12 Best Accounting Software for Electrical Contractors in 2026, Compared
Compare the 12 best accounting software for electrical contractors on price, job costing, free plans and QuickBooks sync, with prices checked November 7, 2026.
Shamim Mia, Founder, SerpAstraLast verified November 7, 202615 min readWe compare pricing pages, documentation and public reviews. We never accept payment for rankings.
Key takeaways
- QuickBooks Online is the best fit for most electrical contractors at $38/month, with job costing on Plus at $140/month; Xero follows at $27/month with unlimited users, and Wave is free for one-truck operations.
- Job costing is the feature that decides the real price: it costs $99/month on Knowify Core billed annually, $140/month on QuickBooks Online Plus, and $132.17/month on Sage 50 Pro.
- Field-service tools are not accounting software — Jobber, Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan handle dispatch and invoicing, but the books still live in QuickBooks Online or Xero.
- The single most important buying factor is your work mix: service-call shops need dispatch and invoicing, project shops need job costing, and the wrong camp costs far more than the subscription.
On this page
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online | Electrical contractors who want the accounting platform most US accountants already know, with job costing on Plus | $38/mo | Yes (Free plan) |
| Xero | Electrical shops with several office users who refuse per-seat pricing and want clean bank reconciliation | $27/mo | No (30-day trial) |
| FreshBooks | Solo electricians and small shops that bill by the hour and want invoicing to lead | $23/mo | No (30-day trial) |
| Zoho Books | Small electrical contractors who want a free ledger now and the cheapest paid upgrade as revenue grows | $15/mo (annual) | Yes (free plan) |
| Wave | One-truck electricians who want free invoicing and bookkeeping with no revenue cap | Free; Pro $19/mo | Yes (free) |
| Jobber | Residential electrical shops that need quoting, scheduling, dispatch and invoicing in one app | $49/mo | No (14-day trial) |
| Housecall Pro | Service-focused electrical businesses that want dispatch, on-my-way texts and automated review requests | $79/mo | No (14-day trial) |
| Knowify | Electrical contractors doing project work who need job costing, AIA billing and QuickBooks sync | $99/mo (annual) | No (14-day trial) |
| Sage 50 | Established electrical contractors who want desktop-grade job costing, inventory and multi-company books | $132.17/mo | No (trial on site) |
| Sage Intacct | Large electrical contractors with several entities or branches who need dimensional reporting and audit trails | Custom quote | No (demo) |
| Foundation Software | Commercial electrical contractors who need construction accounting with payroll, job costing and WIP reporting | Custom quote | No (demo) |
| ServiceTitan | Large electrical contractors with 15 or more techs who need dispatch, price book and marketing in one platform | Custom quote | No (demo) |
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Request a listingThe best accounting software for electrical contractors
QuickBooks Online
Best for: Electrical contractors who want the accounting platform most US accountants already know, with job costing on Plus
QuickBooks Online is the default answer in the trades for a practical reason: your accountant already knows it. Simple Start at $38 a month handles invoicing, expenses and bank feeds for a small shop, and the 800-plus integrations connect the field tools electricians actually use — Jobber, Housecall Pro, Knowify and ServiceTitan all sync to it.
The honest catch is the tier jump. Simple Start has no job costing at all, and the features electrical contractors actually need — project profitability, job costing and materials inventory — live on Plus at $140 a month with five users. Payroll costs extra on top. Buy QuickBooks Online when you want standard books your CPA can open and will use Plus for real job profitability; buy Xero or Zoho Books when per-seat pricing is the deal-breaker.
What we like
- The software most US accountants already use, so finding help and switching accountants is easy
- Project profitability, job costing and materials inventory on Plus at $140/month
- More than 800 integrations cover payroll, payments and field-service tools like Jobber and ServiceTitan
- Intuit Intelligence AI features are included on Simple Start, not held for the top tier
Watch out for
- Job costing and project profitability need Plus at $140/month, not the entry plan
- Price rises most years — Essentials, Plus and Advanced all went up again for renewals from August 1, 2026
- Payroll is a paid add-on, and a second user means Essentials at $85/month
Xero
Best for: Electrical shops with several office users who refuse per-seat pricing and want clean bank reconciliation
Xero's pitch to contractors is the unlimited-user model: the office manager, the bookkeeper and the owner all log in on the $27 Early plan without per-seat fees. Bank reconciliation is widely considered the best in the category, and invoicing with online payments is straightforward. The app marketplace connects scheduling, time tracking and job-management tools that fill the trade-specific gaps.
