Tools
A calculator, a health check, two printable checklists, a scorecard spreadsheet, a brief template and a reference check guide, all free, with no email address asked for. They help you compare proposals and read a contract. They carry no tax facts and they never rate an adviser.
The tools on this page do one job each. The calculator puts fee models on the same claim so you can compare them. The health check asks ten questions about an adviser you already have and ends with the points to raise. The checklists and the template are files you print or send. None of them needs an email address, none of them stores what you enter, and none of them scores, ranks or recommends an adviser.
How the tools work
- Every figure is illustrative. The calculator starts with the shared example used across this site and works with whatever you type in. The assumptions sit beside the result.
- No verdicts. The health check ends with questions to ask your adviser, never a score or a grade. The scorecard spreadsheet totals your own criteria and your own scores. It holds no rating from this site.
- No form to fill in. Every file downloads directly. Each one names Swanson Reed as publisher inside it and carries the same disclaimer as the page.
- Not advice. The tools are a starting point for your own questions, not tax, legal or financial advice. Take advice on your own case before you sign anything.
Which tool when
- Choosing an adviser: the questions checklist and the request for proposal template, then the reference check guide.
- Reviewing a proposal: the fee comparison calculator, the engagement letter checklist and, with more than one proposal, the proposal scorecard.
- Reviewing an adviser you already have: the adviser health check.
- Fee comparison calculatorEnter a claim figure and the terms from a proposal. The calculator shows what a percentage fee, a fixed fee, a capped fee and an hourly fee would cost on the same claim. The assumptions stay beside the result. Illustrative only, and not a recommendation of any fee model or adviser.
- Proposal scorecardA spreadsheet for comparing up to four proposals. It holds your expected claim and half of it, each fee and its extras, and the bad year cost. It also holds ten facts about each engagement letter, and your own criteria, weights and scores. It adds up what you enter. It holds no rating or benchmark from this site.
- Questions checklistThe twenty questions to ask an R&D tax adviser as a printable PDF, one to a box, with the one line version of each and space for the answer. Sized to print on A4 and on US Letter. The questions themselves are on the site, with what a good answer sounds like.
- Engagement letter checklistThe ten clauses of an R&D adviser engagement letter as a printable PDF checklist: for each clause, what to look for, what to ask more about, and three tick boxes. Read the letter and its standard terms against it before you sign.
- Request for proposal templateA one page brief to send to R&D tax advisers, as a Word file with placeholders. It covers who you are, what you want, your figures, what you will provide, what to send back, the timetable and how you will decide. Send the same brief to every candidate.
- Reference check guideWhat to ask an adviser's past clients, in the order to ask it. How the fee was worked out, whether they saw the claim before filing, what happened in a review, and whether they would sign again. A reference tells you what happened to one business. It does not prove anything about yours.
- Adviser health checkTen yes or no questions about the adviser and the engagement letter you already have. It ends with a list of points to raise with your adviser, each linked to its question page, and to a script where one fits. Never a score, a grade or a verdict on any firm.
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.
© 2026 Swanson Reed. You may use the templates and checklists for your own business. Official material is used under the terms set by its publisher.