Electrician Invoicing Guide: Progress Claims, GST and Getting Paid on Time

Electrical work gets done same-day; electrical invoices go out eventually. Every day between fit-off and invoice is a day added to when you're paid — and for a trade carrying wholesaler accounts on 30-day terms, that gap is where cash flow dies. Here's how well-run electrical businesses invoice: fast, itemised, staged on the big jobs, and chased automatically.

An itemised invoice gets paid; a vague one gets queried

'Electrical work — $1,840' invites a phone call. Itemise it: labour hours at your rate, the switchboard and breakers as materials, the compliance certificate if you charge for it — with GST correct on every line. Include your licence number, ABN, payment terms and a due date. Five minutes of detail saves a fortnight of 'can you just explain what this covers?'

Progress claims: don't bankroll someone else's build

On anything beyond a service call — a rewire, a new-build fit-out, a big renovation — never invoice once at the end. Agree the stages in the quote: a deposit to book in and cover switchgear, a claim at rough-in, the balance at fit-off. You're buying materials weeks before completion; staged invoicing means the client funds the job, not your overdraft. Put the stages in writing up front so the mid-job invoice is expected, not a surprise.

Make paying the invoice a ten-second job

A bank-transfer-only invoice asks the client to leave the email, open their banking app, type your BSB, get the reference right and remember to actually do it. A pay-now card link removes every step: tap, pay, done — while the job is still fresh. If card fees bother you, pass the surcharge on and let the client choose; keep bank details on the invoice for the EFT diehards.

Chasing: cadence beats confrontation

The awkwardness of chasing money is why most tradies don't — and slow payers rely on it. Take yourself out of it: a polite reminder a day or two past due, a firmer one at a week, another at a fortnight, each carrying the pay link and stopping the moment payment lands. It isn't personal, it's a system — and clients pay systems faster than they pay people too polite to ring.

Where Taskr fits

Taskr turns the finished job into a GST-correct invoice on site — or drafts one from a sentence like 'invoice the Kellyville rough-in, stage two'. Every invoice carries a Stripe pay-now link (with the option to pass the card fee on), bank details for EFT, and partial-payment support for staged claims. Reminders go by email and SMS on the cadence you set, with delivery and open tracking so you know it landed — and everything syncs to Xero & MYOB. Start a 14-day free trial and invoice your next fit-off from the meter box.