The honest catch is the ecosystem gap in the US. Fewer American accountants work in Xero, which creates friction at tax time, and payroll goes through partners like Gusto rather than natively. Job costing arrives on Established at $97 a month or through add-ons. Choose Xero when several people touch the books and you will pair it with a trade app for the field side.
What we like
- Unlimited users on every plan, including Early at $27/month — no per-seat fees at any tier
- Bank reconciliation and Hubdoc receipt capture included from the entry plan
- More than 1,000 app integrations, including field-service and job-management add-ons
- Single flat price per plan with no annual-billing maze — the monthly price is the price
Watch out for
- Early caps at 20 invoices and 5 bills a month — most active shops need Growing at $59/month
- Job costing needs Established at $97/month or a third-party add-on
- No native US payroll; payroll comes through Gusto at $36/month plus $6 per person paid
FreshBooks
Best for: Solo electricians and small shops that bill by the hour and want invoicing to lead
FreshBooks is built for service businesses that live on invoices. Time tracked in the field flows straight onto the client invoice, estimates convert to invoices in a couple of clicks, and the interface is simple enough that the owner does the books without a bookkeeper. Lite at $23 a month suits a solo electrician, and Plus at $43 adds real accounting reports and 50 billable clients.
The ceiling is the thing to watch. There is no meaningful job costing, no materials inventory, and the 5-client cap on Lite forces an upgrade fast. A two-person shop on Plus pays $43 plus $11 per extra team member. Pick FreshBooks when invoicing and time billing are the job; pick QuickBooks Online or Xero when you sell materials or need deeper project accounting.
What we like
- The easiest invoicing in this list: clean invoices, estimates, recurring billing and payment reminders
- Time tracked in the field flows straight onto the client invoice
- Estimates convert to invoices in a couple of clicks, with a client portal included
- Plus adds double-entry reports, bank reconciliation and free accountant access for $43/month
Watch out for
- Lite covers only 5 billable clients — a sixth client forces Plus at $43/month
- Every extra team member costs $11/month on top of the plan price
- No job costing or materials inventory, and bank reconciliation starts on Plus, not Lite
Zoho Books
Best for: Small electrical contractors who want a free ledger now and the cheapest paid upgrade as revenue grows
Zoho Books is the value alternative to QuickBooks for contractors watching every dollar. The free plan covers a micro business, and Standard at $20 a month adds bank feeds, recurring invoices and three users. Because pricing is per organization rather than per seat, a small office team costs far less than on QuickBooks. Projects and timesheets arrive on Professional at $50 a month.
The honest catch is the American trade ecosystem. Your CPA probably does not work in Zoho Books, integrations with US field-service tools are thinner, and US payroll needs a separate Zoho product. The free plan also stops at 1,000 invoices a year. Choose Zoho Books when the budget matters most and you are comfortable running your own books.
What we like
- A real free plan: full double-entry accounting, invoicing and bank reconciliation at $0 while revenue stays under $50,000 a year
- Cheapest paid step up here — Standard is $20/month for 3 users and 5,000 invoices a year
- Projects and timesheets arrive on Professional at $50/month, useful for tracking job time
- Client portal and payment reminders included, so clients can pay from the invoice itself
Watch out for
- Free plan stops at 1,000 invoices a year and only while annual revenue stays under $50,000
- Multi-currency and inventory wait for Professional at $50/month, and there is no payroll module on any plan
- Accountants recommend it less often than QuickBooks Online or Xero, so finding outside help takes more effort
Wave
Best for: One-truck electricians who want free invoicing and bookkeeping with no revenue cap
Wave is the only genuinely free accounting tool worth recommending to a solo electrician. The $0 Starter plan includes unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and double-entry books, which covers a one-person shop's tax needs. Pro at $19 a month adds automatic bank transaction imports, receipt scanning and multi-user access for a bookkeeper.
The honest catch is what free leaves out: no job costing, no time tracking, no inventory, and manual transaction entry on the free tier gets old fast past 50 transactions a month. Wave fits brand-new or part-time electrical businesses that need clean invoices and basic books at zero cost, with a plan to graduate to QuickBooks or Xero as the business grows.
