R&D tax credit studies, federal and state
Your R&D already happened. Now get paid for it.
Built for any firm that designed, engineered, or developed a product or process.
We prepare your federal and state R&D tax credit study from the records your team already keeps, fully prepared by an independent tax specialist, and hand your CPA a filing-ready package.
Pick a time
15 minutes, free and no obligation. No documents needed. Or run a preliminary estimate first.
Preliminary estimate
This is based on your technical payroll ONLY. Subcontractors + materials usually add another $50K+.
Verify your exact IRS entitlement on a 15-minute call. Subcontractors + materials usually add $50K+.
How it works: evidence first
Most firms start with a long interview and look for paperwork afterwards. We start with the records you already have. It takes less of your time and it's harder to argue with.
30-minute project walk-through
After you sign, we spend half an hour with whoever knows your jobs best and pick out the projects that were new or fought you. Nothing to prepare.
Gather
You send what already exists for those projects: drawings, job travelers, test and inspection reports, scrap records, emails, plus payroll and invoices. Nothing to write. Nothing to tidy.
Scan and specialist review
We read and index every file, tie each document to a project, and list what the records don't answer. The independent tax specialist works from that map before anyone on your team is interviewed.
Short interviews
We talk to the people who did the work, and only about the gaps. Then we write up each qualifying project the way the IRS now asks to see it.
It starts with a free 15-minute call, no obligation. If the credit isn't worth pursuing, we'll tell you on the call. Your CPA files, and we stay with it until the credit is on the return.
See all nine stagesWhat's in the box
Everything your CPA needs to file, and a plain-English version for you.
- Study memo explaining what qualifies and why
- A write-up for each business component (product, process, formula or design) tied to the four-part test
- QRE workbook: wages, supplies and contract research, with the calculation
- Completed federal Form 6765, including Section G business component detail
- Completed state credit forms where your state offers a credit (for example, Kansas Form K-53)
- A filing manual for your CPA and a plain-English summary for you
- Delivered in a private, view-only folder shared only with the people you name
You already keep most of the evidence
No lab notebooks needed. The records a shop or design office produces every day do the job.
| What you already keep | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Drawings, RFQs and quote notes | What you set out to make and what looked hard |
| Job travelers, setup sheets, program and design revisions | What you tried, in order |
| Scrap tickets, rework records, photos of failed parts | What didn't work. Failures are strong evidence of real trial and error. |
| First-article, inspection and test reports | How you settled it, and when development ended |
| Emails about a difficult job | The open question, in your own words, with a date |
| Timecards and payroll | Who worked on it |
| Material and tooling invoices | What the trials consumed |
| Purchase orders and contract terms | Who carried the risk if it failed |
Does your work qualify?
The IRS uses a four-part test. In plain English:
Permitted purpose
You were trying to make a product, process, formula or design work better, faster, cheaper or more reliably.
Technical uncertainty
At the start, you didn't know how to do it, whether it would work, or what the right design was.
Process of experimentation
You tried options: drawings, models, prototypes, test runs, trial batches, simulations.
Technological in nature
The work relied on engineering, physics, chemistry, biology or computer science.
Shop-floor examples
- Designing fixtures and tooling for a new part
- Changing a process to cut scrap or cycle time
- Engineering a structural or MEP solution for an unusual site
- Reformulating a product for a new ingredient or shelf life
- Building and testing a prototype for a customer
The honest part: what usually doesn't qualify
- Routine production once a process is proven
- Quality control testing of finished goods
- Work done outside the United States
We'd rather tell you the claim is small than build one that won't hold up.
Find out in 15 minutes whether it's worth doing
Bring a rough idea of headcount and what your team worked on. We'll tell you whether there's a credit worth claiming and what the study involves.
Book a 15-minute call