For the first time I'm leaving the U.S. on a business trip to..... Nb, Canada.

It's short notice so I needed an expidited passport. So lets see...
$40 for a certified copy of my birth cert. Includes overnight FedEx shipping charge.
$9 for passport photos
$27 for a verifying agent at the Post Office to check that the forms, photos and other documents meet State Department requirements.
$127 to the Dept. of State for processing
$1.50 for the sealed envelope. Needed because the forms will be hand carried.
$68 for the CBIT (a company authorized to hand carry applications to the Dept of State)

$272.50 total.

Oh yeah. The ceritfied copy of my birth certificate, that was scarily easy to get.