Electricians Invoice - Charged for time off site

Please note this sub-forum does not provide professional finance advice. You should seek advice from a licensed financial advisor.

To post in this sub-forum you must have made 100 posts or have Trust status or have completed our ID Verification.

If investing please consider our affiliate link for new accounts: Sharesies.

Forums › Finance and wealth management › Electricians Invoice - Charged for time off site

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

11924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9675

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3405081 16-Aug-2025 19:01

larknz:

Handle9:

That’s a cost to the business. It’s the difference between having your own business and being an employee.

The customer is paying whether it is hidden or upfront.

Only in the sense that the customer pays for the contractors cell phone and to buy their vehicles.

It’s the difference between SG&A and COGS. COGS is directly recovered SG&A is generally an overhead built into the recovery rate if the contractor knows what they are doing.

larknz

1977 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 382

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3405082 16-Aug-2025 19:05

In my experience the cost of an initial site visit is often charged to the customer, although the cost may be disguised.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30012 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3405084 16-Aug-2025 19:24

I think they secretly charged for coming around to quote, but using their standard response. Some electricians explicitly state they will bill me for quoting.

It's always worth querying though so you did the right thing.

Once I queried a big corporation plumber and they immediately reinvoiced based on my watch instead of theirs.

Rust

110 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 105

ID Verified

#3405086 16-Aug-2025 19:46

I honestly can't believe we're even having this conversation. You were happy with the estimate, the bill came in less than, but because it wasn't itemized it to your satisfaction you give them grief.

No wonder tradies avoid smaller jobs.

Jase2985

13730 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6202

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3405172 17-Aug-2025 09:36

larknz:

In my experience the cost of an initial site visit is often charged to the customer, although the cost may be disguised.

as a tradie you would likely add $x per hour to all jobs to cover this, as it would also cover those quotes you created but the person never went through with the job. just like you add $x per hour to cover insurance, vehicle, tools etc etc. thats how you get to your total cost per hour.

tweake

2641 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1137

#3405198 17-Aug-2025 14:00

well let me put it another way.

sparky says labor cost is going to be $355, but discounts it to $310, but actual normal price is $221. some of you guys think thats fine.

supermarket says the price is $3.55, discounts it to $3.10 but normal price is $2.21. you guys and most of the country complain, comcom investigates and fines supermarket.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

tweake

2641 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1137

#3405199 17-Aug-2025 14:08

Rust:

I honestly can't believe we're even having this conversation. You were happy with the estimate, the bill came in less than, but because it wasn't itemized it to your satisfaction you give them grief.

No wonder tradies avoid smaller jobs.

the main reason for avoiding smaller jobs is they are less profitable. most of the money is made from the goods (300%+ markup is not uncommon) not the labor, and overheads for each job is similar regardless of size. we used to do free estimates back in the day, but we also ran a minimum job price to avoid tiny profitless jobs.

the biggest problem is people baulk at high labor costs, even if the overall job price is the same. especially on jobs that don't seam to be very technical or difficult.

Jase2985

13730 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6202

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3405205 17-Aug-2025 15:41

tweake:

most of the money is made from the goods (300%+ markup is not uncommon)

citation please

Handle9

11924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9675

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3405212 17-Aug-2025 17:17

tweake:

well let me put it another way.

sparky says labor cost is going to be $355, but discounts it to $310, but actual normal price is $221. some of you guys think thats fine.

supermarket says the price is $3.55, discounts it to $3.10 but normal price is $2.21. you guys and most of the country complain, comcom investigates and fines supermarket.

Woosh. You've missed the point again.

Handle9

11924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9675

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3405213 17-Aug-2025 17:21

Jase2985:

tweake:

most of the money is made from the goods (300%+ markup is not uncommon)

citation please

Good luck. There's never any evidence, just takes.

Handle9

11924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9675

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3405214 17-Aug-2025 17:29

Jase2985:

larknz:

In my experience the cost of an initial site visit is often charged to the customer, although the cost may be disguised.

as a tradie you would likely add $x per hour to all jobs to cover this, as it would also cover those quotes you created but the person never went through with the job. just like you add $x per hour to cover insurance, vehicle, tools etc etc. thats how you get to your total cost per hour.

Yup, that's why it's called Sales, General and Administration cost.

When you build an hourly rate you start with direct costs (wages, vehicle costs etc) and then add a percentage for SG&A. You then divide by the hours available to get your cost rate. Profit margin then goes on top.

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

jjnz1

1371 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

Lifetime subscriber

#3405270 18-Aug-2025 09:36

I think the only problem here is too much transparency.

A lot of sparkies and plumbers are now reverting to quote like the below, exactly because of this situation. I support this model, and it comes down to - were you happy with the price when you accepted? Sounds lik you were. Any sparkies and plumbers out there.. please consider this model.

Estimate $477.52+GST:

Install client supplied heater, allowing for the following:

15m cable

1 junction box

double gang light switch

labour and travel

COC

Then the invoice should have come in with the following:

Invoice $477.52+GST:

Install client supplied heater, allowing for the following:

15m cable

1 junction box

double gang light switch

labour and travel

COC

You are lucky - the sparky charged you less.. Bet he won't make that mistake again!

gzt

18679 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7811

Lifetime subscriber

#3405436 18-Aug-2025 20:46

The invoice says:

- Napier Mileage 1.00 $30.00 $30.00

Looks like the invoice accounts for miles traveled for the vehicle. I'd assume actual travel time for the tradesperson is included in the hours charged. Could be wrong. If the $30 represents x kms and you know the time of day you might be able to work backwards from there. The invoice doesn't really help you there on either case.

Handle9

11924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9675

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3405440 18-Aug-2025 21:14

jjnz1:

I think the only problem here is too much transparency.

A lot of sparkies and plumbers are now reverting to quote like the below, exactly because of this situation. I support this model, and it comes down to - were you happy with the price when you accepted? Sounds lik you were. Any sparkies and plumbers out there.. please consider this model.

Estimate $477.52+GST:

Install client supplied heater, allowing for the following:

15m cable

1 junction box

double gang light switch

labour and travel

COC

Then the invoice should have come in with the following:

Invoice $477.52+GST:

Install client supplied heater, allowing for the following:

15m cable

1 junction box

double gang light switch

labour and travel

COC

You are lucky - the sparky charged you less.. Bet he won't make that mistake again!

If it's an estimate then it really needs to be itemised otherwise there is no basis to invoice as it's time and materials.

If it's a quote then it doesn't, it's fixed lump sum and no need for a breakdown.

floydbloke

3646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4554

ID Verified

#3405454 19-Aug-2025 07:42

Had this pop up on Facebook the other day (group is called Nightmare Customers and Non Payers), I think it fits in here quite well.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4