Electrician trying to give estimates

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

patricknola

Electrical contractor/Generac Dealer
Location
new orleans, La, United States
Occupation
Electrical contractor.
Hey Guys, I am trying to find software to make giving estimates easier. If anyone has any advice on books or software to make this process less stressful I would greatly appreciate it,Thank you.
 
patricknola said:
Hey Guys, I am trying to find software to make giving estimates easier. If anyone has any advice on books or software to make this process less stressful I would greatly appreciate it,Thank you.
Click to expand...


Do you mean estimating software to develop an estimate, or software/forms to present an estimate that you have already developed? If the first, then what level of estimating are you doing? Service work, residential new construction or remodel, 5 million dollar Hotels, etc.?
 
I am just starting to work on my own, so my work will be primarily residential and some commercial. I know some electricians give estimates based on the number of devices and the square feet.
 
patricknola said:
I am just starting to work on my own, so my work will be primarily residential and some commercial. I know some electricians give estimates based on the number of devices and the square feet.
Click to expand...

You need to figure out your actual cost to do business. There are numerous threads on the topic.

Material
Labor
Insurance
Liability
Health
Workman Comp
Vehicle
Tools
etc etc.
Your actual number is probably higher than you expect. Once you know your actual cost then you will know what to bid at.
 
'How much should I charge' by Ellen Rohr is a good book to start with .....

For software, I know there used to be several excel based estimating sheets you could purchase online for small estimating jobs.

A full-featured estimating program will cost some dollars.... Not sure how much you want to spend, but what we use is Conest and it'll be over $1k


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
patricknola said:
I am just starting to work on my own, so my work will be primarily residential and some commercial. I know some electricians give estimates based on the number of devices and the square feet.
Click to expand...

Before doing a job, do you give and estimate or a proposal? To me, and estimate is just a guess as to what it's going to do the job and implies that if it takes more (or less) there will be a price change. If you do this, it seems to me that you might as well work T&M.

To me, a proposal is a scope of work defined and a price to perform the scope of work. It implies that you have checked the job conditions and you have a good understanding of what you need to do. This is where you make money because the customer can't come back and ask for an accounting to compare to the estimate.

So, I can see someone using a quick method to give an "estimate" and if the customer would like to move to a contract, then the proposal would be written with a fixed price attached.

I used to give estimates on wiring marinas (Mr. Customer I think it will cost about $250,000 to wire your marina), and if the customer was not put off I would then do takeoffs and some design criteria and give them a proposal that stated specifically what I was giving pricing on and what I was not including.

Just the way I look at things.
 
To me, and estimate is just a guess as to what it's going to do the job and implies that if it takes more (or less) there will be a price change
Click to expand...

No.....an estimate is an exact science......and every one of your competent competitors know that science.

Changes in scope are simple to deal with when you have a very detailed scope letter and proposal explaining EXACTLY what is included and excluded
 
Fulthrotl said:
+1 on that.

and before you even do that one.....
the bare bones business plan, also by ellen.

honestly, until you've done that, you'll end up working for free..... :weeping:
Click to expand...

Yes definitely that book also. I just realized it was almost 10 years ago I bought those books after reading about them here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top