What is my electrical business worth

Electrical contractors are valued on their backlog and on how much of the work is service rather than bid. Steady service revenue with a licensed crew is the version buyers compete for.

2.4x–3.8x
Multiple we apply: 6
Questions: $0
Cost to you

Applied to profit before your own pay, then moved inside that range for the size of the earnings and the years you have traded. It is a range, not an appraisal.

Your range, in six questions

What moves the number in electrical

Service against bid work

Service and small commercial repeat. Bid-and-spec work has to be won again every quarter, and buyers price that risk in.

Signed backlog

Work already contracted, with dates and prices, is the closest thing to certainty a buyer gets. Show it and it supports the number.

Licensed journeymen and apprentices

The bench is the asset. Buyers pay for a crew that can staff the work without hiring in a tight market.

Concentration

If one general contractor or one property manager is a third of your revenue, expect a discount or an earn-out. Spread is worth money.

Questions owners ask us first

How much is an electrical contracting business worth: We use 2.4x to 3.8x profit before the owner's pay for electrical, adjusted for the size of those earnings and how long you have traded. A range on the numbers you enter takes about two minutes.
Will a buyer care about my backlog: It is one of the first two things they ask for, with the tax returns. Signed work with dates on it is what turns a range into an offer.

Before you trust the number

We publish the arithmetic in full: the earnings a buyer prices, the multiple for each trade, the two adjustments, and the things we deliberately leave out. How buyers value a trades business.

Other trades