An electrical quote app is judged in the customer's kitchen: can the electrician count the devices, the circuits and the panel work, price them and hand over a number before leaving? An electrical bid calculator, an electrician estimate calculator and an electrical work estimate calculator are the same arithmetic on a laptop or a sheet: devices and fixtures by the piece, wire by the foot with waste, boxes, breakers and the panel, permit and inspection, hours per device and per run from the company's own labor units at a loaded rate, then the overhead and the markup. The estimate template on this site works the price from those quantities and prints the lines.
Count what the job installs, in the units you buy
Devices and fixtures by the piece with the box and the plate, wire by the foot per run with a waste allowance for the cuts, conduit and fittings where required, breakers by the type, the panel or the sub-panel as one item with its own hours, and the permit and inspection at cost. A quote app that prices from a list of assemblies is doing this count for you; the assemblies must carry your material prices and your hours or they are someone else's estimate.
Hours per device and per run, from your own labor units
Electrical estimating runs on labor units: the hours a device, a run or a panel takes the company's own electricians, in that kind of building, with that kind of access. Published unit books are a starting point; the company's record of hours worked against hours estimated is the number that matters. Price the hours at a loaded rate that carries taxes, insurance, the van and the apprentice, and the bid calculator's answer is one the company can defend.
Overhead and markup make it a quote, not a cost
The overhead percentage from the books and the markup on top turn the cost into the price; the template on this site prints material, labor, overhead, profit and total, and shows the margin alongside the markup so the quote is read the right way round. Pro keeps every estimate against the customer and the property, so a service upgrade quoted in spring can be found in autumn and the hours can be compared when the job closes.
Questions people ask about electrical quote app
Can an electrician quote from a phone app on site?
Yes, if the app carries the company's own material prices and labor units; an app with generic assemblies produces a number that is not the company's and cannot be defended when the job runs long.
What is a labor unit in electrical estimating?
The hours a device, a run or a panel takes the company's electricians; recorded when jobs close and applied to the next takeoff, it is the core of every electrical estimate.
Is an electrical bid calculator different from an estimate calculator?
No. A bid goes into a comparison and an estimate goes to a customer, and both are the same cost-plus-markup arithmetic on the same count.