FAQ

We help Canadian innovators prepare and defend R&D tax credit claims, including SR&ED claims. That means getting to grips with the work itself, examining the evidence and making sure the technical explanations and expenditure records tell the same story. We also help with planning, reviews and second opinions, working alongside your other advisers where needed.

We work with innovators across Canada, from individuals and partnerships to corporations, including international companies with a Canadian presence. We also provide independent claim assessments for lenders, investors and prospective buyers, and specialist support for accountants, lawyers and other professional advisers.

We work alongside your accountant, bringing specialist R&D tax credit experience to the technical questions, supporting evidence and review process. We agree who will do what at the outset, so you know who is handling each part. We also support accountants, lawyers and other advisers working for their clients, while respecting those existing relationships.

That depends on the claim and what is already available. We’ll need input from people who understand the work and access to the relevant technical and financial records. We plan that involvement with you and keep our questions focused. While much of an engagement can be performed remotely, we do arrange on-site visits when beneficial. This depends on the work and the teams' needs, not a particular location. Your team’s time is valuable - making good use of it is part of our job.

Start with a general outline - no need to send the secret sauce with your first message. Before exchanging confidential records, we agree how to share them and the arrangements for the engagement. Our privacy notice explains how we handle website enquiries.

We start with a conversation about your situation, what you need and any approaching deadline. We’ll work out whether our experience fits and discuss a sensible next step. You don’t need a polished brief to begin. A short outline is plenty; keep confidential documents for a later exchange using a method we agree together.

“Your bad news is our good news.” Approaches that didn’t work, inconsistent results or questions about what was technically possible can be worth discussing. Those indicators don’t establish eligibility on their own, but you don’t need to arrive with a neatly defined research project. Start by telling us where things became “interesting”.

Yes! An unsuccessful or abandoned project can still contain activities worth assessing for R&D tax credits. What you attempted and learned can matter even when the intended result never materialised. Tell us about the attempts that went nowhere as well as the breakthrough.

Let’s start with what you have. There may be more useful information than you think, even if nobody created a folder labelled “tax credits”. We’ll help assess what the available records support, where the gaps are and what could be improved. No telling-off required.

We get it - your team already has enough to do. We can help you improve record-keeping in a way that fits how you work, with attention to what will actually help support a claim. The approach should be practical and proportionate to your circumstances.

Sure you can. AI can help organise your records, explore questions and draft project descriptions. If you have the time and expertise to direct it and check the results, it can be a useful tool.

Be ready to challenge it, though. It can turn incomplete information into a convincing explanation, blur an important distinction or describe an investigation rather more neatly than it actually happened. Ask which statements your records and technical team can support, and whether the claim reflects the work you actually did.

Then there are the expenditure calculations, supporting records, filing requirements and any subsequent CRA questions. A polished project description leaves plenty still to do.

If CRA reviews the claim, expect people asking questions: who wrote this, where did the information come from, and what supports it? An AI-generated description still needs to be traceable to your actual work, records and the people involved. “The chatbot said so” is going to be a short conversation.

The awkward part? You need enough knowledge to recognise when the confident answer is wrong.

Judgement, technical understanding and someone to get the whole thing done.

We investigate what happened, ask the questions the first account leaves unanswered, assess what the evidence supports, and bring the technical explanations and expenditure records together. We coordinate with your team and other advisers, keep the preparation moving and explain the decisions that need your attention.

Your technical lead might be perfectly capable of writing a project description. They also have a business to help run. You may prefer to give someone experienced the job of managing the claim.

And if CRA reviews the claim, you’ll be dealing with people. We help your team prepare, explain the work and respond to questions. Knowing when to clarify, when to challenge and when to go back to the evidence is part of what you’re paying for.

AI can make parts of the work faster. Knowing what to accept, what to question and what is still missing remains part of the job.

Let’s start with the date. Tell us what is due, where the work stands and what help you need. We’ll assess whether we can take it on, discuss our collective availability and work out what can realistically be done in the time available. We’ll explicitly confirm the work and deadline we can take responsibility for before you rely on us to meet it.

Yes. We can review claims prepared internally, with AI or by another adviser. You don’t need to start again or change advisers to ask for another perspective.

We assess the technical work, expenditure records and supporting evidence within an agreed scope. We explain the strengths, gaps and risks, including anything that needs further investigation. If the draft is useful, we build on it. If it makes claims the evidence cannot support, we’ll say so.

Our independent reviews can also inform refund financing, investment or acquisition decisions.

We can help you understand the questions, prepare your response and, with your authorisation, represent you in discussions with the reviewing authority. A review doesn’t automatically mean something has gone wrong. We assess where your position is well supported and where it needs attention, working alongside your existing advisers where appropriate. Let’s start with the correspondence and response dates.

We weigh the reasons for the decision, the evidence, the amount at stake, and the likely costs, deadlines and demands on your team. We’ll be candid about when further action is worthwhile. We can represent you during objections; for appeals, we provide specialist technical and financial support alongside your legal counsel. Our reviews, objections and appeals page explains these roles.

Fair question. We keep our overheads lean and aim for fees that are fair for the work involved. A second opinion on one issue, a new claim and a contested review can involve very different amounts of work, so we need to understand your situation before proposing a fee.

Depending on the assignment, we may work on an hourly basis, a fixed fee, a percentage basis or a combination. We explain how the fee is calculated, including what any percentage applies to and what is included.

We’ve worked with enough fledgling businesses to know that cash flow matters. We discuss the fee structure and payment arrangements with you and try to find an arrangement that works for both sides. Before work begins, we agree the scope, responsibilities, fees and when payment is due. We agree any additional work and its cost before proceeding.

CRA review support varies by engagement. We confirm what is included, any limits and how further work would be charged. Before moving to an objection or appeal, we agree the scope and fees for that stage.