Who will do the technical work?

An R&D claim has two halves: the numbers and the technical case for why the work qualifies. The second half is the one a review tests, and it can only be written well by someone who understands the work. That means either your own technical people, or an adviser who has talked to them at length. A case written from a questionnaire, or from the finance team alone, can describe the work in a way the people who did it would not recognise.

The adviser health check asks you: "Did the people who did the technical work check the claim before filing?"

Names and roles: who will interview your engineers or scientists, who will write the technical descriptions, and who will review them. Time set aside for your technical people, not just your finance people. A draft of the technical case that your own people read and correct before filing.

A process that never involves your technical staff. Descriptions written entirely by the adviser from documents. Work handed to people whose role or qualifications the adviser will not name. A claim prepared mostly by software with no technical review.

• The clause: who signs the claim
• The script: asking to see the claim before filing
• Red flag: no one speaks to your engineers. Green flag: they talk to the people who did the work
• Software-assisted claims. Adviser health check