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Filling Out Tax Form

R&D CHECKLIST

QUESTIONAIRE

The Research & Development Program was established to assist the growth and development of technology-oriented businesses. Many industries can qualify. R&D occurs when you are improving a product or process, not just developing a completely new product or idea. Please refer to the IRS Code Section 41 for the details of what qualifies.

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Getting Started

This Questionnaire is designed to help you define your R&D projects. The step-by-step approach will allow you to determine qualifying expenses and report the results of new processes or products, or improvements you made last year.

Completing Your R&D Checklist

Reviewing Paperworks

What to prepare for the R&D Checklist


While it is easy to save your work while on the form, here are some items you should have on hand...​

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  • W2s

  • A list of direct supplies used on R&D

  • 1099s or invoices for your subcontractors who performed the R&D

  • Descriptions or ideas of the R&D work performed in that tax year. 

Steps to Filling out your R&D Checklist

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  1. Log into or create an account to access the information
     

  2. Complete the R&D checklist
     

  3. Download and fill in required excel spreadsheets
     

  4. Upload any required workpapers or relevant documentation
     

  5. Send completed checklist to your accountant

Managing Finances
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How do the R&D programs benefit me?

FEDERAL

Small businesses (defined as having less than $5 million in average annual sales) can use credits against Federal Corporate Net Income (CNI) taxes, payroll taxes or pass-through credits to owners which can cover the owners Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Large businesses can use credits against Federal CNI taxes or passed through to shareholders, this cannot be used against owners AMT. If the credit cannot be utilized, it can be carried forward for up to 20 years and used on taxes incurred during those years. In case of an acquisition or buy-out, unused credits are an asset on the books.

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Why Use Us?

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Large consulting firms can be expensive to do a full-blown R&D study, especially when your company is small or just starting out. To help alleviate the costs you can use our tool to gather the R&D expenses and self-certify your credit. While you are the one to gather the information our portal allows you the ease of organizing and reporting the expenses. We also reference reputable articles to further explain the IRS Code Section 41. They also give examples of what qualifies or goes into more detail about a specific industry

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