ElectricalBossPro Blog — Running an Electrical Business

Choosing Electrical Business Software: What to Check Before You Switch

Choosing software for an electrical business is a bigger decision than it looks. Once your customers, your schedule and your billing are in a system, moving again is a project. It's worth spending a few hours up front checking whether a system fits the way an electrical shop actually works, not just whether it has a calendar and an invoice button.

Start With How You Work

The last article, Moving an Electrical Business Off Paper and Spreadsheets, covered the switch itself. This one comes first in practice: deciding what to switch to.

Before looking at any software, write down how your shop runs. How many vans? Service calls, installs, or both? Generator customers? Property managers? Who answers the phone? The best system for you is the one that fits that list, not the one with the longest feature page.

Does It Know What's in the House?

Generic field-service software usually gives a job an address and a notes box. Electrical work needs more. Check whether a system can:

• Save equipment on each property — main panel, subpanels, meter base, generator, transfer switch, EV charger, surge protector, solar inverter, battery storage — with brand, model, serial, year, rating and phase or fuel.
• Fill new jobs from that record, and update the record when the tech finds a change.
• Show it on the tech's phone in a way they can read at a glance.

In ElectricalBossPro, the “From House” picker fills jobs from the property, and changes on a job flow back to the house. Why that matters to the business side is covered in Equipment History on the House: Panels, Generators and EV Chargers in Your Electrical Company Records.

Can It Run Recurring Plans?

If yearly safety inspections, generator maintenance or commercial relamping matter to your business, check how recurring work is handled. Look for visits that come due on their own based on time between visits, and a clear view of what's due and overdue. ElectricalBossPro sets plans by minimum days between visits and shows due work on the Waiting List, a live map and list colored not due yet, due now or overdue past a seven-day grace.

Also check for an inspection checklist the tech can fill in on site, and a report you can print for the homeowner.

Does Dispatch Fit Your Vans?

Look at the schedule with your real setup in mind. Can you see jobs by day and filter by van? Can you route stops from the shop, change the order by hand and print a route sheet? Can you keep a service van and an install van on separate views? A dispatch board that fits a single truck may not fit three.

Will Your Techs Actually Use the App?

The best office software fails if techs won't use the phone side. Check:

• Does it run on the iPhones and Android phones your crew already has, without special devices?
• Does it need an app store download, or does it run in the browser?
• Is the day's list in route order with a navigation button?
• Can a tech Start, Skip with a reason and Complete in a few taps?
• Are photos, a time clock and invoicing at completion built in?

Have one of your techs try it for a day before you decide. Their opinion matters more than any sales page.

How Does It Talk to Customers?

Check for two-way texting from the office, automatic reminders, and on-the-way and arrived alerts that customers can choose. Look for a customer-facing app where people can request service, sign up for plans, pay invoices and rate the visit. Find out how many texts are included and whether replies count. ElectricalBossPro plans include 500, 1,000 or 2,000 segments a month sent and received on Start, Pro and Crew.

How Does It Handle Money?

• Invoices with line items and sales tax, built from your own service list.
• Card on file, auto-charge on completion or on a schedule.
• Online payment and past-due follow-up.
• Estimates customers approve online that turn into scheduled jobs.
• One monthly statement for multi-location accounts.

What Does It Cost, Really?

Look for simple, published pricing. Watch for setup fees, long contracts, per-user charges that add up as you hire, and features locked behind higher tiers. ElectricalBossPro is $59, $89 or $199 per month for Start, Pro and Crew, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. The big enterprise platforms are built for much larger companies, and spreadsheets and paper cost nothing until you count the hours.

Test It With Real Work

Click around the live demo first. Then, during a trial, import some real customers by CSV, set up your services, put a van on the dispatch board and run a few real jobs. A week of real use tells you more than any comparison chart.

For the full picture of how ElectricalBossPro handles the business side of an electrical shop, go back to the electrical business software page.