Private Investigation Case Intake & Scope Checklist
Define the assignment, boundaries, communications, timing, and later scope changes before investigative work expands.
View the checklistResource repository / Private investigations
Private investigation resources.
Practical tools and professional guidance for private investigators managing assignment scope, case-file organization, evidence provenance, chronology, case notes, working copies, report structure, quality control, and case closure.
Practical tools
Case intake and evidence-control resources
Investigation Evidence Intake & Control Checklist
Document source, acquisition, identity, storage, working copies, review significance, and disposition of evidence.
View the checklistExpert guides
Case files, scope, evidence, chronology, reporting, and closure
Use the guides as a connected workflow: organize the case, preserve scope and source information, maintain chronology and notes, build a report that remains traceable to the record, then perform quality control and close the matter deliberately.
How to Organize a Private Investigation Case File
Structure scope, people, activity, evidence, notes, billing, and reporting so another qualified investigator can reconstruct the matter later.
Read the guideManaging Scope Changes During a Private Investigation
Keep new leads, client direction, authorization, cost implications, and work outside the assignment visible as the matter evolves.
Read the guidePrivate Investigator Evidence Management
What a case file should preserve about source, provenance, originals, working copies, corrections, relevance, and report traceability.
Read the guideBuilding a Defensible Investigation Chronology
Keep event dates, investigative activity, uncertainty, evidence sources, and important case decisions connected.
Read the guideWriting Investigative Case Notes That Still Make Sense Months Later
Preserve actions, observations, sources, decisions, corrections, and follow-up clearly enough to survive the loss of fresh memory.
Read the guideEvidence Provenance and Working Copies
Preserve the received source, identify derivatives, and keep working copies traceable back to the evidence and its acquisition record.
Read the guideHow to Structure a Private Investigation Report
Build the report around assignment scope, methodology, material facts, evidence, limitations, analysis, and conclusions.
Read the guideReport Traceability: Connecting Conclusions Back to Source Material
Keep major report conclusions connected to the material facts, evidence, source information, contradictions, limitations, and reasoning that support them.
Read the guideInvestigation Report Quality-Control Checklist
Review scope, facts, evidence, contradictions, limitations, analysis, traceability, exhibits, and release readiness before a report leaves the file.
Read the checklistPrivate Investigation Case Closure Checklist
Review assignment completion, unresolved items, evidence, notes, reporting, client deliverables, billing, retention, and final case reconstruction before closure.
Read the checklistFrom professional method to an active case record
Use the resources independently - or carry the supported case-management work into Investigator Professional.
The guides and worksheets remain professional tools. Investigator Professional provides the local Windows record for the case-management functions the application actually performs.
Organize the matter
Keep clients, investigations, people, case details, notes, and retained activity history in the same local workspace.
Manage evidence
Scan or import evidence, retain stored provenance and SHA-256 information, and review supported files in context.
Report and bill
Prepare investigation reports, record charges, create invoices, maintain backups, and retain the case record.