Accounting for an electrical contractor comes down to one question: did that job make money? Answering it means labor hours, van stock, supply house invoices and permit fees all landing on the right job, and for commercial work, retainage that the GC won't release for months. Your field app captures most of it. Your accounting software has to receive it cleanly and make it reportable. We ranked six tools on how well that pairing works. For the full stack, see our guide to software for electrical contractors.
What electrical shops need from accounting software
Three things set electrical accounting apart from a generic small business.
Job costing. Every job should carry its own labor hours, material from the supply house and the van, permit fees and any subcontracted work like trenching or boring. That's what tells you whether a $6,500 service upgrade actually made $2,000 or $400.
Progress billing and retainage, for construction work. A GC might hold 10% of every draw until close-out, and your books need to show that as money owed to you, not money lost. QuickBooks can track it with some setup; Knowify does it directly.
Sales tax on materials and payroll. How sales tax applies to materials you install varies by state, and so do rules on prevailing wage and certified payroll for public work. Your accounting software won't decide those for you, but it should let your CPA set them up once and keep them consistent. Ask a local CPA who works with trades.
How the picks compare
QuickBooks Online is the ledger for most shops on this page, and the other five feed it. The real decision is which field app and which QuickBooks tier. A residential service shop does well on Jobber or Housecall Pro feeding QuickBooks Plus. A commercial sub should run Knowify between the estimate and QuickBooks. A 15-tech service company may justify ServiceTitan for its payroll and reporting.
Whichever ledger you pick, the setup matters more than the brand. Split income at least into service and construction, because they run on different margins and you'll want to see each one. Put material, direct labor, permits and subcontractors under cost of goods sold, not overhead, so your gross margin means something. Track van stock as inventory only if you'll actually count it; otherwise expense small parts and track only big items like panels, generators and EV chargers. And decide early whether jobs or classes carry your job costs, then make the field app sync to match. Fixing a year of mis-mapped syncs is a miserable, billable week for your bookkeeper.
Xero is the main alternative ledger, with unlimited users from $27/mo, but check that your field app syncs to it before you pick it. For tools that work across trades, see our roundup of accounting software for contractors.
What to look for before you sign
- The right QuickBooks tier. Plus is where job costing starts. Don't buy Essentials and expect job reports.
- What actually syncs. Invoices and payments are easy. Ask whether labor costs, card fees, deposits and refunds sync correctly too.
- Retainage handling. Test a progress invoice with 10% held back and see how it lands in your books.
- Your bookkeeper's opinion. Ask before you pick. A bookkeeper fluent in your system is worth more than any feature.
- Price increases. QuickBooks users commonly report them. Budget for it.
- Supply house bills. Your biggest vendor is probably your electrical distributor. Check how their monthly statement gets entered and matched to jobs, because that's where most material costs go missing.
What it costs
Monthly prices as of October 2026, before promos. Field app prices are billed annually.
| Shop size |
QuickBooks Online |
Field app (example) |
Total |
| 1 person |
Simple Start $38/mo |
Jobber Core $29/mo |
About $67/mo |
| 5 users |
Plus $140/mo (5 users) |
Housecall Pro Essentials $149/mo |
About $289/mo |
| 15 users, commercial |
Plus $140/mo (office users only) |
Knowify Advanced + 5 users, about $474/mo |
About $614/mo |
The 15-user row assumes only office staff log into QuickBooks while techs use the field app, which is how most shops run it. Payroll is extra in every case.
