The Court Reporting Fix Kit
Built for court reporters, stenographers and court reporting firms.
If you run or own a court reporting firm, the leak usually hides in one habit: treating "the job" as a single lump instead of the two separate products the law itself recognizes — your appearance fee for showing up and covering the deposition or hearing, and your transcript fee for the pages you actually produce and deliver. This kit finds where the money leaks in your own work and gives you the steps and the words to close each one.
Opens secure checkout. Instant download after payment. 30 days to ask for a refund — refund policy · terms
The 7 leaks it covers
6 you can close it · 1 a pro decides
- Different parties getting different prices or extrasWhere to look first: Pull your last 10 multi-party jobs. For each one, list what each party was offered and charged (transcript, copies, rough draft, realtime, exhibits, delivery speed).Keep it from coming back: One schedule, sent to every party on day one. Any new offer goes to everyone at once.You can close it
- Transcript page format that may not hold up against the standard line and margin rulesWhere to look first: This is a compliance check, not a recovery. Nothing is owed to you here. The goal is to make sure no one can ever question your page count.Keep it from coming back: One locked template per format rule. Spot-check one transcript a month against it.You can close it
- Using a national wage figure as if it were the firm's billing rateWhere to look first: This is context, not a leak. A wage figure is what an employee is paid. It is not what a firm should charge.Keep it from coming back: Re-run your own cost per hour once a year, before you update prices.You can close it
- Reporter's appearance time folded into the transcript priceWhere to look first: Pull the last 3 months of jobs. For each one write: hours the reporter was booked (including travel and waiting), and transcript pages ordered.Keep it from coming back: No booking confirmed without the appearance fee and cancellation terms in writing.You can close it
- One flat transcript price instead of separate prices for speed and each copyWhere to look first: Pull your current fee schedule and your last 20 invoices.Keep it from coming back: Every order form asks two questions before work starts: how fast, and how many copies. No job begins without both answers in writing.You can close it
- Pricing above a state's statutory per-page capWhere to look first: This is a legal line, not a pricing choice. Find out whether your state sets per-page transcript fees by statute or court rule. Call the state court administrative office or your state court reporters board and ask.Keep it from coming back: Re-check the state cap every year, and every time you change your fee schedule.You can close it
- Self-employment tax not set aside during the yearWhere to look first: Open a separate savings account just for taxes.Keep it from coming back: Set-aside moved the day the money lands. Quarterly dates on the calendar.A pro decides
Free: one full leak from this kit
No sign-up, no email. Here is leak 1 of 7 exactly as it appears in the kit, so you can see what you get before you buy.
Different parties getting different prices or extras
You can close it- Pull your last 10 multi-party jobs. For each one, list what each party was offered and charged (transcript, copies, rough draft, realtime, exhibits, delivery speed).
- Mark any job where one side got an extra, a discount or an earlier offer the other side did not get.
- Write one fee schedule that every party gets, and a rule that any service offered to one side is offered to all sides at the same time.
- Send the same schedule to every party at the start of each proceeding.
- If a client contract asks you to give one side special terms, stop. Show it to your attorney before you sign.
Your part: Decide your prices, send the schedule, and take any contract question to your attorney.
WHAT TO SAY WHEN ONE SIDE ASKS FOR SPECIAL TERMS "Thank you for asking. Our firm offers the same services, at the same prices, to every party in a proceeding, at the same time. Here is our fee schedule [ATTACH]. Anything you order from it, the other parties can order on the same terms. If you'd like [SERVICE], I'm happy to set it up on that basis." NOTE TO EACH PARTY AT THE START OF A PROCEEDING: Subject: [CASE NAME] — fee schedule for all parties Dear Counsel, [YOUR FIRM] is reporting [CASE NAME] on [DATE]. Our fee schedule is attached. It is the same schedule sent to every party. Any service we offer is offered to all parties at the same time. [YOUR NAME] [YOUR FIRM] | [PHONE] | [EMAIL]
One schedule, sent to every party on day one. Any new offer goes to everyone at once.
What this kit can't decide for you: Whether a specific arrangement breaks a state rule is an attorney's call. California's rule is named only as an example. Other states differ. We do not review contracts for legality.
That's 1 of 7. The other 6 come the same way in the kit: steps, words to send, a habit to keep each one closed.
Opens secure checkout. Instant download after payment. 30 days to ask for a refund — refund policy · terms
What people in this work look up
When court reporters and court reporting firms go looking for answers, they search things like “court reporting business”, “court reporter salary”, “court reporter rates” and “deposition transcript cost”. Those searches turn up forms, averages and other people's numbers. This kit starts from your own records instead: the 7 places money leaks in this work, where to look first and the words to send to close each one.
What you get for each leak
- Numbered steps to close each leak
- Your part, spelled out
- Words you can use: letters and scripts, ready to send (fill in the brackets)
- A habit that keeps each leak from coming back
- An honest line on what the kit can't decide for you
A page from the kit
Questions people ask
How should I price transcripts?
Separately for speed and for each copy, not one flat price, and with appearance time billed on its own. The kit walks you through it.
Is there a cap on transcript page rates?
Some states set a statutory per-page cap. The kit has you check yours.
Can I charge different parties different prices?
Different prices or extras for different parties is a risk the kit helps you avoid.
What it can't decide for you
This kit works from your own records. It doesn't give legal, tax, licensing or financial advice, and it never tells you what to charge. Where a CPA, attorney, insurer or state board makes the call, the kit says so and gets your records ready for them.
11-page PDF · instant download after payment · Code VYR-KIT-STENO-01
Opens secure checkout. Instant download after payment. 30 days to ask for a refund — refund policy · terms
Use Jobber or Housecall Pro? Run the free leak check — it reads your job export in your browser and shows the money leaks the software doesn't flag. Nothing is uploaded.