Four ways we help with R&D tax relief.

It depends where you are. If you have not yet claimed, or have a claim to prepare, you need claim preparation. If a claim is drafted and you want a second opinion before it is filed, you need a claim review. If HMRC has written, you need enquiry defence. If you think a past claim was wrong, you need help correcting it. Not sure? Book a call and we will tell you.

Yes. We scope the work on a free call, interview the people who did the technical work, map the costs, write the technical report, check which scheme applies, and prepare the claim notification, the additional information form and the claim for filing with the Company Tax Return. Every claim is reviewed and signed off by a Chartered Tax Adviser before it goes anywhere.

Yes. A review is a separate service. We read your draft technical narrative, cost schedule and records, and tell you what is strong, what is weak and what is missing. You decide whether to file as it stands, change it or ask us to rebuild parts of it. Nothing is filed or sent to HMRC on your behalf unless you ask us to.

Yes, once you have authorised us as your agent. We read each letter, note the reply date, agree with you what to send and write the response. You see everything before it goes, and we triage HMRC letters the same working day. See our page on HMRC enquiry defence for the full process.

Yes. We review earlier claims for two things: claims that may have been overstated, and claims that could still be made in time. If something needs correcting, we explain the options before anything is said to HMRC. If a period is still within the time limit, we tell you what is needed to make the claim properly.

We normally prepare a written R&D report as part of preparing a claim, rather than as a stand-alone document to be dropped into a form, because the report, the costs and the filing need to agree with one another. If you already have a claim and want only a view on it, a claim review is the closer fit.

We can, where it helps. Auditors will often ask how R&D costs and the credit are treated in the accounts, and we can explain the claim and its working to them, usually through your finance team. We act as tax advisers on the claim, not as auditors, so we do not give audit opinions.

Briefly but properly. The people who did the technical work are the best source of what was uncertain and how it was resolved, so we interview them, usually in a recorded conversation. After that, we ask for short clarifications as the report takes shape. We do not ask technical staff to write the claim themselves.

Most claims do not need a visit. The evidence is in the people, the project records and the cost data. If seeing a prototype or a production line would help, tell us on the scoping call and we will discuss whether a visit makes sense for your claim. Photographs and video can often show the same thing.

Usually, yes. A claim can be prepared through video calls and shared documents, so where your company is based in the UK need not matter. Interviews with your technical staff can be held on screen and recorded where you are comfortable with that, so the detail is captured accurately and nobody has to repeat themselves. We agree the arrangements with you at the start.

On a free scoping call we ask what the company has worked on, what it spends on R&D, whether it has claimed before, who else has advised and whether HMRC has been in touch. We then tell you honestly whether the work looks likely to qualify and which approach fits. Quotes are on request, and there is no obligation after the call.

Our Assured and Zero Risk packages include year-round support: record-keeping set-up with quarterly check-ins, a next-year planning meeting and a claim-notification reminder. Zero Risk adds an annual R&D process health check. Good records kept through the year are what make the next claim easier. See our packages page for the detail.

We treat everything you tell us as confidential and ask only for what the claim needs. We agree with you at the start how documents will be shared. You decide how much detail we need on a sensitive project: a claim can describe the uncertainty and the advance without disclosing a formula, source code or customer names.

If you need a non-disclosure agreement before sharing technical detail, tell us on the first call and we will discuss it with you before anything sensitive is sent. You may only need confirmation of how we handle information, which we can give straight away. Our engagement terms will also deal with confidentiality.

Yes. Often the cheapest improvement is made before the work starts: deciding who decides the R&D when it is contracted out, keeping time records, noting the uncertainty at the start of a project, and checking whether overseas work would be restricted. Our Assured package includes a next-year planning meeting, and the same advice is available to others on request.

Our specialism is R&D tax relief. We check how a grant interacts with your claim, and our related reliefs pages explain the main points. Grant applications are outside our claim service, though our Assured package includes signposting to grants. If a grant is on your mind, tell us about it on the call so that the claim and the funding line up.

Mainly the cost data for the period: payroll by person, supplier invoices for subcontractors and consumables, software and cloud costs, and the accounts or draft accounts. We usually work with your accountants on the financials, so your finance team is not left to build the figures alone. We tell you exactly what is needed at the start.

We introduce your main contact in our team at the start of the engagement. We are a firm, not a single adviser, so there is always someone who knows your file. A Chartered Tax Adviser reviews and signs off every claim, and we reply the same working day. You can reach us by email, phone or WhatsApp.

We agree a timetable at the start and send progress updates at each stage: after the interviews, when the draft report is ready, when the figures are agreed and before filing. Nothing is submitted without your sign-off. If something changes, such as a project looking weaker than expected, we tell you straight away rather than at the end.

Book a call, or use the contact page, and tell us a little about the company and what has prompted you to get in touch. We reply the same working day. If HMRC has written, give us the reply date so we can deal with it first. Otherwise the free scoping call tells you what we would do and what to expect.