Resources

For accountants

For accountants and bookkeepers whose clients ask about R&D tax advisers. How to help a client compare proposals on the same basis, the referral fee disclosure point, and the questions worth suggesting. Neutral on whether to refer, and on whom.

Who this page is for

Accountants, bookkeepers and finance advisers whose clients ask whether to use an R&D tax specialist, or which one. This page does not say whether you should refer, and it does not suggest anyone to refer to. This site keeps no list of advisers and recommends none, including its publisher. What it offers is a way to help a client compare proposals fairly and read the engagement letter before signing, which is work you are well placed to do.

Helping a client compare proposals

The most useful thing an accountant can do is put the proposals on the same basis. Ask the client for each proposal's worked example on the expected claim and on half of it, the extras charged separately, and the engagement letter with its standard terms. Then:

Work every fee out on the same two claim figures, with the fee comparison calculator or the proposal scorecard. A rate and a sum cannot be compared until they are.
Check what the fee is a percentage of. The what counts as the benefit clause decides whether a fee is on the amount claimed or the amount received, and whether it falls if the claim is reduced.
Read the engagement letter against the contracts section, clause by clause, with the engagement letter checklist. Three clauses to read first are the fee refund if the claim is reduced, review and audit support, and ownership of records.
Cost the bad year. If the claim is reduced after filing, what does the client still owe, and is help with the review in the price? The how to compare proposals guide sets out the method.

None of this requires a view on which adviser is better. It requires that the client can see what each proposal would cost, in a good year and a bad one, before signing.

The referral fee point

An adviser may offer you a fee for an introduction, or a client may ask whether you receive one. Professional bodies can allow a referral fee where it is disclosed to the client. ICAEW members must obtain the client's consent and tell the client the amount. AICPA members who accept or pay a referral fee must disclose it to the client, and the AICPA says the disclosure should be in writing.1 The rules of your own body, and in the United States your state board, may be stricter, so check them. One option is to tell the client in writing before the introduction, so the client can decide.

The client side of the same point is the question do you pay or receive referral fees? and the case study the referral nobody mentioned.

Questions worth suggesting to a client

The twenty questions are written for the client to ask. The ones an accountant is best placed to prompt are these:

How are your fees calculated? and what exactly is the fee a percentage of?
What happens to the fee if the claim is reduced?
Is review support included?
Can we see the full claim before filing?, since the client signs the return and answers for it
Who is named on the claim?, which differs by country; the country pages say what each form asks

Where your own work fits

An R&D claim is made in the client's own tax return, whoever prepares it, and the client remains responsible for it. The your responsibility page for each country sets out the time limits, the interest and penalty rules in general terms, and the correction routes. If you prepare the return, settle who signs what and who is named where before the work starts. That is a matter for you, the client and the specialist. The who signs the claim clause is the place to write it down.

Sources

ICAEW, Commissions and fees: fully informed consent (8 January 2025): members "must both obtain client consent and notify clients of the amounts received"; AICPA, Code of Professional Conduct, ET section 1.520, Commissions and Referral Fees, rule 1.520.001 paragraph .04 and interpretation 1.520.080 (disclosure in writing), edition through September 2026. State boards of accountancy can set stricter rules. Back

KnowYourFees.org is published by Swanson Reed, an R&D tax advisory firm that competes with other advisers. This site does not recommend any adviser, including Swanson Reed.