More profit from the electricians you already have
AI can't replace your electricians — and they're the highest-paid, hardest-to-find skilled labor in the trades. Level is the operating layer that makes scarce electrician time produce more gross profit per hour: it connects field ops, labor burden, and books across commercial bids, prevailing-wage jobs, and service calls, then surfaces the weekly actions that protect margin and stop cash from getting trapped in open jobs.
The Electrical Problem
Electricians are the highest-paid skilled labor in the trades. Few owners know their gross profit per electrician hour.
Electricians command the highest wages in the trades ($60K+ entry-level). Your labor burden calculation is the difference between a 20% margin and a 5% margin. In one contractor's data, labor was 37.8% of total invoice value while parts were 32.8% — most electrical shops don't even know this split.
Prevailing wage jobs look lucrative but the compliance overhead, certified payroll, and documentation requirements eat into margins. We've seen contractors with $1.6M in parts ordered for jobs with no labor scheduled — cash tied up in inventory for unscheduled work. Without job-level tracking, you won't see it until the project is over.
Panel upgrades, EV charger installs, and solar tie-ins are booming. But in our dataset, fewer than 10% of T&M estimates are formally sent to the customer — the rest sit as drafts. And quoted-to-actual variance can exceed 500% on individual jobs in our data on T&M jobs where scope creeps without a re-quote.
From the electrical subreddits
What electrical owners actually say (when nobody's selling them anything)
We pulled these verbatim from r/electricians and adjacent trade subs. Not surveys. Not testimonials. Just the financial conversations owners have with each other at midnight.
“Bid a panel swap at $4,500. Real cost came in at $4,100 once you load the truck, the apprentice, and the permit. I made $400 on a job I told my wife was a $1,200 day.”
r/electricians owner
What this is really about: True burdened cost includes wages + payroll tax + benefits + workers' comp + truck + tools + warranty reserve. Most independent electricians underestimate by 25-40%.
“Got the prevailing wage job. Now I have certified payroll, OCIP/CCIP confusion, and a CPA bill that ate the margin. Won't bid another.”
r/Construction electrician
What this is really about: Prevailing wage compliance overhead averages $3-7K per project for shops doing it occasionally. We model the breakeven volume and either help you scale into it or steer you away.
“EV chargers, solar, batteries, generators, smart panels — every week there's a new thing my customers want. Pricing each one is a guess.”
r/electricians owner
What this is really about: New service lines need data-driven pricing, not gut feel. We model labor hours, material cost, callback rates, and warranty reserve before you commit to a rate card.
“$1.6M in parts inventory for jobs that aren't even on the schedule. The cash is gone and I have an empty calendar.”
r/Electrical owner
What this is really about: Material-stocking-without-job-link is the #1 cash flow killer for growing electrical shops. Real PO discipline ties every order to a scheduled job — anything else is balance sheet bloat.
Analyzed with the CLEAR Framework
Cash · Labor · Earnings · Accounts · Risk — the five pillars we evaluate for every business.
Electrical Industry Benchmarks
How do the best electrical businesses perform? Data from our analysis of 2,200+ contractors.
Median Bill Rate
$79/hr
Top quartile: $111/hr. Electrical commands premium rates in commercial.
Target Gross Margin
65-67%
Electrical services should target 65-67% gross across all service types.
Collection Rate
80.8%
Top quartile: 90.6%. Commercial electrical has longer payment cycles.
Billing Speed
7 days
Real median excluding progress billers. Top quartile bills before completion.
Labor Burden Rate
25-40%
On top of base wages. Benefits-heavy shops exceed 45%.
Net Profit Target
10-20%
Top electrical contractors reach 20% net. Industry average: 5-7%.
What Level Does for Electrical Businesses
Labor Burden & True Cost Analysis
Your journeyman costs more than their hourly rate. Benefits, FICA, workers' comp, tools, truck, training — we calculate your true burdened rate so every bid is priced correctly.
Prevailing Wage Job Tracking
Davis-Bacon and state prevailing wage requirements add compliance costs most contractors don't track. We separate prevailing wage job margins from standard work so you can see the real profitability of government contracts.
Commercial vs. Residential Margin Separation
Commercial electrical bids on thin margins with long payment terms. Residential service work has high margins but lower volume. We make sure one isn't quietly subsidizing the other.
New Service Line Pricing
EV charger installs, solar tie-ins, panel upgrades, whole-home generators — these growing service lines need data-driven pricing, not gut feel. We model the margins before you commit to a rate card.
Cash Flow Forecasting
Large commercial projects create lumpy cash flow. We build forecasts that account for progress billing schedules, retainage holds, and the timing gap between project completion and final payment.
Growth & Exit Readiness
Electrical contracting companies with recurring revenue (service agreements, maintenance contracts) sell at higher multiples. We help you build that revenue mix and prepare your books for any future transaction.
Bookkeeper, your CPA — vs. Level
| Capability | Bookkeeper | CPA | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record transactions | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| File taxes | — | ✓ | — |
| Job-level profitability | — | — | ✓ |
| Cash flow forecasting | — | — | ✓ |
| Benchmark against industry | — | — | ✓ |
| Monthly strategy calls | — | — | ✓ |
| AR aging & collections tracking | — | — | ✓ |
| Crew utilization analysis | — | — | ✓ |
| Exit readiness preparation | — | — | ✓ |
| Understands electrical operations | Rarely | Rarely | ✓ |
Your bookkeeper records the past. Your CPA files taxes. Level is the operating layer in between — it connects the work to the money and shows you how to make more from the people you already have.
We connect to the tools you already use
15-minute setup. Read-only access. Your data stays secure.
From clients
What electrical operators say after working with us.
“Commercial GCs were paying us at 78 days average. Sam ran the AR by customer and showed me that two GCs were responsible for 60% of the slow pay. We tightened terms with both — one accepted, one walked. Net DSO dropped 16 days and we kept the more profitable account.”
“Residential service electrical and we had no membership program — just one-and-done calls. Sam helped me model what a membership tier would do for pull-through revenue and lifetime value. Launched at $19/mo, 1,400 sign-ups in year one, generated ~$340K in incremental work the first year.”
“We were bidding industrial work on gut feel. Sam helped me build a cost model that included gear lead times, prevailing wage, and our actual loaded labor rate. Margin discipline went from 'whatever we win' to 'we walk away under 18%.' Profitability up, revenue down 12% — and I sleep better.”
Simple pricing
Three tiers, one ladder.
$99-$500/mo
Bookkeeping
The clean data layer: monthly books, reconciliations, and organized financials AI can work with.
$1,500-$5,000/mo
Scale
The full AI operating layer — custom agents, weekly actions, and benchmarks to grow margin per hour.
Custom
Platform / Multi-Office
Multi-branch benchmarking and scorecards for PE-backed and multi-location groups.
Book a call
Book a free 15-min Electrical audit.
We'll review your electrical numbers, benchmark them, and tell you what to fix first. No commitment.
Or have us reach out instead.
Drop your info and Level will review your electrical numbers within a few hours. Free audit included.
No commitment. Real numbers, not generic advice.