At a port of entry or preclearance facility the government charge is collected on the spot and is modest; if the employer files Form I-129 instead, the filing fee and any premium processing appear in the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055. The larger costs are documentary preparation and, if a first attempt fails, doing it all again.
Budget the paperwork, because the government charge is the small number
Fees change periodically, so the schedule at Form G-1055 is the only figure worth quoting, and the amount collected at a land border or preclearance counter is set separately. Around those numbers sit the costs that actually consume a budget. A registrar charges for transcripts and for a conferral letter.
A certified translator charges by the page, and a transcript is several pages. An adviser's review of the employer's draft letter is time well spent and is not free. Travel to a port that turns out to be premature is wasted outright.
The expense nobody plans for is the second attempt: a refusal recorded because a letter leaned on experience for a degree-only profession is answered for in every later application, and reopening it costs far more than the first review would have. The employer's own costs are chiefly internal, unless it chooses the petition route, in which case counsel and the schedule apply.