An electrical bookkeeper records the money from service calls, remodels, new-home wiring and generator installs. They post payments, pay supply house and permit bills, and swap lien waivers for builder checks. They also tie hours and materials to every job, which tells the owner what each line of work really earns.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, electrical contractors · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for managing and accurately tracking all financial transactions for our electrical home services operations. Plays a key role in maintaining the financial health of the company by ensuring timely processing of payables and receivables. Acts as a critical support in decision-making through precise bookkeeping and reporting.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Record and reconcile daily financial transactions with precision.
Manage accounts payable and receivable to ensure timely payments and collections.
Prepare and process invoices, expense reports, and payment entries.
Collaborate with the finance team to ensure accuracy in financial reporting.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Enter financial data into accounting software with a focus on electrical service transactions.
Review and verify bills and invoices for proper coding and processing.
Assist in monthly, quarterly, and annual closings with detailed reconciliations.
Communicate with vendors and internal stakeholders to resolve payment issues.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Invoice processing time: <48 hours per invoice.
Accuracy of financial entries: 99% accuracy rate.
Timeliness of reconciliation: 100% completed by month-end.
Reduction in outstanding receivables: <5% outstanding balance monthly.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
A minimum of 2-3 years experience in bookkeeping or a similar role.
Proficient in accounting software such as QuickBooks, Sage, or similar.
Strong attention to detail and excellent organizational skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the home services or electrical industry with a focus on financial transactions.
Prior exposure to job cost accounting and tracking project expenses.
Familiarity with electrical service operations financial processes.
Experience working within a small to medium-sized business environment.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to sit for extended periods while working at a computer.
Occasional lifting of documents or files up to 10 lbs.
Visual acuity to review detailed financial data and documents.
Capable of working in a standard office environment with minimal physical demands.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based position with a standard Monday through Friday schedule.
Typical work hours between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM.
Minimal travel required; occasional off-site meetings may be scheduled.
On-call duties generally not expected, with peak times around month-end and year-end closings.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate range: $20 - $30 per hour, dependent on experience.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
401(k) with company match and additional fringe benefits provided.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are dedicated to fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented work environment where your contributions are valued.
Our team operates with a spirit of innovation, mutual respect, and a commitment to excellence in customer service.
We encourage professional development and continuous learning to help you reach your full potential.
Join us to be part of an inspiring company that prioritizes trust, teamwork, and technical excellence.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What makes bookkeeping for an electrical contractor different
The core work is the same anywhere: enter bills, post payments, reconcile, close the month. An electrical contractor adds builder paperwork, state rules on how homeowners can be billed, and job costs that hinge on electricians' hours.
Sign the unconditional waiver after the money clears
Builders and their lenders often want a signed lien waiver before they release a payment. In California, a conditional waiver counts only once you are actually paid. The unconditional form warns that it can be enforced against you even if you haven't been paid. So the bookkeeper sends the conditional form with each bill and the unconditional one only after the check clears. Lien rules differ by state, so check yours with your attorney. Source: California Civil Code section 8134: Unconditional waiver and release on progress payment.
Homeowner jobs can limit what you bill up front
California caps the down payment on a home improvement contract. The contract must also state that it is against the law to collect for work not yet done or materials not yet delivered. On a panel upgrade for a homeowner, the bookkeeper bills the deposit and each progress payment only as the contract schedule and the finished work allow. Check what your own state requires. Source: California CSLB: Sample home improvement contract (2025).
Builder backcharges come off the check
Builders sometimes take money off a payment for a backcharge, such as cleanup, a damaged wall or an extra trip their own crew had to make. The check arrives short, with a note or without one. The bookkeeper matches each short payment to its backcharge, sends the doubtful ones to the project manager, and makes sure a disputed amount isn't quietly written off.
Electricians' hours decide which jobs make money
On wiring jobs, labor makes up much of what each job costs. The bookkeeper makes sure timesheet hours land on the right job and phase, such as rough-in or trim, and not on a general shop account. Then the owner can compare what each builder's houses, each panel upgrade and each generator install really cost against the price that was quoted.
Residential vs. commercial electrical bookkeeping
Commercial electrical work adds paperwork to invoices and payroll. Five things change between the two jobs.
