Preparing your SR&ED claim internally means your team handles everything. You identify eligible projects, gather documentation, write technical narratives, allocate costs, and submit the claim yourself.
For some companies, this works. If your claim is small, your R&D work is straightforward, and you have someone who genuinely understands CRA requirements, you might capture most of what you’re owed.
But here’s what I’ve seen over and over: most businesses only include the obvious R&D. They miss partial eligibility on development time. They exclude supporting roles. And they end up with a claim that’s 20% to 50% smaller than it should be.
The CRA isn’t looking for a description of what you built. They want to know what was uncertain. What did you not know at the start? What experiments or analysis did you run to find out?
Most internal teams describe their work like a product update log. “We improved system performance.” That’s not going to fly. A claim-ready narrative sounds more like: “We tested multiple architectures because standard methods failed under our specific load constraints.”
That gap between description and demonstration is where refunds disappear.
Another common problem: reconstructed documentation. If you’re piecing together your evidence after the fact rather than capturing it throughout the year, the CRA will notice. According to their review process guidelines, documents created when the work was being carried out are the most valuable supporting evidence.
In-house preparation does have real benefits. You keep 100% of your refund. No consultant takes a cut. For a company operating on tight margins, that matters.
You also build internal knowledge. When your team understands SR&ED eligibility requirements, they’re more likely to identify qualifying projects throughout the year. They document better. They think about innovation differently.
And there’s integration. An internal team knows your systems, your people, your R&D cadence. They don’t need a kickoff meeting to understand your business. They’re already inside it.
If your claim exceeds $50,000, you’re filing for the first time, your technical work is complex, or your documentation is scattered, a consultant isn’t a luxury. It’s risk management.
A good SR&ED consultant does more than fill out forms. They find projects your team missed. They translate your engineering work into CRA-compliant narratives. They structure your cost allocation so every eligible dollar gets claimed.
And when the CRA comes knocking for a review, they’re standing beside you with documentation that holds up under scrutiny. SRED.ca includes audit defense as part of its service, and backs every claim with a 75% approval guarantee.
Most consultants charge on contingency. They take a percentage of your refund, typically between 10% and 25%. The larger your claim, the more you pay.
But the real question isn’t what you pay. It’s what you keep.
Consider this scenario: A company files DIY and claims $180,000. After the CRA review, they’re approved for $130,000. The next year, they work with a consultant who identifies $260,000 in eligible work and gets $240,000 approved. Even after a 15% fee, they net $204,000. That’s $74,000 more than they kept doing it themselves.
SRED.ca operates differently. Flat-fee pricing means you know your cost upfront. A larger refund doesn’t mean a larger bill. Over five years on a $300,000 annual claim, the savings compared to traditional contingency firms can exceed $165,000.
The CRA wants contemporaneous evidence. Project logs, testing results, meeting minutes, commit histories, failed prototypes. Anything that shows your systematic investigation as it happened.
They’re looking for answers to specific questions: What was the technological uncertainty? What experiments did you run? What did you learn? Who did the work, and when?
If your records only exist in the heads of your developers, you have a problem. If your documentation was rebuilt months after the work ended, you have a bigger problem.
This is where year-round support matters. SRED.ca maintains custom technical diaries throughout your fiscal year, capturing periodic interviews, reports, and meeting notes. When it’s time to file, your evidence is already organized and audit-ready.
DIY claims get reviewed more often. Not because the CRA targets self-filers, but because the claims tend to have gaps. Weak technical narratives. Missing cost documentation. Unclear project boundaries.
When a review happens, DIY claimants often lose ground. The refund they expected shrinks during the back-and-forth. They didn’t build their claim to withstand scrutiny, so it doesn’t.
Consultant-prepared claims are structured for this reality from day one. The documentation is organized. The narratives are tight. The cost allocation is defensible. When the CRA asks questions, there are clear answers.
Start with the math. What’s your expected claim size? What percentage would a contingency consultant take? What would flat-fee pricing cost instead?
Then look at your capacity. Does your team have time to learn SR&ED requirements? Can they take weeks away from core R&D to prepare the claim? Will they still be around next year to handle the audit that might come 18 months later?
Finally, assess your risk tolerance. A CRA review isn’t the end of the world, but it’s not nothing either. If your claim gets reduced by 30%, can your business absorb that? If your documentation doesn’t hold up, what happens?
Most SR&ED firms operate the same way they did two decades ago. Contingency fees. Vague deliverables. A consultant who shows up once a year to collect information, files the claim, and disappears until the cheque clears.
SRED.ca built something different. Year-round engagement means quarterly interviews and ongoing documentation support. A secure client portal shows your accrued SR&ED in real time. Flat-fee pricing means no surprises. And the guarantee means if your claim doesn’t deliver at least 75% of its filed value, you don’t pay.
The goal isn’t just to file your claim. It’s to maximize what you recover and make sure that recovery stands up to review.
The in-house versus consultant question doesn’t have one right answer. It depends on your claim size, your team’s capacity, your risk tolerance, and your documentation practices.
Small, straightforward claims from teams with SR&ED experience? In-house might work. Complex technical projects, first-time filers, or anyone who wants to maximize their refund and sleep well during audit season? That’s where a consultant earns their fee.
The program is there. The credits are there. The question is whether you’re capturing everything you’re owed.
Most properly prepared claims get approved regardless of who files them. The real difference is claim size. DIY claims often result in 20% to 50% lower refunds due to missed eligible projects and weak documentation. SRED.ca’s guarantee guarantee ensures your claim delivers at least 75% of its filed value.
Most consultants charge contingency fees between 10% and 25% of your refund. SRED.ca charges flat fees instead: $15,000 for refunds up to $349,000, $30,000 for refunds between $350,000 and $999,000, and $60,000 for refunds of $1 million or more.
Consider working with a consultant if your claim exceeds $50,000, you’re filing for the first time, your technical work is complex, your documentation is limited, or you’ve had a claim reduced during CRA review. SRED.ca offers free consultations to help you assess your situation.
The CRA expects contemporaneous evidence created during your R&D work: project logs, testing results, meeting minutes, code commit histories, and records of failed attempts. SRED.ca maintains year-round documentation through quarterly interviews and custom technical diaries to ensure your claim is audit-ready.
You can, but it’s risky. CRA reviews require you to explain your technical uncertainty, systematic investigation, and cost allocation in detail. SRED.ca includes audit defense in its service and applies the same 75% approval guarantee to defended claims.
Do you have a SRED question? Planning for the future or perhaps you want to know how much your claim might be? Don’t worry, our CPA is always ready to answer any question. Get a SRED expert in your corner.
Have a question? We’d love to help. If you don’t have a SR&ED expert in your corner, doesn’t it make sense to have one?
