R&D Tax Credit Providers Must Reduce Claim Burden

R&D tax credit claims can stall long before filing. Technical teams will need to go through large amounts of documentation and finance teams will have to ensure that the costs can be matched to qualifying activities. 

Information capture deserves close attention. Much of the evidence will be from documentation created to manage the business, with very little consideration for a future R&D tax credit claim. Whilst version control systems, ticketing systems and project documents may contain useful information, a provider will need to understand what information is available and what further clarification is required. Interviews can be used to help collect this information. However, this can cause a lot of disruption to staff by having multiple meetings. A few targeted questions can be used to collect the information with less disruption. When choosing a provider you should consider how they will use the existing documentation and how much preparation will be required from your teams. Long narratives and multiple follow-ups can cause the claimant to do a lot of the work.

“G6 Consulting can gather technical information through interviews or written requests and, for software companies, use exported version-control or ticketing data to deepen the technical record.”

Cost allocation brings its own challenges. Many businesses do not track time in enough detail for a tax-credit submission, so a provider needs a sound method for estimating how much time went into eligible work. Where records are incomplete, the provider should help link expenditures to qualifying projects and explain the basis for the estimates. The company’s accountant must also be able to follow the reasoning. Any gaps between the technical narrative and financial schedules can mean rework as the claim approaches filing.

R&D tax credits can extend beyond the employees most closely associated with research. Support activity may qualify when it is necessary to the experimental work, so a narrow review can leave eligible costs unexplored. Buyers should ask whether a provider understands how qualifying work appears in different industries. Can its technical staff distinguish routine production or commercial activity from work addressing technological uncertainty? Experience across industries has value when the people reviewing a claim understand the technical work behind it.

Responsibilities after preparation deserve equal attention. A claim may require coordination with the company’s accountant or further explanation to the Canada Revenue Agency. Executives need to know who writes the technical account, who prepares the tax forms and how much their own teams will need to contribute if questions arise. Reducing the client’s workload matters, but the provider must also be able to explain and support the reasoning behind the claim.

G6 Consulting focuses exclusively on Canada’s SR&ED program and adapts its intake process to each client’s way of working. Technical information can come through interviews or written responses. For software companies, exported version-control or ticketing data can help build the technical record. G6 also provides financial templates, writes the technical narrative, assembles T661 forms and coordinates with the client’s accountant. G6 Consulting uses AI to organize information and streamline requests while keeping claim writing human-led. Buyers with limited internal time and uneven R&D documentation have the clearest reason to evaluate its tailored SR&ED process.