Topic
Residential
Commercial
Who pays
Homeowners, often on the day of service, and home builders on account
General contractors and owners of offices, stores and apartments, under written contracts
How you bill
Service tickets, deposits, and an invoice at each stage of a new home
A pay app each month showing how far along each line of the contract is
Money held back
Uncommon on service and remodel work
Contracts may hold back retainage until closeout
Payroll extras
Regular payroll and overtime
On jobs with federal funding, prevailing wages and a certified payroll each week
Job costing
By type of work: service, remodel, new home, generator
By cost code, against each project's bid
How much electrical bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for electrical bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $27.13 an hour ($56,430 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $50,670 median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in all industries. About 14,200 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for electrical contractors.
The template quotes an hourly range, so plan on hourly pay with overtime, plus a performance bonus if you offer one. Putting the job on salary doesn't, on its own, make it exempt from overtime.
Electrical contractors
$56,430$56,430 median Middle half $45,760–$66,130 10th–90th $35,920–$77,420
All industries
$50,670$50,670 median Middle half $43,520–$61,470 10th–90th $36,000–$74,550
$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Electrical contractors
$35,920
$45,760
$56,430
$66,130
$77,420
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS reports residential and commercial electrical contractors together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Reconciles bank, card and supplier accounts every month without reminders
Job costing experience, ideally in construction
Payroll with overtime and more than one pay rate
Follows up on late builder payments politely and firmly
Guards payroll records and customers' card numbers
Teach these on the job
Lien waiver forms and your state's lien deadlines
Which jobs post from the field app and which are keyed in by hand
The phases of a new-home job, from temporary power to final
Each builder's backcharge and payment habits
What the wire, breaker and fitting codes on supply house bills mean
The books usually live in QuickBooks or Sage, the two the template names. Service work flows in from your field service app (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber and others), while builder jobs may sit in a separate job cost or project tool, and the bookkeeper has to make the two agree every month.
Electrical bookkeeper interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Use the template's targets as a first pass. After two or three months, swap in goals your CPA helps set from your real close dates and receivables.
Invoice processing time
Hours from a bill or customer invoice arriving to being entered, approved and posted, from the date stamps in your accounting software. Track supply house bills and builder invoices on separate lines.
Accuracy of financial entries
Once a month, pick a handful of posted entries at random and confirm the amount, account, job and phase on each. Treat the fixes your CPA makes at quarter-end as errors too.
Timeliness of reconciliation
Log the date each bank, card and supplier account is reconciled. Count how many are done by month-end, and note which account runs late most often.
Reduction in outstanding receivables
Run aged receivables each month, split between homeowners and builders. Follow every overdue builder balance with a call and a check of your lien deadlines, and chart the total past due over time.
Career path
Billing or payables clerkPosts payments, enters supplier bills and picks up the job numbering.
BookkeeperRuns the daily books, codes costs to jobs and reconciles at month-end.
Office managerSome bookkeepers move up to run billing and the front office staff.
ControllerRuns month-end, owns job cost reports and is the CPA's main contact.
Chief financial officerA later step for a controller with a strong record, often with an accounting degree.
They record every dollar in and out: supplier bills, permit fees, payroll inputs, customer payments and builder draws. They reconcile the accounts, close the month and keep job costs current. At many electrical shops they also handle lien waivers and collections on builder accounts, while an outside CPA prepares the tax returns.
How much does an electrical bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $27.13 an hour ($56,430 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $45,760 and $66,130 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Does an electrical bookkeeper need construction experience?
Construction books are a plus, because job costing and stage billing work differently from a store's books. A strong general bookkeeper can learn them. In the first month, teach your job phases, how each builder pays and your lien waiver routine. The template asks for two to three years of bookkeeping and an associate's or bachelor's degree.
Who should sign checks at an electrical company?
Not the person who prepares them. A common control is for the bookkeeper to set up payments and the owner or CFO to approve and sign them. Have someone other than the bookkeeper review the bank statements each month. The split protects the business, and it protects the bookkeeper if a question ever comes up.
How should a bookkeeper handle raises for apprentices?
If your apprentices get raises as they log hours, finish a school year or earn a license, write the steps down. HR or the operations manager confirms each one, and the bookkeeper changes the rate in payroll on the right date and keeps the approval on file. A raise that shows up late is an easy way to lose a good apprentice.
What should an electrical bookkeeper job posting include?
Name the person the bookkeeper answers to and say if an outside CPA is involved. List your accounting, payroll and field service software. Make clear whether the job covers payroll, builder billing, lien waivers and sales tax. Mention the close weeks and the January rush for tax forms, and describe any bonus.
