Short answer
Price electrical work from task time: hours x loaded labour rate, plus parts, plus overhead per hour gives break-even; divide by (1 minus margin) for the flat rate. With a $32 wage, 31% burden and $23.86 overhead an hour, a 1-hour GFCI swap with $25 of parts breaks even at $90.78 and sells for $139.67.
- Flat rate = (task hours x loaded rate + parts + task hours x overhead per hour) / (1 - margin).
- A $32 wage at 31% burden costs $41.92 an hour before overhead.
- Van overhead of $42,000 a year over 1,760 sellable hours is $23.86 an hour.
- Service-call minimum from 1.5 hours with no parts: $151.81; a single cheap task should never bill below it.
- A 35% markup instead of margin keeps 25.93% and loses $387.82 on one panel upgrade.
On this page
- Hourly or flat rate: how should you price electrical work?
- Electrician pricing calculator: price a task with your numbers
- How to calculate electrical labour cost
- Worked example: building a flat-rate pricebook entry
- How to set a service-call minimum
- Bigger jobs: panel upgrades and the markup mistake
- What do electricians charge per square foot?
- Electrical estimate template in Excel: formulas
- What to put on an electrical bid sheet or price list
- Free template, custom workbook or field-service app?
- Step-by-step
- FAQ
Hourly or flat rate: how should you price electrical work?
Both work if the underlying number is right. Hourly (time and materials) bills the customer for the hours you actually spend. Flat rate quotes a fixed price per task from a pricebook, so the customer knows the price before you start. The flat rate is just your hourly cost maths done in advance.
I'm not an electrician; I build pricing math. The numbers below are worked in the open, and every wage, part price and task time is an assumption for you to replace with your own payroll, supplier invoices and timed jobs.
| Hourly (T&M) | Flat-rate pricebook | |
|---|---|---|
| Who carries time risk | Customer | You |
| Rewards speed | No: faster work earns less | Yes: faster work earns more |
| Customer sees price | After the job | Before the job |
| Needs | An honest billing rate | Timed task hours for every entry |
Whichever you use, the billing rate must cover the loaded wage, overhead and margin, not just the wage.
Electrician pricing calculator: price a task with your numbers
Enter the task hours, your wage, burden, parts and overhead. Break-even shows first, then the price.
The free electrician price calculator does the same job-by-job and shows the yearly cost of pricing on markup.
How to calculate electrical labour cost
Electrical labour cost = hours x wage x (1 + burden %). Burden covers payroll tax, workers' comp, liability insurance and paid time off. For your own percentage, see the labor burden calculator guide.
With a $32 wage and an assumed 31% burden, the loaded rate is 32 x 1.31 = $41.92 an hour. Then add overhead per sellable hour. A service van operation might carry $42,000 a year of overhead (van payment, insurance, licence, tools, software, phone, marketing; an assumption here). One electrician billing 220 days of 8 hours sells 1,760 hours, so overhead is 42,000 / 1,760 = $23.86 an hour.
Loaded labour plus overhead is $41.92 + $23.86 = $65.78 an hour of cost before parts or profit. At a 35% margin the matching hourly billing rate is 65.78 / 0.65 = $101.20.
Worked example: building a flat-rate pricebook entry
A pricebook entry is one task priced once, then reused. Take a GFCI receptacle swap: an assumed 1 hour including setup, testing and cleanup, and $25 of parts (the device plus a small allowance; use your supplier's price).
Worked example: Pricebook entry: replace receptacle with GFCI, 1 hour task time (all inputs are assumptions)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $32.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 31% |
| Materials (input) | $25.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $42,000.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 220 |
| Target margin % (input) | 35% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 6 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 1 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $41.92 |
| Crew-hours | 1 |
| Labour cost | $41.92 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $23.86 |
| Overhead share | $23.86 |
| Break-even cost | $90.78 |
| Price to quote | $139.67 |
| Profit on the job | $48.88 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $122.56 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 25.93% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $17.11 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $5,338.08 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Labour $41.92 + parts $25.00 + overhead $23.86 = break-even $90.78. At a 35% margin the flat rate is $90.78 / 0.65 = $139.67. Repeat the same maths for every task and you have a pricebook.
| Task | Hours | Parts | Break-even | Flat rate at 35% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replace light fixture (customer-supplied) | 1 | $10 | $75.78 | $116.59 |
| Replace receptacle with GFCI | 1 | $25 | $90.78 | $139.67 |
| Install ceiling fan on rated box | 1.25 | $15 | $97.23 | $149.58 |
| Add receptacle from nearby circuit | 1.5 | $20 | $118.68 | $182.58 |
| New 20A dedicated circuit | 3 | $85 | $282.35 | $434.39 |
| 50A circuit for EV charger (short run) | 5 | $320 | $648.92 | $998.34 |
Time your own jobs for a month before you trust any task hours. The pricebook is only as good as those hours.
