper needs a rule for each, agreed once, so that the monthly coding is consistent and the year-end does not have to unpick it. The rule matters less than the consistency.
The monthly handover
Bank and card statements, supplier invoices with the job number on them, hours by job from the field software, the progress invoices raised and the retainage schedule, the payroll summary from the provider, and receipts for anything bought outside the account. With those, an electrical contractor's month closes in a few hours; without job numbers on the supplier invoices, the costing is a reconstruction every month.
Questions people ask about bookkeeping for electricians
Does an electrician need job costing?
If you want to know which work pays, yes, and it costs little once hours and parts carry a job number. If you only want a return, no, but you will be running the business on gross margin across everything.
How is a customer deposit recorded?
As money received in advance, a liability, until the work is done. It becomes income when the job or the stage completes. A bookkeeper who books it as a sale on receipt overstates a good month.
What is retainage in the books?
A receivable: money you have earned that the customer holds until the end of the contract. It sits on the balance sheet until paid, and the schedule of what is held on each contract is part of the monthly handover.
Does the bookkeeper need my field software?
Read access or a monthly export of jobs, hours and parts. The books cannot cost a job the bookkeeper cannot see, and the quote should say which systems the provider has worked with.