Interconnection takes weeks. Does the job stay open that long?

Yes. The job stays open until the final payment after permission to operate. Inspection visits and re-visits are logged as labor as they happen, so the wait shows up in the margin.

Does Obra do proposals, shading analysis or financing?

No. Keep your design and proposal tool. When the contract is signed, enter it as the job's budget. Obra takes over from there: invoices, change orders and the margin per system.

Can my crew send receipts by WhatsApp?

Yes. A photo from the electrical supply house or the hardware store, in English or Spanish, goes to the job. Your crew never sees the job's finances. You confirm it in seconds.

Obra for Solar installers

Solar job costing, from equipment order to permission to operate

Track each solar install as one job: panels, inverter, racking, electrical, permits and labor. Know the margin per system even when the equipment is paid months early.

Start free See the sample budget

A solar install is a big equipment order, one or two days on the roof, and then weeks of waiting for the inspector and the utility. The equipment is most of the cost and it's paid long before the install. The margin is decided by the surprises in between: the panel upgrade the utility wants, the roof that isn't ready, the extra site visits while interconnection drags.

Obra counts the equipment the day you buy it, keeps the job open through permission to operate, and turns the surprises into change orders, so you know what each system made you.

Equipment counts from the order

Enter the distributor's invoice the day you get it. It shows in the job's recorded cost right away. Then review what's still left to spend, and Obra keeps the expected final cost current as the receipts come in, even with the crew not on site yet. The committed costs guide explains why this matters more for solar than almost any other trade.

Install, then the waiting

Split labor into install and commissioning. Inspection visits, re-inspections and the day you spend flipping the switch after permission to operate all go on the job as they happen. After ten systems you'll know how much of your labor is on the roof and how much is waiting on other people. The cost code guide has a short list.

The panel, the roof, the trench

The three change orders below show up on most residential installs. Write each one as a change order the day you find it, with your markup, and get the signature before the electrician or the roofer is booked. The change order guide walks through the wording.

Getting paid after permission to operate

The final payment often waits for the utility. Obra shows what's been billed and what's still open on each job, so nothing is forgotten while you wait. The getting paid guide covers the milestones that keep the cash moving.

What Obra isn't for a solar installer

Not design software, not a proposal tool, not financing. Obra is the money on each system, in English and Spanish, from receipts your crew already sends, exported clean to the accountant.

Sample budget

8.4 kW rooftop system, 21 panels, battery-ready inverter, Maple Street

Line item	Budget
Panels	$7,100
Inverter and optimizers	$3,400
Racking, rails and roof attachments	$1,600
Wire, conduit, disconnects, breakers	$900
Permits, interconnection and inspection	$650
Electrical subcontractor	$1,800
Crew labor, install and commissioning	$4,200
Direct cost budget	$19,650
Contract value	$26,900
Gross margin budgeted	$7,250

Illustrative figures in US dollars for a fictional project; use them to see the shape of the budget, not to price a job.

The cost codes this trade actually uses

01 Panels and modules
02 Inverters and optimizers
03 Racking and roof attachments
04 Electrical: wire, conduit, disconnects
05 Batteries and storage
06 Permits, interconnection and inspections
07 Subcontractors (electrician, roofer)
08 Crew labor, install
09 Crew labor, commissioning and inspection visits
10 Equipment rentals and lifts
11 Vehicle and fuel

The change orders that eat the margin

The main panel upgrade the utility requires: The site survey said the 100-amp panel would do. The utility's review says 200 amps or a derate. The electrician's upgrade is a change order, written before the permit is resubmitted.
The roof that needs work before the racking goes on: The install crew finds soft decking and brittle shingles under the array area. A roofer's repair is a change order with its own line, not a cost buried in the install.
The trench to the detached garage: The client wants the inverter in the garage forty feet from the house. Trenching, conduit and the extra wire were not in the design. Price it before the trencher is rented.

Questions people ask

I pay the distributor for equipment weeks before the install. Where does that show?: Record the equipment invoice as soon as you have it. It shows in the job's recorded cost right away. Then review what's still left to spend, and the job's expected final cost follows, before the crew is on the roof.
Interconnection takes weeks. Does the job stay open that long?: Yes. The job stays open until the final payment after permission to operate. Inspection visits and re-visits are logged as labor as they happen, so the wait shows up in the margin.
Does Obra do proposals, shading analysis or financing?: No. Keep your design and proposal tool. When the contract is signed, enter it as the job's budget. Obra takes over from there: invoices, change orders and the margin per system.
Can my crew send receipts by WhatsApp?: Yes. A photo from the electrical supply house or the hardware store, in English or Spanish, goes to the job. Your crew never sees the job's finances. You confirm it in seconds.

Free download

Not ready for an app? Start with our free Excel template.

A ready-made spreadsheet to track costs and income per project — with categories and the totals already set up.