An electrical contractor runs service calls on one side of the business and commercial or new-construction contracts on the other. Service work is paid on the day. Contract work is billed in stages, with a piece held back until the job closes. The books have to handle both, and most do not.
Zero Tax keeps the books for electrical contractors. Progress billing and retainage are tracked. Service and contract work show their own margins. Bookkeeping, tax preparation, and planning come on one flat monthly fee.
A commercial job bills in five draws and the general contractor holds ten percent until the end. That ten percent sits in receivables for months. If nobody tracks it by job, it gets forgotten, written off, or chased a year late. We keep retainage in its own account, by job, with a date next to it.
An invoice that lists the panel at one price and the labor at another can be read by the state as a retail sale plus installation. That changes the sales tax answer. The invoice template decides it, so we fix the template first.
A service call makes money on labor. A contract job makes money on managing materials, subs, and draws. When the costs for both land in one bucket, the owner cannot tell which side of the shop is carrying the other. We split cost of sales by type from the first invoice.
Electrical shops run ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or Jobber for service, and bid tools for contract work. QuickBooks Online handles progress invoicing when it is set up for it. We map service tickets and contract draws to separate income accounts and reconcile the sync monthly. Retainage and change orders get their own lines so a job’s real total is always visible.
Wire, conduit, panels, and fixtures installed in a building are taxed when you buy them. The customer pays no tax on the job. A generator or fixture sold without installation is a retail sale and is taxed on the invoice.
Electrical work is a construction trade. Workers’ compensation starts at the first employee, and an apprentice paid on a 1099 is still your employee.
Your license qualifies the business. When the business forms an S corporation or a new entity, the qualification has to be updated with the state before the new entity pulls a permit. We flag it before the change, not after.
The April 1 tangible return covers lifts, trenchers, testers, and shop equipment. Licensed vehicles stay off it. The first $25,000 is exempt once the first return is filed.
A bucket truck or a van over 6,000 pounds is outside the passenger-car depreciation caps. Equipment bought after January 19, 2025 qualifies for 100 percent bonus depreciation. The right year to take it depends on the jobs in the pipeline.
Greg Neilsen, our tax expert, holds a law degree and a master’s in tax law (LLM). He reviews every return before it is filed.
The books, payroll, and filings run through our team in the Tampa office. The person who closes your month is the person who answers your question. We answer or call back within 24 hours.
More: every trade we serve, HVAC companies, remodelers and general contractors, and our services.
One call tells us both whether this fits. Tell us about the electrical business: trucks, crews, payroll, and what the books look like today. You leave knowing what Zero Tax would handle and what the flat monthly fee would be. Bookkeeping, tax preparation, and planning come on one number, starting at $750 a month, in writing before any work starts.
Progress invoices from an estimate in QuickBooks Online, retainage tracked by job, and a monthly job report that shows billed, collected, held, and cost to date. We set it up once and run it every month.
On a lump-sum job installed into a building, you pay it when you buy the materials and charge none. Sell material without installing it and you charge tax on the sale.
The first time a job loses money and nobody can say why. Usually that is the second commercial contract. Job costing is part of the monthly close for every contract client.
Depends on the entity. In an S corporation it is a reasonable salary plus distributions, set from the actual profit. We set the number with you and put it on payroll.
As a receivable of its own. The general contractor holds back part of each payment until the job closes out. We track retainage by job, so you know what is owed, when it comes due, and which close-out paperwork is holding it up.
One free 15-minute call with Greg. Bring your questions. Leave knowing what Zero Tax would handle for your business and what it would cost.
Book a free 15-minute callNo pressure, no obligation. Just clarity.
