Business Skills
How to Quote Electrical Jobs and Win More of Them
Quoting is the part of running an electrical business that nobody teaches. Your apprenticeship covered wiring regulations and testing — nobody covered how to price your work, present a quote, or follow up without being annoying.
Start With Your True Day Rate
The most common pricing mistake electricians make is calculating their day rate based on what they want to take home — not what they actually need to earn to make that happen.
The calculation most electricians don’t do (UK example): Target take-home £40,000 + Income Tax & NI £10,000 + licence/registration fees £800 + van insurance £1,500 + tool insurance £400 + public liability £600 + accountant £500 + software £300 + training £500 = ~£54,600/year to earn.
46 working weeks × 5 days = 230 days. Less 20% non-billable (admin, quoting, travel) = 184 billable days. £54,600 ÷ 184 = £297/day minimum to break even, plus 15% profit margin = £341/day.
The same maths applies in USD, CAD, EUR and AUD — run the numbers for your own situation. If you’re weighing up whether a limited company changes this maths, see Sole Trader or Limited Company for Electricians.
Fixed Price vs Day Rate
Use day rate for: fault finding and diagnostic work, larger projects with unclear scope, commercial maintenance contracts.
Use fixed price for: consumer unit changes, EV charger installations, first/second fix, rewires, and anything a customer asks for a fixed quote on. Customers almost always prefer fixed price — quote it wherever you can.
What to Include in a Quote
- Business name, address, licence/registration number, contact details
- Customer name and property address
- Date and validity period (typically 30 days)
- A clear, specific description of the work
- What’s included — and explicitly what’s NOT
- Total price, inclusive of applicable taxes (VAT, GST, HST)
- Payment terms — deposit, stage payments, or on completion
- A brief note on your qualifications and certification
Tax on quotes by country: UK VAT 20% (£90,000 threshold) · USA sales tax varies by state · Canada GST 5% + provincial HST/PST · Ireland VAT 13.5% for construction services · Australia GST 10% (AUD $75,000 threshold).
The Presentation of a Quote Matters
A quote on WhatsApp loses jobs to a quote that arrives as a professional document within 24 hours — not because customers are judgemental about format, but because professionalism signals reliability. SparkyLog generates professional quotes automatically from job details, with your registration or licence number pre-filled.
How to Handle “Can You Do It Cheaper?”
Ask what they’re comparing against — often the cheaper quote is different scope. Offer to remove scope, not reduce margin. Be confident and quiet — filling silence with an immediate discount is the fastest way to lose margin. Know when to walk away — some customers will always buy the cheapest quote regardless of quality.
Following Up Without Being Annoying
Day 3 (if no response): one short follow-up message. Day 7 (if still no response): one final message noting the validity period. After that, move on.
Tracking Your Quote Conversion Rate
If you’re converting less than 50% of quotes, either your pricing is too high, your presentation needs work, or you’re not qualifying enquiries before quoting. Log every quote and convert accepted quotes to jobs with one tap to make this visible over time. See how the whole SparkyLog workflow fits together in SparkyLog Review 2026.
Quick Tips — Universal
Always survey before quoting · include a validity period every time · ask for a 25–30% deposit on larger jobs · quote in writing even for small jobs · keep quotes to one page.
Create professional quotes from your phone
Registration number pre-filled, converts accepted quotes to jobs in one tap. Free to start.
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