How to set a service-call minimum
Set the minimum at the cost of the shortest real visit, priced on margin. Every call includes a drive and a first stretch of diagnosis, whether the fix takes five minutes or an hour.
Worked example: Service-call minimum: 0.5 hour drive + 1 hour on site, no parts (assumptions)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $32.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 31% |
| Materials (input) | $0.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $42,000.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 220 |
| Target margin % (input) | 35% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 6 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 1.5 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $41.92 |
| Crew-hours | 1.5 |
| Labour cost | $62.88 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $23.86 |
| Overhead share | $35.80 |
| Break-even cost | $98.68 |
| Price to quote | $151.81 |
| Profit on the job | $53.13 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $133.21 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 25.93% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $18.60 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $5,802.12 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Half an hour of driving plus an hour on site, with no parts, breaks even at $98.68 and prices at $151.81. Notice that the GFCI entry above, $139.67, is below this. If a GFCI swap is the only task on a call, bill the minimum; if it is added to other work already on site, the pricebook price applies. Some shops fold the trip into every entry instead; either way, the drive time has to be paid for somewhere.
Bigger jobs: panel upgrades and the markup mistake
Price larger jobs with the same formula; the stakes just grow. Here is a 200A panel upgrade with 10 hours of labour and an assumed $1,400 for the panel, breakers, fittings and a permit allowance. Your permit fee comes from your jurisdiction.
Worked example: 200A panel upgrade, 10 hours, $1,400 parts and permit allowance (assumptions)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $32.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 31% |
| Materials (input) | $1,400.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $42,000.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 220 |
| Target margin % (input) | 35% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 1 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 10 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $41.92 |
| Crew-hours | 10 |
| Labour cost | $419.20 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $23.86 |
| Overhead share | $238.64 |
| Break-even cost | $2,057.84 |
| Price to quote | $3,165.90 |
| Profit on the job | $1,108.07 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $2,778.08 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 25.93% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $387.82 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $20,166.80 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Break-even is $2,057.84; at 35% margin the price is $3,165.90. Price it with a 35% markup instead and you quote $2,778.08, which keeps only 25.93% and leaves $387.82 on the table. The markup vs margin guide explains why the two never match.
Try it with your numbers — free
The free calculator does this whole method in about a minute: loaded labour, overhead share, break-even and the price to quote at your margin. No signup, nothing to download, and your numbers stay in your browser.
Open the free calculator →Get the free spreadsheetWant it built around your own rates, services and branding? Done-for-you custom calculator ($497).
What do electricians charge per square foot?
Treat per-square-foot as an output from your own jobs, not an input. Published per-sq-ft figures mix new construction, remodels and rewires with very different hours per foot.
For whole-house work, price by opening (each receptacle, switch or fixture box) plus home runs and the panel. With an assumed 0.5 hours and $6 of parts per opening, the inputs above give a break-even of $38.89 and a price of $59.83 per opening. Count openings from the plans, add circuits and service equipment, then divide the total by the floor area to see your per-sq-ft figure. For a rewire of an occupied house, add hours for fishing walls and patching; that is where rewires differ most from new builds.
Electrical estimate template in Excel: formulas
Build your pricebook as one row per task: task name, hours, parts, then formulas for break-even and price. Change the wage or overhead once and every price updates.
Loaded labour rate
=Settings!$B$2*(1+Settings!$B$3)Settings B2 = wage, B3 = burden % (31%).
Overhead per sellable hour
=Settings!$B$4/(Settings!$B$5*Settings!$B$6*8)B4 = yearly overhead, B5 = electricians in the field, B6 = billable days a year.
Task break-even (pricebook row)
=B2*(Settings!$B$7+Settings!$B$8)+C2Row 2: B2 = task hours, C2 = parts; Settings B7 = loaded rate, B8 = overhead per hour.
Flat rate
=MAX(D2/(1-Settings!$B$9),Settings!$B$10)D2 = task break-even, B9 = margin, B10 = service-call minimum. Use only for stand-alone calls; drop the MAX for add-on tasks.
Keep inputs (wage, burden, overhead, billable days, margin) on a settings tab and reference them with absolute cell addresses such as $B$2, so each pricebook row stays one line. The contractor estimate template guide covers the quote layout.
