Initial Consultation and Eligibility

During our initial interaction, we will assess your company’s potential eligibility for R&D tax relief. This brief call allows us to gather essential background information about your business and explain our R&D process. If we determine that your company is unlikely to qualify, we will be upfront and not proceed further, saving you time and effort. Importantly, the team you speak to during this stage is the same team that will handle your claim, ensuring continuity and a deep understanding of your business from the outset.

Financial and Technical Exploration

Once eligibility is confirmed, we will assign a dedicated R&D specialist who will arrange a meeting—either virtually or in person—to gain a deeper understanding of your business. We will:

• Clarify the criteria for R&D tax relief.
• Outline the process and expected timeline.
• Discuss potentially eligible projects.
• Consider the financial control environment and how your entity captures R&D costs.
• Explore the governance and management control environment for R&D projects within
your organisation.
• Estimate the potential benefits of the claim.
• Address any questions you may have about the process.

Report Preparation

 We will draft a detailed report reflecting our understanding of your R&D activities. You will have the opportunity to review this draft, provide feedback, and ask further questions before finalising the report.

Report Finalisation

After incorporating your feedback, we will finalise the R&D report to ensure it accurately represents your company’s R&D efforts. At this stage, we’ll also discuss the financial aspects, including the best way to account for the R&D expenditure, to optimise the benefits for your company.

Submission, Monitoring, and Receipt of Benefits

Once the final R&D report is completed, we will submit it to HMRC. As of 2024, HMRC generally takes around 8 weeks to process claims. During this time, we will closely monitor the progress of your claim and promptly address any queries from HMRC to ensure a smooth and efficient process.

HMRC conducts random checks on around 20% of claims. Should your claim be selected for review, you can be confident that we will offer comprehensive support to address any queries.

After HMRC processes the claim, your company will receive the benefit, whether in the form of a tax refund, a cheque for surrendered R&D expenditure, or other applicable relief. Upon receipt of the payment, we will carefully review and confirm that the amount matches our expectations, and the claim submitted. We will ensure that your company receives the full financial benefit from the R&D tax relief.