What we like
- The only genuinely free full ledger here: unlimited invoices, bills and bookkeeping records at $0 with no revenue cap
- Pro is a single $19/month upgrade that adds automatic bank imports, receipt scanning and unlimited users
- Payments and payroll are pay-as-you-go add-ons, so a business that only invoices pays nothing at all
- Simple enough for an owner with no accounting background to run the books alone
Watch out for
- Automatic bank imports, receipt scanning and extra users all need Pro at $19/month — Starter means manual entry
- No job costing, no time tracking and no inventory at any price
- US and Canada only, and support on the free plan is limited to help articles and community answers
Jobber
Best for: Residential electrical shops that need quoting, scheduling, dispatch and invoicing in one app
Jobber is the field-service platform most small electrical shops actually buy. Core at $49 a month billed monthly, or $29 billed annually, covers quoting, scheduling, invoicing, online payments and a client hub for one user. Connect adds QuickBooks sync and automated reminders, and Grow adds job costing and two-way texting. The mobile app is strong, which matters for techs in the field.
The honest catch is that Jobber is not accounting software: it handles the money in and out, but the real books still live in QuickBooks or Xero. Job costing waits until Grow at $199 a month billed monthly. Jobber fits residential electrical contractors who need dispatch, quoting and invoicing handled well and will pair it with QuickBooks for the ledger.
What we like
- Quoting, scheduling, dispatch, invoicing and payments built for home-service trades
- Two-way QuickBooks Online sync, so field invoices land in the books without re-entry
- Transparent published pricing with a cheap solo tier and a 14-day trial
- Strong mobile app for techs in the field, with online booking and a client hub
Watch out for
- Job costing waits for Grow at $199/month billed monthly ($149 billed annually)
- Jobber is not accounting software — the real books still live in QuickBooks Online or Xero
- Core covers one user, so a crew needs a team plan and extra users at $29/month each
Housecall Pro
Best for: Service-focused electrical businesses that want dispatch, on-my-way texts and automated review requests
Housecall Pro targets the service side of electrical work: dispatching techs, sending on-my-way texts, collecting payment on site and automatically requesting reviews after the job. The price book feature fits flat-rate electrical service pricing, and the mobile app is well rated. Basic starts at $79 a month billed monthly, or $59 billed annually, for one user, with Essentials at $189 and MAX at $329.
The honest catch is the per-user climb. A five-person team lands on Essentials at $189 a month billed monthly, and reporting depth disappoints owners who want real job profitability. QuickBooks sync also waits for Essentials. Housecall Pro fits electrical service businesses that live on service calls and want the customer communication automated.
What we like
- Strong dispatch board, on-my-way texts and automated review requests after every job
- Price book features suit flat-rate electrical service pricing
- In-app payments and QuickBooks sync, with a well-rated mobile app for techs
- Month-to-month billing with no long-term contract required
Watch out for
- Basic covers one user — a team needs Essentials at $189/month for 5 users
- QuickBooks Online sync sits on Essentials and above, not on Basic
- Job costing and reporting are lighter than Knowify or ServiceTitan
Knowify
Best for: Electrical contractors doing project work who need job costing, AIA billing and QuickBooks sync
Knowify is the contractor's job-costing platform that happens to keep books. It handles the full project arc: bids, contracts, change orders, progress billing, purchase orders and real-time job costing, all syncing to QuickBooks Online or Desktop. The Service Pro add-on at $99 a month covers dispatch and equipment history for the service side. Pricing is published: Core $99 a month billed annually, Advanced $329 with ten users.
The honest catch is the jump between tiers. Core handles fixed-price contracts and AIA billing, but job costing, budgets and WIP reporting need Advanced at $329 a month, which is serious money for a small shop. Knowify fits electrical contractors doing commercial or large residential project work who need to know each job's margin in real time.
