Notes for owners · Industry-Specific Software Guides
How Do Electrical Quotations, Site Material Issue and Billing Connect?
They connect through the site job. An approved quotation becomes a job, material is issued to that job from the store, and measured work on the same job becomes a running bill. GullySystem’s Electrical Contractor Management Software holds all three on one record, so cost can be read against billing.
Ganesh HS, Strategy and Technology, GullySystem · · 3 min read
Why the three records drift apart
In many electrical firms the quotation sits in a spreadsheet. The store register is a book, and the bills are raised in accounts software. Each one holds a part of the same job. None of them knows what the others hold.
The site may be spelled three ways across them. Material issued is not tied to the quoted quantity, and bills are not tied to measured work. Site cost against billing then has to be rebuilt by hand, job by job, whenever the owner asks.
What a quotation carries forward
A quotation built from your rate list holds quantities by point, item or area. Each revision is kept, and the client’s approval is recorded. When it is approved, it becomes a site job. The estimator works from one set of rates.
Those approved quantities are the base for everything after. Material is read against them, and measured work is billed against them. Quote in the same units you will issue and measure in, or the comparison will not line up.
- Approved quantities by area
- Rates used, from the rate list
- Revision history and client approval
- Floors and work stages of the job
Issue material against a named site
The site supervisor requests cable, conduit, MCBs, panels or fittings for the site. The store keeper issues them against that site and records the quantity. Unused material returns to the store and is booked back.
The store keeper also sees what has fallen below reorder level. Because every issue names a site, the cost of material for each job is visible. Stock in the store and stock at the site are kept apart. The owner can see which sites drew the most material.
From measurement to running bill
Supervisors enter measured work by area, from a phone if needed. The office reads it against the approved quantities and raises a running account bill. Advances, deductions and retention are carried on the client’s account. The client’s balance updates as each bill is approved.
Invoices can cover wiring jobs, supply of material and service visits, with receipts and balances tracked for each client. Invoices, receipts and payments can be exported for your accountant. A Tally export is a quoted extra.
What to decide before you start
Decide the rate list and the units first. Then confirm the running bill and invoice formats your clients and builders accept. GST treatment is for your accountant to confirm. Agree which role enters measurements and which role approves bills.
A contractor who works alone on small repairs does not need any of this. The system pays off when several sites, a store and a billing office depend on the same records. GullySystem checks that fit in a technology audit it does not charge for. Start with one open site.
Site material issue register
Give every material issue a line of its own, with columns for date, site, item, unit, quantity issued, quantity returned and the supervisor who requested it. Add the quoted quantity beside each item to see, for one site, where issued material runs past what was approved.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can material be tracked site by site?
Yes. Cable, conduit, switchgear and fittings are issued against a named site. Returns go back to the store, so the material cost of each job is visible and can be read against what was billed.
Does it handle running account bills?
Yes. Measured work is entered by area and raised as a running bill. How advances, deductions and retention are applied is set with the client, and the formats follow what your clients and builders accept.