Our Approach
Three steps. Zero surprises.
From your first 15-minute call to credits applied against your liability, every engagement runs through a Strata partner. Here is exactly how it works.
Free qualification call
A 15-minute conversation to review your business activities and confirm you qualify.
- ✓No commitment, no cost, no obligation
- ✓We walk you through the four-part IRS test against your work
- ✓You leave with a clear yes or no on whether to proceed
We build the documentation
Our CPA-credentialed team builds the case Examiners expect to see.
- ✓Time studies with your engineering and product teams
- ✓Project-level contemporaneous records
- ✓Wage allocation analysis tied to your books
- ✓Audit-ready substantiation
You receive your credit
Credits applied against your tax liability, with the documentation package to back them up.
- ✓Most studies complete in 4 to 8 weeks
- ✓Lookback up to three prior tax years on amended returns
- ✓Defense package included if an examiner ever asks
What Qualifies
The four-part test. In plain English.
The IRS uses four criteria to decide what activities qualify for the R&D credit. Your work probably meets more of them than you think.
Permitted purpose
The activity must aim to develop a new or improved product, process, software, technique, formula, or invention.
Technological in nature
The work must rely on principles of physics, biology, engineering, or computer science. Not aesthetic or stylistic choices.
Technical uncertainty
At the start of the work, the capability, methodology, or design must be uncertain. There is no obvious path to the outcome.
Process of experimentation
You evaluate alternatives, design iterations, run tests, and learn from results. Trial, error, and refinement.
What You Receive
Everything an examiner could ask for.
Every engagement ends with the same complete deliverable package. Your CPA can file with confidence, and if a question ever comes from the IRS, the answer is already documented.
- ✓Comprehensive R&D credit study report
- ✓Completed Form 6765 and supporting schedules
- ✓Wage allocation analysis tied to your payroll
- ✓Project-level contemporaneous documentation
- ✓Audit defense package, ready if needed
Featured Work
Real credits. Real companies.
Innovators across the country have recovered credits they didn't know they had earned.
Supply chain software company. Credits identified across multiple qualifying research activities.
Read the case study (PDF) →
3-year lookback. 15 employees surveyed. $3,720 per qualifying employee per year.
Read the case study (PDF) →
Premium center-console boat manufacturer. Credits recovered for custom hull and electronics R&D.
Read the case study (PDF) →Common Questions
About the process.
What clients ask most often before, during, and after we engage.
Most studies are completed within 4 to 8 weeks from the time we engage. We move at your team's pace through information gathering; the documentation work happens in parallel on our side.
Sit for a kickoff and a wrap, send us a roster of who worked on what, and answer a handful of follow-up questions. Total time commitment from your team is typically less than five hours across the entire engagement.
Our CPA-credentialed team handles every step: discovery, time studies, calculation, documentation, filing support. Your team contributes context and signoff. You are not learning the R&D credit rules; we are.
Yes. We can typically amend returns for the three prior tax years, which means many clients recover credits they were eligible for but never claimed alongside the current year filing.
We built it expecting that. The documentation is contemporaneous, project-level, and tied to your books. If an examiner asks, we have the answer ready and we work through it with you.
Ready to find out
Find out what your R&D work is worth.
Takes 15 minutes. No cost to find out. No obligation.