Electrical Cash Flow Template

Set up the Job Cash Flow sheet for every active and booked commercial or project job. Enter the contract value, mobilization deposit received, total material cost estimate, your expected labor hours and cost, and the draw schedule milestones. For commercial work on AIA billing cycles, enter each draw request amount and the typical net days to payment from your GC — usually net 30, sometimes net 45–60 on larger projects. The sheet shows you, job by job, how much cash each project requires before the next draw arrives, and the aggregate view across all active jobs tells you the total cash requirement at any point in the schedule.

The specific cash flow metrics that matter for electrical contractors are driven by job type mix. Revenue per man-hour is the core efficiency metric — residential service calls typically run $150–$250 per man-hour billed, while commercial work runs $80–$140 depending on the prevailing wage requirements and scope. Material markup percentage matters because materials are a large share of electrical revenue (often 30–45% of contract value) and the spread between your material cost and your billing rate is a direct contributor to gross margin. And days outstanding on commercial AR — the gap between when you submit a draw request and when the check arrives — is the single number most likely to create a cash crunch if it drifts from net 30 to net 60.