What we like
- Built for trade contractors: bidding, contracts, change orders, AIA billing and job costing
- The deepest QuickBooks integration in construction software, as the official QuickBooks Online construction partner
- Service dispatch available as a $99/month Service Pro add-on
- Published pricing with no contract and no implementation fee
Watch out for
- Core covers one user, with extra users at $29/month each
- Real job costing, budgets and WIP reporting need Advanced at $329/month billed annually
- Overkill for pure service-call shops with no project work
Sage 50
Best for: Established electrical contractors who want desktop-grade job costing, inventory and multi-company books
Sage 50, formerly Peachtree, is the old hand of contractor accounting. It does real job costing, tracks materials inventory, handles change orders on Premium and Quantum, and scales to 40 users, which covers most electrical contractors' entire growth arc. Sage's own pricing page lists Pro Accounting from $132.17 a month on an annual subscription.
The honest catch is the era it comes from. The desktop heritage means a dated interface, and true anywhere-access needs the cloud tier or hosting. At $132.17 and up it costs more than QuickBooks Plus while offering a smaller integration ecosystem. Sage 50 fits established electrical contractors with an office bookkeeper who want deep job costing in one desktop-grade product and do not mind the learning curve.
What we like
- True job costing, materials inventory and multi-company accounting in a mature product
- Premium and Quantum tiers scale to 40 users, covering most contractors' whole growth arc
- Change-order tracking on Premium and Quantum, built for construction work
- Bank feeds and cloud access on the Sage 50cloud plans
Watch out for
- The most expensive pure-accounting pick here, and plans need a minimum one-year commitment
- Desktop roots show: the interface feels dated and remote access needs the cloud tier or hosting
- Payroll is a separate paid module, and extra users push the price up fast
Sage Intacct
Best for: Large electrical contractors with several entities or branches who need dimensional reporting and audit trails
Sage Intacct is the step up for electrical contractors who have outgrown a single-company ledger. It handles multiple entities and branches in one system, with dimensional reporting that slices profit by branch, job type or crew, plus automated bank reconciliation and full audit trails. That matters once the business runs several crews or locations and the owner needs real numbers, not a single profit-and-loss printout.
The honest catch is everything commercial. Pricing is quote-only, implementation usually runs through a partner and takes months, and there are no field-service features at all — dispatch still needs Jobber or ServiceTitan alongside it. Sage Intacct fits large electrical contractors with a finance team who need multi-entity books and can pay for the rollout.
What we like
- Multi-entity consolidation and dimensional reporting that generic ledgers cannot match
- Automated bank reconciliation and real-time reporting across branches and entities
- Full audit trails and role-based controls, built for finance teams
- The largest review base in this list, at 4.3 out of 5 from more than 4,500 reviewers
Watch out for
- No published pricing — every quote is custom and implementation usually needs a partner
- Setup typically takes months, and the learning curve is real for small office teams
- No field-service features, so dispatch still needs a separate tool
Foundation Software
Best for: Commercial electrical contractors who need construction accounting with payroll, job costing and WIP reporting
FOUNDATION is construction accounting built for contractors from the ground up, not adapted from generic books. It covers the general ledger, job costing, WIP reporting, payroll, equipment tracking and accounts payable and receivable in one system, with concurrent-user licensing that prices on simultaneous logins rather than headcount. Reporting is the feature reviewers praise most.
The honest catch is the sales process. There is no published price — the number comes from a conversation with sales, and modules add to the cost. Reviewers also rate setup as the weak spot, so budget training time. FOUNDATION fits commercial electrical contractors who need construction accounting with payroll built in and are ready for an on-premise-style rollout.
What we like
- Construction accounting built for contractors, not adapted from generic books
- Job costing, WIP reporting, payroll and equipment tracking in one system
- Concurrent-user licensing, so the price follows simultaneous logins rather than headcount
- Strong reporting, the feature reviewers praise most
Watch out for
- No published pricing — the price comes from a sales conversation, and modules add to the cost
- Reviewers rate setup as the weak spot, so budget time and training for rollout
- Desktop-first heritage means dispatch and field work still need another tool
ServiceTitan
Best for: Large electrical contractors with 15 or more techs who need dispatch, price book and marketing in one platform
ServiceTitan is the enterprise platform of the trades. Dispatch, CRM, call booking, price book management, marketing automation, payroll-adjacent HR and accounting integrations run in one system built for companies with many techs and office staff. For a large electrical contractor, it replaces half a dozen tools and gives ownership real reporting across crews and branches.
