11 questions for choosing a consultant for SR&ED:

Here’s a handy list of questions when selecting your SR&ED tax credit consultant:

1. What is your area of ​​expertise and your experience?
2. Who will actually work on our file? What is their level of experience? Is it a single consultant or a team of technical and accounting specialists?
3. What will be the implication of our own resources: Being interviewed? Write? Revise the texts of the consultants? Evaluate the eligible costs?
4. How many SR&ED projects do you usually deliver per year?
5. What is your definition of the success of your claims, ie accepted as is, accepted with adjustments, etc.?
6. How many of your SR&ED claims were selected for review? How much are adjusted after exam and by how much? This indicates whether they include non-eligible activities, but also whether they have encountered difficulties in deeper investigations.
7. What additional services (beyond the basic technical write-ups) are provided free of charge? Education and training? Evaluation of the documentation and suggestions for best practices? Support for audit?
8. How do you ensure your continuing education in preparing SR&ED claims? What are you doing to stay abreast of policy changes?
9. Are your SR&ED claim preparers employees or subcontractors? Do they share in profits?
10. What is your tolerance for risk? Do you push the envelope to the maximum or do you stay very careful? (Note: this must match your personal style)
11. What is your customer retention rate? Do you keep your customers for many years?

In conclusion: a consultant who adds value and integrity

If you outsource the preparation of your SR&ED claim, make sure about two things:

• Do they add value to the process by reducing the efforts of your internal resources? It is important to choose a reputable and reputable SR&ED consultant. We are not talking here about the company alone, but about the individual technical consultant because ultimately, the preparation of your SR&ED claim will fall primarily to him. The accounting specialist will also bring value, but in other dimensions of the file.
• Be sure to protect your investments by choosing SR&ED consultants with a high degree of integrity. This decision should not be taken lightly, even with a contingency agreement (at %). Mistakes in this area can cost your organization tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. In the end, you will be responsible for the content of the claim. And if it is considered fraudulent, the CRA will invite you to more rigorous reviews in the future.

Conclusion : choosing the right SR&ED consultant for your organization is a very important and far-reaching decision.

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