Tier your margins by job type
Service calls, fitouts, project work: different risk, different margin. Tier them deliberately, not by feel.
Profitability
Electrical Business Margins: Set Them, Protect Them, Grow Them
Margin is the bit of every quote that turns a job into a business. Set it deliberately, protect it by default, and grow it as the business matures.
Most sparkies don't have a margin strategy. They have a default markup they vaguely remember setting. The P&L at the end of the year is smaller than they hoped.
Margin should be a deliberate decision per job type, not a leftover.
Why margin slips
- Markup vs margin confusion accounts for the biggest single chunk.
- Variations get done, get forgotten, never get billed.
- Materials wholesaler price increases don't flow into your quote templates.
- Discounts get given casually because the customer pushed back. They never get re-priced.
A margin system that holds
Price to the margin you actually want
There is a clean way to price every job to the exact margin you set. There is also a messy way that leaks money quietly. The Electrical Estimating Course teaches the clean way.
Live margin warnings in the quote
TradieTally tells you if a quote dips below your target margin, before you send it.
See it in TradieTally →Quarterly margin review
Sit down, look at actuals vs target, adjust. The Masterclass builds this into a quarterly ritual.
Common questions
What's a healthy margin for electrical work?
Depends on the work. Service calls typically carry the highest margin, project work the leanest. The Electrical Estimating Course covers tiered margin setting in detail.
How do I protect margin without pricing myself out of jobs?
By selling the quote, not negotiating it. A clear scope and a professional presentation wins margin protection more often than competitive price-cutting.
Ready when you are
Stop guessing your quotes. Start estimating for profit.
Start the trial, take the course, or do both. The maths doesn't change either way.