Government charges are set out on the USCIS fee schedule and vary with the employer's size and whether premium processing is requested; professional fees, corporate document preparation and family applications are separate lines.
Separate petition costs from the cost of proving the relationship
The petition itself carries the Form I-129 charge, additional statutory fees that depend on the employer's characteristics, and an optional premium-processing charge; check the current schedule rather than relying on figures from a previous transfer. Professional fees usually cover drafting the petition and support letter, but the real expense for a company that has never filed before is assembling corporate evidence: share registers that were never formally kept, financial statements that need to be prepared for both entities, and organization charts that exist only in someone's head. Budget time and possibly accountancy fees for that work. Family members each need their own applications and fees. Ask the adviser whether the quote includes responding to a request for evidence and whether an extension petition after the initial period is priced separately. A company that budgets only for the filing fee will be surprised by the document preparation.
Hypothetical example: an East Hants industrial-laundry supplier budgets only the petition charge for a transfer and later learns its share registers have not been updated for years. The first review should identify corporate records requiring accountant or legal work, translations, family filings, and any expedited review fee. Decide whether to repair records before a transaction closes or pay to explain the discrepancy later. A precise budget also names the person responsible for each record, since an unpaid internal task is still a cost to the timetable.