Why electrical contractors struggle with collections
Electrical work ranges from small repairs ($200-$500) to large rewires ($5,000-$20,000). The small jobs often get deprioritized by customers — not because they're unwilling to pay, but because the amount doesn't feel urgent. The large jobs face a different problem: customers sometimes develop 'sticker shock' after the work is done and look for reasons to delay.
Both dynamics lead to the same outcome: invoices that age past 60 days and eventually get written off. The cure is the same in both cases — fast, professional follow-up that makes it easy to pay and hard to forget.
The SMS + voice combination that works for electrical contractors
For electrical contractors, the most effective reminder sequence is: SMS immediately after invoice creation (while the job is fresh), SMS at +7 days if unpaid (with payment link), and an AI voice call at +21 days for still-unpaid invoices. The longer timeline before the voice call respects the fact that some customers have legitimate net-30 expectations for larger jobs.
Surety's reminder timing is fully configurable. You set the schedule that matches your typical customer payment behavior. Most electrical contractors set it to +3 days (SMS), +10 days (SMS), +21 days (voice call).
Handling commercial electricial accounts
Commercial electrical work (new construction, tenant improvement, commercial maintenance contracts) typically has formal payment terms — net-30, net-60, sometimes net-90. These accounts should never be in your automated reminder system unless they've actually exceeded terms.
The protected list in Surety is the right tool here. Your commercial GC relationships, property management accounts, and other formal-term clients go on the protected list. Residential customers, small commercial jobs with informal terms, and emergency service calls go through the standard reminder sequence.
Setting up in under 30 minutes
Connect your QuickBooks, add your protected commercial clients to the excluded list, and set your preferred reminder schedule. First reminders typically go out within 24 hours of setup for any invoices already overdue. Ongoing, it's fully automated — new overdue invoices from QB are picked up automatically and started on the reminder sequence without any manual work.