Report Writing Cost Calculator
Work out what post-inspection report writing costs you per year — in hours, in inspections you could not take, and in revenue left on the table.
Hours per year writing reports
720
18.0 full 40-hour weeks, spent at a keyboard
- Inspections per year
- 288
- Revenue per year
- $129,600
- Effective hourly rate
- $82/h
- Report time valued at that rate
- $58,909
If report time were halved
+84
additional inspections per year with the freed time — about $37,800 in additional revenue, at the same capacity.
See how the draft gets written →Why this number is usually a surprise
Most inspectors price their work against the inspection — the hours walking the roof, the crawlspace, and the panel. The report is treated as something that happens afterward, unpaid and unmeasured. At six inspections a week and two and a half hours a report, that afterthought is more than 700 hours a year, which is roughly eighteen full working weeks.
The effective hourly rate above divides your revenue by every hour the job actually consumes. It is the number that tells you whether raising your fee or shortening your reports would do more for the business.
The additional-inspections figure assumes you have demand to fill the freed time. If your calendar is not full, treat the recovered hours as time back rather than revenue — which for a lot of solo inspectors is the more valuable of the two.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to write a home inspection report?
Inspectors commonly report 2 to 3 hours per report using template-based software, and longer for large or complex properties. Narrative-heavy reports and photo annotation are the two biggest time sinks.
Why does report time matter more than inspection time?
On-site time is capped by physics and daylight. Report time is the part of the job that expands to fill the evening, is not separately billed, and is the reason many solo inspectors cap out at four or five inspections a week.
Would faster reports actually mean more inspections?
Only if there is demand to fill the freed time. If the schedule is not full, the honest benefit is time back rather than revenue. The calculator shows the revenue case as an upper bound, not a promise.
Does AI-drafted reporting reduce report quality?
It changes what the work is. The draft comes from your own photos and voice notes, and you review and edit before export — the inspector remains responsible for every word. What it removes is retyping observations you already made on site.
Get the evening back
Upload the photos you already took and the voice notes you already recorded. FieldScribe writes the draft in professional report language; you review, edit, and export the PDF. First report $9.99, no subscription.