Flat-rate pricing is the single change that most often lifts an electrical shop's margin without adding a single job. Instead of quoting hours and materials on site, your techs pick a task from a menu with one price, and the price already includes the costs that hourly quotes tend to forget. We build that menu from your numbers, test it against your past invoices and help your team present it.
We help you design the pricing system. We don't estimate electrical work or decide what a job requires on site; your licensed people still scope every job.
Who it suits
The answer is any shop with repeatable residential or light-commercial work. If more than half of your invoices are for tasks you could name in a sentence, a menu will help.
Typical candidates:
- Owner-operators whose quotes vary with mood and the time of day.
- Shops of three to ten trucks where techs quote differently for the same task.
- Companies adding EV charger installs or panel changes, where a clear package price closes faster.
- Owners who want to step back from quoting without losing control of margin.
It suits pure bid and construction work less well, though those shops often run a small service division that does benefit.
What's included
The work follows a fixed sequence, and you see the numbers at every step.
- Task list. We pull 6–12 months of invoices and group them into 40–120 defined tasks, from "replace standard receptacle" to "install Level 2 charger, panel within 10 metres".
- Direct cost per task. Materials at your real supplier cost, plus typical labour time from your own job history, plus permit and disposal costs where they apply.
- Overhead per billable hour. Your annual overhead (rent, vehicles, insurance, office, software, marketing) divided by the billable hours your field team really sells, not the hours they are paid.
- Margin target. A gross margin target by task family, with higher targets for small, high-risk tasks and lower ones for large, predictable ones.
- Rules. When a tech may add a line, when a job leaves the menu for a custom quote, and how discounts, if you use any, are approved.
- Presentation. Short scripts and a printable or tablet menu, so the tech explains the price rather than apologising for it.
A worked example
Here is how one task gets its price, with round numbers you should replace with your own.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Materials for a dedicated 20 A circuit, average run | $95 |
| Typical on-site time | 2.5 hours |
| Overhead per billable hour (your number) | $60 |
| Overhead for this task (2.5 × $60) | $150 |
Add your direct labour cost for 2.5 hours, from payroll. Suppose materials, labour and overhead come to $520. If your target gross margin for this task family is 45%, the price is $520 ÷ (1 − 0.45), about $945. If the shop currently charges $650 for that circuit, every one it installs is losing ground that no amount of marketing will recover.
Timeline
Most price books take four to six weeks:
- Weeks 1–2: invoice review and task list.
- Weeks 3–4: cost model, margin targets and draft prices.
- Weeks 5–6: team walk-through, presentation scripts and launch.
We then review results at 30, 60 and 90 days and adjust prices that are closing too easily or not at all.
How we measure it
We track four numbers before and after launch:
- average gross margin on menu jobs
- close rate on presented menu prices
- average invoice per call
- callbacks and unpaid time per task family
If margin rises and the close rate holds within a few points, the menu is working. If the close rate falls sharply on one task family, we look at that price and how it is presented.
Mistakes to avoid
- Copying a competitor's prices. Their costs, crew speed and overhead aren't yours.
- Using paid hours instead of billable hours. That understates overhead per hour and every price with it.
- Forgetting drive time and supply runs. They are real costs on every small job.
- Letting the menu go stale. A copper or breaker price change can quietly erase a margin.
- Training techs to discount. A menu with an informal discount habit is just hourly pricing with extra steps.
The flat-rate price book guide covers the method in more depth. Once the prices hold, service mix strategy decides which tasks to grow. See pricing for plans, or contact us to start with one month of invoices.
Frequently asked questions
Will flat-rate pricing make us look expensive?
Sometimes the number on the menu is higher than a quick hourly estimate, because it includes the time an hourly quote forgets: parking, the supply-house run, cleanup and the callback risk. Shops that explain what the price covers usually close as well as before, at a better margin.
Does flat rate work for commercial work?
For service and small tenant work, often yes. For bid work and larger projects, no; those still need a proper estimate. We set the line between menu work and custom quotes with you.
How often should the price book change?
Review it at least twice a year and whenever a major material cost moves. We set a simple rule: if a task's direct cost rises past a threshold you choose, its price is reviewed that month.
Do you set our prices for us?
We build the model, show you the margin each price produces and recommend changes. You choose the final prices; it is your business and your market.