What a solo electrician actually needs
Electrical work is heavy on materials and heavy on quotes. Every job is a different mix of cable, points, fittings and labour, and the customer wants a price on the spot — not at 9pm after a full day on the tools.
- Fast on-site quotes — line items for points, lights, the switchboard, plus labour, totalled with GST while you're still looking at the job.
- Your licence number on every document — add your electrical licence and ABN once and they sit on every quote and invoice.
- A spot for the compliance paperwork — keep a note and photos against each job for the certificate of compliance / safety certificate the work needs.
- Deposits on big jobs — ask for a deposit on a board upgrade or rewire so you're not funding the materials yourself.
- Callout and emergency rates — set your standard rate and an after-hours rate so emergency jobs are priced right, not guessed.
Typical line items it handles
Switchboard upgrades, extra power points and USB outlets, downlights and lighting, safety switches/RCDs, ceiling fans, EV charger installs, fault-finding and callouts, smoke alarms, and the labour to go with them. Save the ones you quote all the time and they drop straight into the next quote.
Get paid without the chase
Big electrical jobs and slow-paying builders are a cash-flow killer. Yamate invoices the second the job's done, drops your PayID or bank details on the invoice so they can pay on the spot, and then chases overdue invoices automatically by text — so you're not the one sending awkward reminders.
Try Yamate free — built for solo sparkies →FAQ
What's the best invoicing app for electricians in Australia?
The best one is whatever lets you quote on site and get paid fast without a setup weekend. Yamate is built specifically for solo electricians — quote at the board, invoice with GST, auto-chase late payers — from $19/mo (founder price, until 30 Sept), on iPhone and Android.
Can I put my electrical licence number on my invoices?
Yes — add your licence number and ABN once and they appear on every quote and invoice automatically.
Can I charge a deposit for a switchboard upgrade or rewire?
Yes. Set a deposit on the quote and request it before you start so you're not out of pocket on materials. Check your state's rules on deposit limits for the work involved.
Is this electrician software or electrical job management software?
The same thing, called two ways. Search either and you get products aimed at contractors with a dispatcher and an office. This one runs the loop a solo sparky or a 2 van outfit actually repeats, quote at the board, book it, do it, invoice from the ute, chase the money and keep your licence dates where you'll see them.
What does electrician management software need to do that a generic app doesn't?
3 things, and they're the ones generic invoicing apps miss, your licence number on every document without you retyping it, a Certificate of Compliance to hand over at the end and a callout rate that's different after hours. All three are in here rather than bolted on.
What “job management” means when you are the whole business
Search electrician job management software and most of what comes back is built for a contractor with a dispatcher, a stores man and a dozen vans. On your own, or with an apprentice, it means something much simpler, nothing falls through and you can see the money.
- Every job in one list — quoted, booked, in progress, done, invoiced, paid. The screen works out the next step so you are not the one holding it all.
- Schedule around the switchboard job that ran long — move a booking without re-typing it, and the customer gets told.
- Your licence and insurance dates watched — yours and your apprentice’s, with a nudge before they lapse rather than the week after.
- Materials on the job — put the switchboard, the cable and the fittings against the job so the profit is the real number, not the invoice total.
- Photos and notes against the job — the board before you touched it, the cable route, the meter number.
- It works with no signal — in a roof space or a basement plant room, the job still saves and syncs when you surface.
Certificates are yours to issue, and they differ by state — a CCEW in New South Wales, a Certificate of Electrical Safety in Victoria, with their own lodgement rules. Yamate keeps notes and photos against the job so the detail is there when you fill one in; it does not lodge anything with a regulator or a network operator.
Tickets, safety and a crew
Yamate keeps your electrical licence and insurance on file and tells you before they lapse — yours and your crew's. It'll draft a Safe Work Method Statement for a job from what the job actually is; you read it and sign it, and Yamate doesn't issue certificates or lodge anything with a regulator.
Got an apprentice or a couple of hands? You are not too big for it — pay runs, payslips, super and licence dates are in here too, on the same flat price.
Taken someone on? The Founder plan includes up to 3 people. For larger crews, the Company plan includes 10 people, then $15/month for each additional person, and gives everyone their own login so you choose what each of them sees. And if you get stuck anywhere, Ask ya mate — type a question and it walks you through the screens, suggesting the tap rather than doing it for you.
Is this electrician job management software?
Yes — for one van or a small crew. Search electrician job management software and the results are mostly built for contractors with an office team, estimating off plans and job costing across sites. That is a different business to most sparkies reading this.
What Yamate manages is the job: quote on site from saved prices, book the return visit, invoice from the van, and keep the paperwork straight. Licence and insurance expiry dates are tracked, and in NSW licence status and expiry can be checked against the NSW Trades Register. Yamate also drafts SWMS for you to review and sign.
To be exact: that licence check is NSW only, and Yamate does not issue or lodge certificates of compliance. It keeps the dates and drafts the document; you sign it, and you lodge whatever has to be lodged. There is no takeoff or estimating.
Free tools for sparkies
General information only. Licensing and electrical compliance requirements vary by state — check your local regulator.