How Much Does a Cost Segregation Study Cost?
What drives the fee for a cost segregation study, how published fees vary by delivery model, and how to judge whether a quote is worth it.
A cost segregation study can cost a few hundred dollars or tens of thousands, and both prices can be honest. The fee depends less on the size of the deduction than on how the study is produced and how much work the property and its records demand. This guide explains what drives the fee, how published fees vary by delivery model, and how to judge a quote.
What drives the fee
Five things move the price of any study, whoever prepares it:
- The property. A single-family rental has a few dozen components. A hospital, a hotel or a manufacturing plant has thousands, and more of them need a judgment call about whether they serve the building or the equipment.
- The records. New construction with AIA G702/G703 pay applications and change orders is the most reliable evidence the IRS guide recognizes, and the fastest to work from. An acquired building with no drawings has to be estimated, and the land has to be valued.
- Inspection. The IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide recommends a field inspection for every quality study. A photo walkthrough you complete costs less than an on-site visit; some properties need the visit.
- Look-back work. A study on a building placed in service in an earlier year adds the §481(a) catch-up computation and Form 3115 support.
- Support terms. What the provider does if the study is examined, and for how long, is part of what you are buying.
How published fees vary by delivery model
Providers publish fees for three broad delivery models. The table shows industry ranges published by other providers, as collected on October 2, 2026, with the source for each row. They are vendor marketing figures, not audited data and not Ricerca prices, and they change often.
| Delivery model | Industry fee range (as published) | Typical turnaround (as published) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-serve software, residential | about $99 to $1,000 | minutes to days | OverlineIQ pricing benchmarks; KBKG Residential Cost Segregator; Cost Seg Smart pricing |
| AI-assisted or CPA desk study with professional review | about $1,400 to $4,400 for most properties; more for large or complex ones | 1 to 4 weeks | OverlineIQ pricing benchmarks |
| Traditional engineering firm | about $3,000 to $15,000 for commercial property; about $8,000 to $25,000 or more for institutional buildings, and up to about $40,000 for large warehouses | 4 to 12 weeks | Engineered Tax Services; KBKG; OverlineIQ pricing benchmarks |
Common add-ons, also as published by OverlineIQ: Form 3115 preparation in the $400 to $600 range, and on-site visits from about $800. The same source reports multi-property discounts of 10% to 20%.
Two cautions about any table like this. First, the IRS guide ranks approaches by reliability, from detailed engineering from actual cost records down to rules of thumb, which it tells examiners to view with caution. A low fee that comes from skipping the cost records is not the same product as a low fee that comes from automating the reading of them. Second, the guide tells examiners to closely scrutinize studies priced as a percentage of the tax benefit. A fixed fee is the safer structure.
Is the fee worth it?
Compare the fee with the first-year tax effect, not with the deduction. A deduction is worth your marginal rate times the amount, and only if you can use it this year. One provider (OverlineIQ) publishes a rule of thumb that the fee should be no more than 5% to 10% of the first-year tax savings. Run your own numbers in the cost segregation calculator, then read is cost segregation worth it for the factors the calculator cannot see: hold period, recapture on sale, passive-loss limits and state conformity.
How Ricerca prices a study
Ricerca does not publish a price list. Each study is quoted as a fixed fee after the free assessment, once we know the property type, its size, the records available and whether a look-back applies. The fee is never a percentage of the deduction. The fee is set out in the engagement letter or its fee schedule before any work starts. See how a study works.
Sources
- IRS Pub 5653, Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide (rev. 2-2025), chapters 3 and 5: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5653.pdf
- OverlineIQ, cost segregation pricing benchmarks (vendor-published; self-serve, AI-assisted, CPA desk, engineering, institutional and warehouse ranges, add-ons, 5% to 10% rule of thumb): https://overlineiq.com/blog/cost-segregation-study-cost-pricing-benchmarks
- Cost Seg Smart, pricing (vendor-published; automated residential studies): https://costsegsmart.com/pricing/
- KBKG, Residential Cost Segregator Q&A (vendor-published; software study fee and commercial engineering-study range): https://www.kbkg.com/cost-segregation/kbkg-residential-cost-segregator-qa
- Engineered Tax Services, cost segregation (vendor-published; engineering-study range and turnaround): https://engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cost-segregation/