What goes on an electrical estimate
An electrical estimate is read by somebody with no way to judge it. They can see a price for a breaker panel and have no idea whether that is reasonable, so what persuades is not the number but the breakdown — and what protects you is the part about the bits of the job that are not yours.
- The circuits affected, and what each one serves
- Materials: the unit, cable by type and length, accessories by make
- Labor as hours at your rate, and how many visits it will take
- Whether the price includes the permit, and the inspection fee
- Anything the utility has to do, and that their timing is not yours to promise
- Patching and repair — cutting into walls, drywall and plaster, lifting floors — included or not
- The certification issued at the end, and the authorization to proceed
The sample line items and example prices this sheet opens with are on the electrical invoice template — the same table, which is about the trade rather than about this paper, so it lives in one place rather than on all six. Working out the price itself? The markup calculator turns your cost and markup into the figure to put on the estimate, and shows the margin it leaves.
What you get
A PDF, and a link your customer can open in any browser. Word and Excel versions are not available yet — if a spreadsheet is what you need, this is not yet the tool for it, and saying so is cheaper for both of us than you finding out after typing everything in.
Pick how it looks
Six looks, from a plain classic sheet through a bold top band to a shop ticket, and your initials go on automatically until you upload a logo. See all six.
How to send it
Most customers want the paper on their phone, so the estimate goes out by WhatsApp, text or email, or as a link that needs no app and no account on their side. Or download the PDF to print it or keep it for your own records.
Questions
Should the permit and inspection be in the price?
Show them either way, as their own lines. Customers routinely forget the permit exists and then read it as padding when it turns up on the invoice. On the estimate it is a cost of the job that you are passing on, which is exactly what it is.
What do I say about the utility company?
That their part is outside your control and outside your price. Where a job needs the supply cut, upgraded or reconnected, the date belongs to them and the delay will be blamed on you unless the estimate says in advance that it is not yours to promise.