The honest catch is everything commercial. Pricing is quote-only, third-party estimates run about $245 to $500 per technician a month, implementation fees run into the thousands, and contracts run a year or more. It fits established electrical contractors with 15 or more techs and the revenue to justify enterprise software.
What we like
- Deep dispatch, call booking, price book management and marketing automation in one platform
- Built for multi-crew operations with real reporting across crews and branches
- Integrates with QuickBooks Online and Desktop, plus Sage and Viewpoint
- Extensive features including payroll-adjacent HR and technician mobile tools
Watch out for
- No published pricing and a mandatory sales process — third-party estimates run about $245–$500 per technician a month
- Long contracts and heavy onboarding, with implementation fees in the thousands
- Overkill for shops under 15 techs, where Jobber or Housecall Pro cover the same field work
Electrical work bills by the job, not by the hour on a timesheet. Materials, labor, permits, change orders and service calls have to land on the right job, or you never learn which work actually makes money. That is why the best accounting software for electrical contractors splits into two camps: accounting platforms with job-costing features, and trade platforms that handle dispatch, billing and books together. We ranked the 12 tools below by fit for the most common buyer — a US electrical contractor doing their own books — and every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on November 7, 2026.
How to choose the best accounting software for electrical contractors
- Start with your work mix. If most revenue comes from service calls, a field-service tool like Jobber or Housecall Pro plus QuickBooks Online for the books covers you. If most revenue comes from projects, Knowify or Sage 50 give you the job costing that decides whether a bid was smart.
- Check the QuickBooks question. Most trade accountants work in QuickBooks, and most field-service tools sync to it. If your CPA insists on QuickBooks, that settles the ledger side and you only choose the field tool.
- Count the real users. Per-seat pricing punishes growing crews: five office users on QuickBooks Online Plus cost far more than on Xero's unlimited-user plans. Field tools charge per tech or per tier, so model the crew size you expect in a year, not today.
- Check where job costing lives. Only Knowify, Sage 50, Sage Intacct and Foundation Software do it deeply out of the box; QuickBooks Online needs Plus at $140/month and Jobber needs Grow at $199/month billed monthly.
- Check payroll. None of these tools includes it at the base price, so budget the payroll add-on separately wherever your techs get paid.
Accounting is one system in your stack, not the whole stack. If the business also needs to be found online, our local SEO service covers the visibility side. And before you publish new pages for the services you sell, the free local business schema generator builds the structured data Google uses for your map listing.
Whatever you shortlist, try it with real data before you pay. The free plans and trials in this list are long enough to run one genuine month — your invoices, your bank feed, your jobs — and that month tells you more than any review can. Check two things in the trial: that the bank feed reconciles without daily fixing, and that your accountant can get in for free. Every accounting tool here gives your accountant access at no extra charge, so there is no reason to buy before they have looked at it.
Accounting software for electrical contractors pricing: what you will actually pay
Take a five-person electrical business — an owner, an office manager and three field techs — sending about 60 invoices a month. On list prices, the subscription costs $19 a month on Wave Pro, $26 on Zoho Books Standard with two extra users at $3 each, $59 on Xero Growing, $87 on FreshBooks Plus with four extra team members at $11 each, $140 on QuickBooks Online Plus for five users, and $132.17 on Sage 50 Pro for one user.
Over a year, that is $190 on Wave Pro billed annually, $312 on Zoho Books Standard with the extra users, $708 on Xero Growing, $1,044 on FreshBooks Plus with four extra seats, $1,586.04 on Sage 50 Pro, and $1,680 on QuickBooks Online Plus. The same five people and the same 60 invoices cost $190 a year at the cheap end and $1,680 at the dear end — a $1,490 gap that comes entirely from user caps and billing choices, not from features.
The field tools stack on top of the ledger. Jobber Core at $49 a month plus QuickBooks Online Essentials at $85 comes to $134 a month, or $1,608 a year, for dispatch plus books. Knowify Core at $99 a month billed annually plus QuickBooks Online Plus at $140 comes to $239 a month, or $2,868 a year, for real job costing. ServiceTitan is the outlier: it publishes no price, and third-party estimates put it at about $245 to $500 per technician a month, so three techs run $735 to $1,500 a month before implementation fees.
