Service mix maths for electrical contractors: EV chargers, panels, generators and commercial service

Step 1: Tag every job by type

The answer starts with clean categories. Export six to twelve months of completed jobs and assign each to one type. A typical residential and light-commercial list:

• EV charger installs
• Panel and service upgrades
• Standby generator installs and connections
• Surge protection and minor backup-power work
• Commercial service and maintenance
• Renovation wiring
• Builder and new-construction work
• Residential service calls (troubleshooting, devices, lighting)

Keep the list short. Eight categories you trust beat twenty you argue about.

Step 2: Calculate gross profit per job type

For each type, add up the revenue and the direct costs: materials, direct labour, permits, equipment rental and subcontractors. Revenue minus direct cost is gross profit.

Then count crew-days. Use your timesheets or dispatch records, and include travel to and from the site.

Gross profit per crew-day = total gross profit ÷ total crew-days

Step 3: Build the comparison table

Here is an example with round illustrative numbers. Replace them all with yours.

In this example, the shop earns three times as much gross profit per crew-day on simple charger installs as on builder rough-ins. Builder work is the largest revenue line, but the weakest earner per day.

Step 4: Adjust for what margin doesn't show

Gross profit per crew-day is the core number, but four other factors change the decision.

Close rate

A high-margin job with a low close rate costs more to win. If panel quotes close at 35% and service calls book at 85%, the office spends far more time per panel job won. Count quote visits as part of the cost.

Seasonality

Some work peaks when you are already busy. Builder work and renovations often crowd into the same months as outdoor projects. Generator interest tends to rise after major outages. Commercial maintenance can often be scheduled into slower months. A line that fills your quiet season is worth more than its margin suggests.

Cash cycle

Residential customers usually pay on completion. Builders and commercial clients may pay in 30 to 60 days, sometimes with holdbacks. A large commercial line can be profitable and still strain cash flow. Note the average days from job completion to payment for each type.

Office load

Count the calls, texts, visits and emails it takes to book and close each type. Strata or condo charger jobs, for example, can involve several rounds with a property manager or board before work begins. That time is real cost.

Step 5: Score and rank

Give each job type a simple score from 1 to 5 on each factor, weighted by what matters to your shop:

The ranking won't be precise, and it doesn't need to be. Its job is to start an honest conversation about where the shop's time goes.

Step 6: Set a target mix

Turn the ranking into a target share of crew-days for the next year. Using the example:

If the shop's total crew-days stay the same, shifting 10 points of capacity from builder work to chargers and panels raises blended gross profit per crew-day noticeably, without adding a truck. Check the result against your own numbers before you commit.

Step 7: Move the schedule toward the target

A target mix only matters if the schedule changes. Four levers do most of the work:

1. Pricing. Raise prices on work you want less of. If a builder accepts the new price, the work becomes more attractive; if not, the crew-days free up. See the flat-rate price book guide.
2. Dispatch rules. Give priority slots to target job types, and limit low-margin work to defined days or months.
3. Marketing. Spend only on target types, with a budget set from their gross profit. Our margin marketing service explains the allowable cost per lead.
4. Hiring. If a target line needs different skills, such as generator commissioning or commercial service experience, plan the role; see hiring plans.

Expect the shift to take two seasons. Customers, builders and your own team need time to adjust.

A note on each common electrical line

EV charger installs

Often short and easy to package, especially where homes have garages and panels with spare capacity. Older urban homes, long runs and full panels turn them into larger projects. Track simple and complex installs as separate types.

Panel and service upgrades

Larger tickets, and sometimes linked to heat pumps, chargers, renovations or insurer questions. They usually involve permits and utility coordination, so the time from quote to completion is longer. A clear tier structure helps customers choose.

Standby generators

High ticket and high interest after outages, but they tie up money in equipment, involve suppliers and sometimes other trades for fuel connections, and demand is uneven. Model the cash and inventory before marketing them.

Commercial service

Often steadier work and a good fit for slower residential months, with longer payment terms. Recurring maintenance agreements are worth tracking as their own type.

Residential service calls

The backbone of many shops. Margin depends almost entirely on pricing discipline, minimum charges and grouping calls by area.

Builder and new-construction work

Volume and relationships, usually at lower margins and on the builder's schedule. Useful in moderation, especially for keeping apprentices learning, but dangerous when it crowds out better work.

Common mistakes

• Ranking by invoice size. Large invoices often hide slow, low-margin days.
• Leaving out travel time. Include it in crew-days, or rural and suburban jobs look better than they are.
• One average for chargers. Simple and complex installs behave like different businesses.
• Ignoring receivables. A line that pays in 60 days needs cash to carry.
• Changing everything at once. Shift two or three lines per season and measure.

Next steps

Track the shift monthly with the weekly scorecard. If you'd like help running the numbers, see our service mix strategy service, the regional notes in areas, or contact us.