What to put on an electrical bid sheet or price list
An electrical bid sheet lists the work in countable units, the price for each, and what is excluded. The customer should be able to see what they are paying for without seeing your cost build-up.
| Section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Scope by unit | Each task or opening, quantity and flat price from your pricebook |
| Service equipment | Panel, meter base, grounding and bonding, as separate lines |
| Permit and inspection | Permit fee at your jurisdiction's rate, who schedules the inspection |
| Access and patching | Whether drywall repair and painting are included or excluded |
| Hidden conditions | Hourly rate that applies to problems found behind walls |
| Price and terms | Total, deposit, schedule, how long the price holds |
The hidden-conditions line protects a flat price. Quote the known work flat, and state in advance the hourly rate for anything outside it, so an unexpected problem becomes a change order instead of a loss.
Free template, custom workbook or field-service app?
A spreadsheet suits a one- or two-van shop that wants to own its pricebook. Field-service apps with built-in pricebooks suit shops that also need dispatch, memberships and card payments on site.
- Free: the electrician pricing calculator and the free Job Pricing Starter spreadsheet, which has the loaded-rate, overhead, break-even and margin maths for Excel or Google Sheets.
- Built for you: there is no ready-made electrical template in the shop. The done-for-you custom calculator is a $497 one-time build with your rates, task list and a branded quote page, for Excel and Google Sheets, with one round of revisions.
Step-by-step: How to Price Electrical Work: Hourly, Flat-Rate and the Maths Behind Both
- Find your loaded labour rate. Multiply the wage by (1 + burden %). A $32 wage at 31% burden is $41.92 an hour.
- Find overhead per sellable hour. Divide yearly overhead by field staff x billable days x 8. $42,000 over 1,760 hours is $23.86.
- Time each task. Record real hours for common tasks, including setup, testing and cleanup, before you set flat rates.
- Compute break-even per task. Task hours x (loaded rate + overhead per hour) + parts at your supplier's price.
- Price on margin. Divide break-even by (1 - margin). Never multiply by (1 + margin).
- Set a service-call minimum. Price the shortest real visit, drive plus first hour, the same way and bill at least that on any call.
Run your own numbers — free
The free calculator does this whole method in about a minute: loaded labour, overhead share, break-even and the price to quote at your margin. No signup, nothing to download, and your numbers stay in your browser.
Open the free calculator →Get the free spreadsheetWant it built around your own rates, services and branding? Done-for-you custom calculator ($497).
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate electrical labour cost?
Multiply hours by the wage and by (1 + burden %), where burden covers payroll tax, workers' comp, insurance and paid time off. A $32 wage at 31% burden costs $41.92 an hour. Add overhead per sellable hour before you price.
Is there a price book for electrical work?
You can build your own. List common tasks, time each one, and price every row as (hours x loaded rate + parts + hours x overhead) / (1 - margin). Commercial flat-rate books exist, but yours should reflect your own wages, overhead and task times.
What is a reasonable rate for an electrician to charge?
One that covers loaded labour, overhead and margin. With this guide's assumptions, cost is $65.78 an hour before parts, so a 35% margin needs a billing rate of $101.20. Your wage, burden and overhead will give a different figure.
What do electricians charge per square foot?
Per-square-foot is best derived from your own jobs: price the work by opening, circuit and panel, then divide by floor area. Rewires in finished homes take more hours per foot than new construction, so one per-foot rate misprices one or the other.
Is there a free Excel template for electrical estimates?
Yes. The free Job Pricing Starter on this site covers loaded labour, overhead, break-even and margin pricing in Excel and Google Sheets. Add a pricebook tab with the formulas in this guide, one row per task.
Should I charge hourly or flat rate for electrical work?
Flat rate if you have timed your common tasks and want customers to see prices up front; hourly for diagnostic work and jobs you cannot scope. Both need the same honest billing rate that covers loaded labour, overhead and margin.
How much should a service call cost?
At least the cost of the shortest real visit priced on margin. With a 30-minute drive, an hour on site and this guide's assumptions, break-even is $98.68 and the minimum at 35% margin is $151.81.
What is the best way to estimate electrical work?
Count the work in units you can time (openings, circuits, fixtures, panels), multiply by task hours, cost at the loaded rate, add parts at supplier price and overhead per hour, then divide by (1 - margin). Compare estimated and actual hours after every job.
I'm not a contractor, landlord or accountant. I build the pricing maths, and every number on this page shows its working so you can check it instead of trusting it. Watch the breakdowns on YouTube →