Three costs sit outside every number above. First, the introductory discounts — 50% off for three months on QuickBooks Online, 80% off for three months on Xero, 80% off for four months on FreshBooks — end, so budget on the list price. Second, payroll: roughly $17–$50 a month plus $4–$7 per person paid, depending on the provider. Third, card processing on the invoices you send, which is charged per transaction rather than per month. If you run a contracting business rather than a general small business, the visibility tools differ too — see our guide to the best marketing software for contractors.
Annual billing cuts the bill on most tools here: Zoho Books Standard drops from $240 to $180 a year for the base plan, Wave Pro from $228 to $190, Jobber Core from $588 to $348, and FreshBooks takes 10% off. Xero publishes no annual price, so the monthly figure is the whole story. One more cost to check before you commit: a second business is a second subscription on every tool in this list. Wave Pro is priced per business, and Sage 50 charges per company — so an owner with two businesses pays double whatever the chart shows.
Know the difference: accounting software vs field-service software
The confusion in this category is between a ledger and a field tool. Accounting software keeps a double-entry ledger, reconciles the bank and produces tax-ready reports; field-service software quotes jobs, dispatches techs, sends on-my-way texts and collects payment on site. Jobber, Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan are field-service tools: they handle the money in and out, but the official books still live in QuickBooks Online or Xero, and the sync between the two is what makes the pair work.
There is a second, quieter confusion: job costing is not bookkeeping. Bookkeeping tracks the business; job costing tracks each job inside the business — labor hours, materials, permits, subcontractors and overhead assigned to one job, then compared with the bid. For electrical contractors, that difference is the whole game: without it, you repeat losing bids because you never measured the last one. On this list, Knowify and Sage 50 do job costing natively and deeply. QuickBooks Online does it on Plus at $140 a month through project profitability. Jobber adds it on Grow at $199 a month billed monthly. Xero needs Established at $97 a month or add-ons. FreshBooks, Wave and Zoho Books on lower tiers do not do it at all, which is fine for service-call shops and fatal for project bidders.
A third distinction worth knowing is accountant access versus accountant advice. The software does not file your taxes, and none of these tools replaces an accountant at year-end. What they do is give your accountant a free seat — QuickBooks Online includes two accountant seats, FreshBooks Plus allows up to ten, and Xero, Zoho Books and Wave Pro all let your accountant in at no extra charge — so the software and the accountant work on the same books instead of two copies of them.
Quick comparison: tool type by need
| Buyer | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo electrician on a budget | Wave | Free Starter plan, unlimited invoices, Pro is $19/month when you want bank feeds |
| Most electrical contractors | QuickBooks Online | The standard choice accountants know, from $38/month; job costing on Plus at $140/month |
| Shop that hates per-seat pricing | Xero | Unlimited users on every plan, Growing is $59/month |
| Service business that lives on calls | Jobber | Quoting, dispatch and invoicing in one app, Core is $49/month |
| Project work with real job costing | Knowify | Bids, change orders and AIA billing from $99/month billed annually |
| Large shop that wants it all | ServiceTitan | Dispatch, price book and marketing in one platform, custom quote |
Mistakes to avoid
- Budgeting on the promo price. The 50% and 80% introductory discounts in this list last three to four months. The list price is what you pay in month five, so compare tools on that number.
- Buying the cheapest ledger, then finding job costing costs extra. A tool can be cheap and still be the wrong buy: QuickBooks Online Simple Start at $38 is no bargain once you need job costing at $140, and Knowify Core at $99 is no bargain once you need Advanced at $329.
- Treating a field-service tool as the books. Jobber and Housecall Pro invoice beautifully, but they are not double-entry ledgers. If you buy one without QuickBooks Online or Xero beside it, tax season still needs a second system.
- Ignoring the per-tech climb. Field tools charge by user or by technician, so price the crew you will have in a year, not the crew you have today. ServiceTitan's per-technician quote is the extreme version of the same trap.
- Paying for payroll before you have employees. Payroll is a separate subscription on every tool here. Buy the accounting first, and add payroll the month you hire — not before.
