Accounting firms that grow by offering high-value services to increase revenue and improve margins.
Typically, the more specialized the service, the higher the value. Two high-value services to consider offering your clients are R&D Tax Credit and Cost Segregation.
A Brief Explanation of the R&D Tax Credit and Cost Segregation
R&D Tax Credit
The R&D tax credit was developed to incentivize research and development. The reduced tax burden encourages companies to invest in R&D, promoting innovation and creating high-paying, technical jobs.
But what you (and your clients) may not know is that a dedicated R&D department isn’t a prerequisite for claiming these credits. The client must prove that the activity’s purpose is to solve a technical uncertainty. This proof must rely on hard sciences and employ stringent testing procedures.
To prove the R&D cost qualifies, the activity must pass the IRS’s 4-part test for qualifying business activity.
Although there are a few exclusions, any size or type of company can qualify.
Furthermore, where some deductions merely decrease the amount of taxable income, the R&D tax credit reduces tax liability directly, significantly improving your client’s cash flow.
Cost Segregation
Cost segregation is another strategy for improving a business’s cash flow via reduced tax liability. It works by accelerating the depreciation of commercial building costs.
How does a cost segregation study work? It’s an in-depth engineering analysis of the depreciating value of long-term fixed assets. It could apply to:
- Newly constructed buildings
- Recent property acquisitions
- Renovations
By moving components of the property from “long tax-life” categories to “short tax-life” categories, building owners can write off the building in the shortest time permissible under current tax laws.
However, it’s important to note that the IRS guidelines here are relatively strict.
Benefits of Adding R&D Tax Credit and Cost Segregation to Your Roster
Growth & Business Development
These tax-reducing tools will apply to most of your clients. Adding them has the potential to significantly increase your firm’s revenue while providing your clients with a considerable value-add in the form of cash flow improvement.
Put, adding these services to your offerings presents a huge growth opportunity for your firm.
Use a Partner
If you’re not experienced with these specialty topics and not interested in developing this expertise on your team, why not partner with an expert?
Choose a partner and work with them to extend your firm. Choose a partner with fair fees who saves you from playing the audit game. Choose a partner who’s entirely dependable and thoroughly documented.
Offering these services through a partner means minimal extra effort on your end, with no downside for your firm.
Create Efficiencies
Adding these services won’t affect your bandwidth or your team’s capacity when you go the partner route. You can improve your margins without expanding your team.
Because offering these services doesn’t mean hiring additional staff, your firm’s efficiency will improve by generating other margins without expanding your client base or capacity.
Reinforce Your Role as a Trusted Advisor
Higher-value services tend to attract higher-value clientele. Adding R&D Tax Credits and Cost Segregation Studies will reinforce your position as an expert. And, of course, your clients will appreciate the additional service and reduced tax bill.
Help Businesses Navigate the Current Economy
Over the past year, CPAs have done some of their most important work ever. There are many opportunities to succeed by helping your clients achieve in busy times.
The days of only doing the books and filing client tax returns are gone. Modern CPAs are adding more and more value to their client companies.
In addition to traditional tax and audit services, a high-value CPA firm now offers various services ranging from strategic tax planning to fulfilling a fractional CFO role. These CPAs are focused on becoming true financial partners to their clients.
Tailoring your service offerings to your clients’ needs lets you add more value.
R&D Tax Credits and Cost Segregation Studies are excellent services to offer clients to reduce their tax liability and improve their cash flow. Helping companies keep more of their earnings and stay open is a valuable service to the individual client and the overall economy.
Check out our 8-Point Checklist, designed to help you confidently select the right R&D Tax Credit partner.
BE MORE CONFIDENT IN WHO YOU TRUST TO ADVISE YOUR CLIENTS.
We understand what it’s like for CPAs to question whether they have selected the right specialty tax partner. The right partner will have proven expertise and services to enhance the relationship between client and CPA. This is why Tri-Merit serves as an extension of tCPA’sA’s advisory team to reinforce tCPA’sA’s role as a trusted advisor while helping taxpayers increase cash flow through specialty tax incentives.
Schedule a discovery call at 800.624.1076 to give your clients the best possible experience with a partner you can trust.
R&D tax credit | Cost segregation | 179D | 45L | Employee Retention Credit