Evidence-led support for R&D tax relief claims

Who this service is for

This service is for companies in the Birmingham area that are developing or improving products, processes, software or materials and think there may be a genuine technological challenge behind that work. It suits businesses making a claim for the first time and wanting it done properly, and businesses that have claimed before but are uneasy about whether their previous approach still meets the tighter current requirements. It is not for projects whose only novelty is commercial. That distinction matters, and we are honest about it early.

How we can help

We bring structure and evidence to a claim that HMRC now examines far more closely than it once did. We speak to the people who actually did the work, because a defensible claim rests on their account of the uncertainty they faced and how they went about resolving it. We then translate that into the technical narrative and expenditure analysis the rules require, keeping the claim tied to your Company Tax Return.

Three things we are consistently clear about: eligibility is assessed project by project; the project must seek a genuine advance in science or technology, so commercial novelty alone is not enough; and no claim value or outcome is guaranteed. The company remains responsible for the accuracy of what is submitted, so everything is built on evidence we can point to.

What’s included

• An initial eligibility review to decide, honestly, whether a claim is worth pursuing
• Identifying which specific projects may qualify and where the technological uncertainty lies
• Technical discussions with the staff responsible for the development work
• Analysing qualifying expenditure: staffing costs, software, consumables and subcontracting
• Applying the restrictions that affect overseas expenditure under the current rules
• Checking and meeting claim-notification requirements where they apply to you
• Preparing the additional information form required for relevant claims
• Drafting clear technical descriptions of each project for HMRC
• Integrating the claim with your Corporation Tax computation and CT600
• Advising on evidence retention so the claim is supportable after submission
• Supporting you if HMRC opens an enquiry into the claim

How it works

1. We hold a short scoping call to understand your work and see whether an R&D claim is realistic.
2. If it is, we confirm which scheme applies to your accounting period and what evidence we need.
3. We meet the technical staff to capture the uncertainty and the advance sought, project by project.
4. We build the qualifying-expenditure figures and draft the technical narrative and additional information form.
5. We integrate the claim into the tax return, submit it, and keep the supporting evidence ready in case of enquiry.

What we’ll need from you

We will need access to the people who carried out the development and enough of their time to explain the technical problems honestly. On the financial side we need payroll information for staff involved, details of subcontractor and externally provided worker arrangements, records of software and consumable costs, and a breakdown of where work was carried out so overseas restrictions can be applied. Contemporaneous notes, project plans or version histories are valuable: the closer the evidence sits to when the work happened, the stronger the claim.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Claiming for a whole department or company rather than assessing eligibility project by project
• Confusing a commercial first with a genuine advance in science or technology
• Overstating qualifying costs or ignoring the restrictions now affecting overseas expenditure
• Missing the claim-notification window and losing the ability to claim at all
• Submitting without the required additional information form for relevant claims
• Keeping no contemporaneous evidence, then struggling to support the claim if HMRC asks

Serving Birmingham and the Midlands

We support R&D claims for companies throughout Birmingham and the West Midlands, combining cloud accounting for the numbers with proper conversations for the technical detail. Where a project review benefits from meeting your team in person, that can be arranged.