How we chose
We checked each vendor's own pricing page on November 7, 2026 and recorded the starting price exactly as shown, including the annual-billing figure where the page lists one, and we ranked the tools by fit for the most common buyer — a US electrical contractor doing their own books — not by brand size. Ratings come from fresh copies of the G2 review pages for each tool, checked the same day. Sage Intacct, Foundation Software and ServiceTitan publish no starting price, so we list them as custom quote rather than guessing. The $245–$500 per technician a month figure for ServiceTitan is a third-party estimate, not a vendor-published price, and we say so wherever it appears. No vendor paid for a place in this list, and none of the links here are affiliate links.
What to do next
Start with the free plan or trial of your top pick and run one real month of jobs through it. Check that the bank feed reconciles, the job costs land on the right job, and the reports match what your accountant expects before you commit to a year. If the books are sorted but new customers are not finding you, our local SEO service handles the visibility side — or compare providers in our guide to the best marketing software for contractors. Once your tools are in place, find out what's holding your rankings back.
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Get a free audit→Sources we checked (24)
- QuickBooks Online pricing — quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Xero pricing — xero.com/us/pricing-plans (checked November 7, 2026)
- FreshBooks pricing — freshbooks.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Zoho Books pricing — zoho.com/us/books/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Wave pricing — waveapps.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Jobber pricing — getjobber.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Housecall Pro pricing — housecallpro.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Knowify pricing — knowify.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Sage 50 pricing — sage.com/en-us/products/sage-50/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Sage Intacct pricing — sageintacct.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Foundation Software construction accounting costs — foundationsoft.com (checked November 7, 2026)
- ServiceTitan pricing — servicetitan.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- QuickBooks Online reviews — g2.com/products/quickbooks-online/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Xero reviews — g2.com/products/xero/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- FreshBooks reviews — g2.com/products/freshbooks/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Zoho Books reviews — g2.com/products/zoho-books/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Wave reviews — g2.com/products/wave/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Jobber reviews — g2.com/products/jobber/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Housecall Pro reviews — g2.com/products/housecall-pro/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Knowify reviews — g2.com/products/knowify/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Sage 50cloud Accounting reviews — g2.com/products/sage-50cloud-accounting/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- Sage Intacct reviews — g2.com/products/sage-intacct/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- FOUNDATION reviews — g2.com/products/foundation/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
- ServiceTitan reviews — g2.com/products/servicetitan/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
Shamim
Founder of SerpAstra
A full-stack SEO and digital marketer who spends most days on Local SEO for dental practices, AI search visibility and lead generation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best accounting software for electrical contractors?
QuickBooks Online is the best fit for most electrical contractors: the widest accountant support, full double-entry accounting and job costing on Plus at $140/month. Xero is the better pick when several people touch the books, since every plan includes unlimited users. Wave is the best free option for solo electricians.
Do electricians need job costing software?
If you bid fixed-price project work, yes. Job costing tracks labor, materials and overhead per job against the bid, which is how you learn which work is profitable. Knowify, Sage 50 and QuickBooks Online Plus do it well. Pure service-call shops can manage without it, since dispatch and invoicing matter more there.
How much does accounting software cost for electrical contractors?
Pure accounting runs $0 to $38 a month at entry: Wave is free, Zoho Books Standard is $20, FreshBooks Lite is $23, Xero Early is $27 and QuickBooks Online Simple Start is $38. Trade platforms cost more: Jobber from $49, Housecall Pro from $79, Knowify from $99 billed annually, and Sage 50 from $132.17. ServiceTitan is quote-only.
Should I use Jobber or QuickBooks for my electrical business?
They do different jobs. Jobber handles quoting, dispatch and invoicing in the field; QuickBooks keeps the official books your accountant files from. Most residential electrical shops run both, with Jobber syncing to QuickBooks. Jobber alone is not a complete accounting system, and QuickBooks alone does not dispatch techs.
Is QuickBooks good for electrical contractors?
Yes, with the right tier. Simple Start at $38/month handles basic books, but job costing and project profitability need Plus at $140/month. Pair it with a field-service tool for dispatch, and it remains the most accountant-friendly choice in the trades, since nearly every trade accountant already works in it.
What is the cheapest accounting software for electricians?
Wave at $0 and Zoho Books with its free plan are the cheapest legitimate options. FreshBooks Lite at $23 and Xero Early at $27 are the cheapest paid entries with real support. Free tiers work for invoicing and basic books but lack job costing, so budget for an upgrade once you start bidding fixed-price project work.
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