R&D claims built to stand up to a check.

A free scoping call, a review of your questionnaire, recorded interviews with the people who did the technical work, a project strength assessment, cost workings, checks on grants, connected parties and overseas work, a choice of scheme, a full written R&D report, a plain-English summary for directors, filing of the claim notification where needed, the additional information form and the claim. Every claim is signed off by a Chartered Tax Adviser.

We test each project against the Government's guidelines on the meaning of R&D: was there an advance in science or technology, what was the scientific or technological uncertainty, and could a competent professional readily have resolved it? We draw the project boundary, then decide what is in. Projects that do not meet the test are left out, and we explain why.

It depends on how many projects there are and how complex they are. We usually hold a focused conversation for each project, with the people closest to the work, and we schedule them around your team's time. The aim is to capture the uncertainty and how it was resolved accurately, in the technical people's own words, without sending anyone on a long course of paperwork.

We do. We draft it from the interviews and your project records, then ask your technical staff to check it for accuracy. A narrative written by the advisers but confirmed by the people who did the work is more reliable than one a busy engineer wrote at the last minute, and it is far less likely to read like a template.

We build them from your records, category by category: staff time, externally provided workers, subcontractors, consumables, software, and data and cloud costs. Unconnected agency workers and subcontractors are counted at 65% of the payment, and costs must have been paid before the claim is made. Each figure is traced to a payroll record or invoice so it can be defended.

A full written R&D report, a plain-English claim summary for directors, and a benefit and cash-flow schedule showing how the relief is used across years. On our Assured and Zero Risk packages you also receive an evidence pack, with project logs, timesheet templates and technical notes, so that future claims and any enquiry rest on good records.

Yes. We file the claim notification, or confirm in writing that none is needed, and we register and submit the additional information form. The form has to be submitted before or on the same day as the Company Tax Return, so we agree the timetable with you and your accountants at the start. Every agent who advised on the claim is named, ours included.

Usually, yes. The R&D claim goes in with the CT600, and we work with your accountants on the financials and on timing. Who presses the button is agreed at the start, so there is no gap. Your accountant remains your accountant for everything else. If they referred you to us, we say so plainly and we disclose any referral fee to you.

Yes. For periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024, a loss-making SME whose relevant R&D spend is at least 30% of its total relevant spend may choose ERIS. We model both. The merged scheme gives a taxable 20% credit, about 15% or 16.2% net of notional tax. ERIS can reach about £26.97 per £100 of costs. The better answer depends on your numbers, and the choice is yours.

We look harder at the evidence. If the uncertainty was real but poorly documented, we try to evidence it properly. If the project is mostly routine, we say so. Where the answer remains uncertain, we tell you the risk and, if it is only one project among many, we may recommend leaving it out. Putting a weak project in can weaken the whole claim.

It is very common. We reconstruct the time spent from other evidence, such as project plans, task and ticket records, calendars and the people's own accounts, and we apportion pay fairly rather than rounding up. We then put in place a simple method for recording time from now on, so the next claim does not depend on memory.

Yes. We look at the group as a whole: which company actually carried out the R&D, which should claim, how connected companies affect the ERIS intensity test, and whether any expenditure credit should be surrendered to another group member. Payments between group companies for surrendered credit are ignored for Corporation Tax where made on or after 26 November 2025.

It depends on your package. Core does not include enquiry defence. Assured includes handling HMRC nudge letters and simple queries. Zero Risk includes full defence of an enquiry at no extra cost. Whichever you choose, the claim is built to the standard we would need if HMRC asked questions, because that is the best protection.

Often, yes, if you tell us early. A claim is generally due within two years of the end of the period of account, and the additional information form has to go in before or with it. We tell you honestly what can be done properly in the time left. We will not cut corners on evidence to meet a date, because a rushed claim is a risky one.

It depends on what was filed and how much time has passed. If a claim was made but incorrectly, our page on correcting past claims explains the options. If no claim was made and the time limit has not expired, we can usually prepare one. The claim time-limit checker will give you a first indication, and a call will confirm it.

That is normal. Most companies spend on R&D alongside routine work. We separate the two, claim on the R&D and leave out the rest. A smaller, well-evidenced claim is worth more than a larger one that cannot be defended. We will tell you what the qualifying proportion looks like before we do the full work.