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Private Investigator Estimate Template

Retainer, hourly rates and expenses — an investigation priced by the hour it may take. Free PDF.

An investigator is asked how much it will cost to find out something nobody knows yet. Surveillance hours depend on a subject who does not keep to a schedule, records depend on which county holds them, and a case can be answered in one afternoon or need three weeks of it. So the estimate is a retainer and a rate card rather than a price: hours allocated rather than promised, expenses at cost, and a reporting rhythm that tells the client where the money went while there is still some left.

Issued by

Ridgeway Investigative Services

755 Marietta Street NW

30303 Atlanta, GA

United States

intake@ridgewayinvestigative.example

Bill to

Whitfield & Marsh LLP

600 Peachtree Center

30308 Atlanta, GA

United States

accounts@whitfieldmarsh.example

Estimated total

$3,850.00

Valid for 30 more days · Sep 5, 2026

This is an estimate, not a bill. Prices may change.

Basis of estimate

Hours are an allocation against a subject whose pattern is not yet established. The first two days are also what tells us whether the remaining allocation is the right size.

Description	Qty	Rate	Tax	Amount
Surveillance — field hours, single investigator Estimated 24 hours across three days; billed as worked	24	$95.00	—	$2,280.00
Second investigator — where a follow requires it Provisional 8 hours; used only on notice to you	8	$85.00	—	$680.00
Records and database research Estimated 4 hours plus database charges at cost	4	$110.00	—	$440.00
Report preparation, stills and video handling Interim report at the halfway point, final report on close	1	$450.00	—	$450.00

Subtotal	$3,850.00
Total	$3,850.00

Terms

Retainer in advance, drawn down against the rates above. Unused retainer is refunded within 14 days of the final report.

Estimate #EST-1265 · Ridgeway Investigative Services · Page 1 of 1

What this estimate commits you to

How long it stands: Thirty days on the retainer and the rate card; the hours inside it are an allocation rather than a promise, and whatever is unused is returned.
What it does not cover: Anything the licence does not permit and the case may still need: court filing fees, certified records, expert or forensic examination, testimony time, and work outside the states this licence covers.
What would change the price: What surveillance actually takes. A subject who does not appear, a second investigator needed because one vehicle cannot hold a follow, night and weekend hours, and days extended because the activity being documented has not yet happened.
How the client accepts it: Sign the engagement letter and fund the retainer; work begins when it clears, and the file is reported on at the interval named above rather than only at the end.

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What to put on a private investigator estimate

The retainer amount, what it buys in hours, and that unused hours are returned rather than kept
Hourly rates by activity — surveillance, records research, report writing — since they are not the same rate
Whether a second investigator is needed, and the circumstances that would require one
Expenses at cost and named: mileage, database and records fees, tolls, parking, equipment specific to the case
The licence the work is performed under and the states it covers
What the client receives and when: an interim report at a stated interval, a final report, video and stills

Questions

Why can't a private investigator quote a fixed price?

Because the work is measured in hours against a subject who does not cooperate. A three-day surveillance may document what you needed in the first two hours or in none of them, and a fixed price on that is either an overcharge on the easy cases or an unpaid week on the hard ones.

What should the estimate say about hours that produce nothing?

That they are billed. A day where the subject never leaves the house is a working day — the investigator sat it — and the estimate is the only place to say so where the client can still choose not to proceed.

When does a case need two investigators?

When one vehicle cannot hold a follow without being made, or when a location has more than one exit. Name the circumstance and the second rate on the estimate rather than calling from the field to ask, because the moment it is needed is the moment there is no time to discuss it.

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