What owners get wrong about this credit
Three assumptionsIt takes a laboratory
Qualified research can happen wherever design problems get solved. A drafting table or a shop floor can count.
It has to be an invention
The work has to be new to your firm. The law asks for technical uncertainty, and many ordinary projects carry some.
Claiming it is asking for trouble
A proper study is built for the examiner before one ever calls. The documentation is the product.
The test the law actually applies, in plain English: what qualifies for the credit.
Where it lands
Industry briefsYour drawings are research.
Design work firms already do, from schematics to redlines, is the R&D the credit was written for.
Read the brief Audio-Video IntegrationYour installs are research.
Engineering a control system into a real building is qualified systems work, programming included.
Read the brief Boat ManufacturingEvery boat is a prototype.
Hull, build, and model iteration is development work that qualifies, even after the boat sells.
Read the brief Medical PracticesYour protocols are research.
Working new scanners, imaging, devices, and treatment protocols into patient care is qualified work.
Read the briefMore industries are being written up. Browse the briefs, or ask us about yours.
From first call to finished study
Six to eight weeksScope call
Thirty minutes with the people who know the work. We name the projects worth testing.
Your records
You send the documents we ask for through a private upload link. The list is built from things you already keep.
The study
Qualified costs tied to named projects, with the memo and exhibits an examiner would ask for.
Examination support
If the return is picked up, the people who wrote the study answer for it. Included.
What lands on your desk
The deliverableThe study
Qualified costs tied to named projects, built from the records you already keep.
The memo and exhibits
The documentation an examiner would ask for, written before anyone asks for it.
The numbers to file
Federal and state credit amounts with the assumptions written out, ready for your CPA's return.
Two ways in
Owners and advisorsYou build things.
If your firm designs, engineers, or improves what it sells, the credit may already be yours to claim. Thirty minutes on a call shows whether a study is worth pursuing.
You advise the people who do.
Advisors with a book of business owners refer clients and share every fee we collect. Your client relationship stays yours.
The study answers for itself.
No engagement unless the credit clearly outweighs the fee.
Your CPA files the return. We provide the study that supports the credit.
Common questions
Why has my CPA never mentioned this?
Most tax practices are built around filing, and the credit is a specialty study with its own evidence rules. Plenty of firms refer this work out to a specialist.
Does claiming the credit invite an audit?
Weak documentation is what invites trouble. Every number in a Foundry study ties to a named project and a named source, and if the return is examined, defending the study is our job.
What does it cost?
One fee, taken from the credit we find, and you see the exact terms before signing anything. The structure is on the pricing page.
How do we find out if we qualify?
Book a call. Thirty minutes covers what you build and whether a study is worth pursuing.
Thirty minutes tells you a lot.
Bring the person who knows the technical work. We will cover what qualifies and what a credit could be worth, and you leave with a clear next step.
Book a call Or write to inquiries@thefoundryfirm.com