Have you ever looked at your options with all of the apps for electricians on the market? Electricians have a particularly dangerous and often challenging job. Fixing electrical equipment, machinery, electrical wiring, and all the rest, means that if an electrician is not careful, they might be exposed to high voltage. In addition, it can be hard to diagnose and fix equipment and machinery that have suffered an electrical failure.Furthermore, many electricians are also working as independent contractors or operating small businesses. This can add a lot of business-side headaches, such as managing billing and contracts, marketing, human resource management, and more. It can be difficult for any electrician to juggle both the skilled trade and business-related aspects.
Must Have Apps for Electricians
Fortunately, there are now a variety of useful apps that electricians can use to make the work a bit easier. According to BIA’s Local Commerce Monitor, 45.1% of small businesses use mobile apps. Below are some of the best apps for electricians, both in terms of the trade and also managing a small businesses (including electrical estimating software):
- Ugly’s Electrical References
- Master Electrician Reference
- FieldPulse for Estimates and Invoices
- ElectroDroid
- eTools Lite
- ContractorCalculator
- Electrical Calculations LITE
- QuickBooks Accounting Software
Ugly’s Electrical References
Ugly’s Electrical References has been among the top electrical reference guides for ages. Now it comes in a handy app complete with calculators and quick reference tools that make it easy to search and save information you commonly require. And, best of all, the app updates with the latest reference book free so you only have to purchase it once and stay up to date for life.Features include:
- Dozens of calculators and NEC tables
- How-to videos that demonstrate proper technique
- The latest, full color edition of Ugly’s Electrical References ebook that you can search and bookmark
Ugly’s Electrical References is available on both Android and Apple iOS for $12.99.
Master Electrician Reference
The Master Electrician Reference (MER) is arguably the best reference resource that an electrician can have. Given that it’s an app, hunting down information is quick and easy. There’s no need to search through pages of irrelevant information to find what you’re looking for. Just search and go.The Master Electrician Reference contains a wealth of formulas, pictures, charts, and other information. The app can also perform a variety of calculations for you. There are also other apps on this list that feature-packed when it comes to calculations.The Master Electrician Reference is available on both Android and Apple iOS for $9.99.
FieldPulse for Estimates and Invoices
Electricians, and other contractors, often need to handle multiple invoices and generate a large number of estimates. This can turn into quite a hassle when you’re trying to bid on and manage a substantial number of projects at once.FieldPulse is designed as an all-in-one software platform for contractors, so it offers a lot more than just the financial side of the business. But FieldPulse offers top-notch electrician estimating software to make managing estimates and invoices a breeze. Some of the great features include:
- Customized estimates and invoicing
- Invoice and billing calculators
- Tax and markup calculators
- Quote management
- Customer management features
- Cost-basis tracking / profit analysis
- Electronic payments
You can use FieldPulse to quickly create and send estimates and invoices to all of your clients, in the office or in the field. This can help you get paid more quickly and reliably. With integrated digital payments, collect payment on the spot or when sending a digital invoice. When tax season rolls around, you’ll also have a clear and easy to manage paper trail.FieldPulse is available on both iOS and Android, with a web app for office users. FieldPulse is free to try and starts at only $39 per month. And the best part is that there are a lot of great features for managing customers, scheduling/dispatching, and team timesheets/location tracking as well.
ElectroDroid
Electricians often have to make a lot of calculations and use a variety of diagnostic tools on the fly. It can be difficult keeping everything straight. A decade ago, an electrician might have had to pull out a stack of reference books and manuals, hunting down reference codes and digging up formulas.These days, an electrician can simply rely on ElectroDroid. This powerful app features a variety of tools that electricians will find useful. While ElectroDroid was designed for electronics applications, electricians will still find it useful.Features include:
- Resistor ratios
- Voltage dividers
- Power calculators
- Decibel converter
- Frequency converter
- Voltage drop converter
- Ohm’s Law
This list is far from exclusive. ElectroDroid is one of the more feature-rich electrical apps out there. The app is available on both Android (free) and iOS ($2.99).
eTools Lite
eTools Lite offers many of the same features as ElectroDroid. The app is generally considered easy to use and offers a wide variety of reference materials and information. eTools Lite is packed with vital features such as a:
- Frequency converter
- Resistor color code
- Capacitor code
- Voltage divider
- Resistor for LED
- Power calculator
As of writing this article, it eTools Lite is only available only on Apple iOS products. Both paid and free versions are available.
ContractorCalculator
What’s better than an app that allows you to make quick in-the-field calculations? A free one!Designed for contractors of all types, ContractorCalculator is the easiest way to calculate and save important calculations while in the field. Handle on-the-go calculations like square footage, measurement conversions, and fraction math to trade specific calculations like amps to watts, drywall footage, roof footage, and wire size calculations.Once calculated, simply save them to projects to retrieve at anytime.Available for FREE on iOS and Android.
Electrical Calculations LITE
Any electrician looking for a simple, but feature-rich, electrical calculator would appreciate Electrical Calculations. This app keeps it simple, sticking primarily to electrical calculations – as the name implies.In the field, having such specific and user-friendly tools can go a long way. The slick interface is well-regarded by users. Moreover, the software is among the more reliable and dependable with these types of apps.Calculations available include:
- Voltage drop
- Voltage
- Current
- Active Power
- Reactive Power
- Apparent Power
- Calculation of resistance
- Max wire length
- Conduit fill
- Motor from three-phase to single-phase
- Capacitor start motor single-phase
- Calculation rpm motor
- Motor efficiency
- Maximum torque
- Diagram three-phase motor (6 leads)
- Diagram three-phase motor (9 leads)
Electrical Calculations is available on both Android and iOS. There are free and paid versions of the app.
QuickBooks Accounting Software
QuickBooks is a fantastic software application for any small business. The software is an easy-to-use accounting software program designed specifically for small businesses. Best of all, QuickBooks has assembled construction-industry specific software features, that make it especially useful for skilled trades and related fields.Accounting can be an especially major headache. Large companies often hire entire accounting departments. Yet, many electricians may not have the resources to hire, and staff, an in-house accounting department. Well, for small businesses, this isn’t always necessary.With QuickBooks, you can often manage your books quite conveniently. Features include:
- Project management cost tools
- Import your banking transactions easily
- Automated accounting features, such as invoicing
- Tax organizing features
- Ability to share your books with an accountant
- Reporting to keep track of your finances
QuickBooks is available on iOS, Android, and through the web. Some QuickBooks features are free while others are paid.
There are so many excellent apps for electricians
Being an electrician means working in skilled trades, so there’s a lot of knowledge that goes into the field. For many electricians, managing all that skill, and all the other business and technical aspects, can be challenging. Fortunately, the apps for electricians reviewed above can really help.
