Estimating a new electrical job can be a heavy task. Figuring out the labor, materials, overhead and other factors involved can get tricky – and creating estimates manually can lead to human error. Electrical estimating software can help you avoid leaving any money on the table.
Electrical estimating software can simplify the process and improve your bottom line with efficiencies. Thankfully you won’t have to figure this puzzle out manually.
In this article we’ll cover how electrical software can:
- Simplify the estimating process
- Make life easier for employees and customers
- Convert estimates to invoices
- Help with scheduling and dispatching, customer management and more
Electrical Estimating Should Be a Quick and Easy Process
The majority of your team’s time on site should be spent working on electrical jobs, not trying to figure out what to charge the customer.
With the right electrician software, estimating should be a quick and easy process with the tech entering in a few key pieces of information for a specific job. Boom! Your estimate is ready to send or present to the customer to review and sign off. Right on your tablet or phone.
With electrical estimating software, most of your pricing information should automatically be entered or easily added to an invoice:
- Your labor rate per hour
- Your parts and equipment costs
- State taxes
Plus all the information is stored in the cloud. No more wasted time losing estimates and invoices or having to do double work.
Make Life Easier for Employees and Customers
By setting up your software to set labor rates and other costs beforehand, it’s easy to create an accurate estimate in no time! Customers like the timeliness and the staff saves hours of their time.
The cumbersome estimating and invoicing process of the past can cause frustration to staff. Also, with manual information entry or writing estimates with pen and paper, it’s very easy to make a mistake. With electrical estimating software, employees cut down time on putting estimates together and there is less room for error.
Because the estimating software can be accessed from anywhere, it’s super convenient. Whether you’re on your phone, a laptop or a tablet your estimating software is just a click away!
Customers also benefit from estimating software because it cuts down on an electrician’s time on site used to manually put an estimate together. Also, electronic estimates are neatly laid out and easy to understand. Gone are the days of a customer trying to review an estimate written in an employee’s chicken scratch on carbon copy paper.
Make Invoicing and Accounting Easier
The beauty of electrical invoicing software is the ability to convert an estimate to an invoice with the click of the keyboard or a screen tap. This is huge on the accounting end of the business. No more generating invoices in-office once the customer approves a job. It’s done for you!
Most electrical estimating software solutions are also connected to QuickBooks. Since most service businesses use QuickBooks, this is a game changer as every transaction is automatically entered into your electrical accounting software.
With accounting integrations, your office staff is instantly on the same page as the tech in the field – no more chasing down job or transaction information.
Once it’s time for a customer to fulfill an invoice after a job is complete, you want to make it easy for them to pay online. Electrician estimating software can also help with this! Look for software that offers a customer portal to make the payment process as easy as possible.
What Else can Electrician Software Do?
Estimating is only one of the functions of service software. There are many other features. Next-level electrical software (like FieldEdge!) can help you with all of the following:
- Performance Dashboards: Keeps you on top of your business by showing sales, service agreements and profitability at a glance.
- Customer Management: The ultimate pre-game preparation! Review all work performed and what equipment a customer is using before you get to the job. Also use images to show homeowners what problems exist.
- Service Agreements: A snapshot of when service agreements are due for renewal, billing and scheduling. Email or text reminders and invoices automatically.
- Mobile CRM: Allows you to run your business from anywhere. Create work orders, dispatch techs and send reminders from your mobile device.
Want to streamline your estimating process with next level software? Schedule a personalized FieldEdge demo today!
Help Your Staff with Electrical Estimating Software!
You now have a better understanding of how estimating software can completely streamline your electrician business! Getting paid quicker, eliminating accounting errors and sending invoices from anywhere are just a few of the benefits!
In this post you learned how electrical estimating software can:
- Make estimating a simple process
- Make life easier for employees and customers
- Convert estimates to invoices
- Help with scheduling and dispatching, customer management and more
Invest in electrical software like FieldEdge. Your staff and customers will thank you!
Related: 4 Ways Software Increases Field Service Customer Satisfaction
