Accountant vs R&D Tax Specialist: Which Do You Need?

Two different jobs

Your accountant prepares your statutory accounts, runs payroll and files your Corporation Tax return, the CT600. That work is essential, and it is where an R&D tax claim ends up.

An R&D tax consultant does a different job. They identify which projects meet the HMRC definition of R&D, interview your technical team, write the technical narrative and prepare the qualifying costs and the additional information form that every claim now needs. The question is not which one you need, but who does which part.

What an accountant does well

Accountants know your numbers, your tax position and your deadlines. They are well placed to check that staff, subcontractor and software costs reconcile to your accounts, and to include the relief correctly in the return.

Where claims tend to struggle is the technical case. Describing technological uncertainty, the baseline you started from and how your team tried to resolve it calls for scientific or engineering understanding that most general practices do not have in house.

What an R&D tax specialist adds

A good specialist brings engineers and scientists who can talk to your developers or researchers in their own terms, then explain the advance in a way HMRC recognises. They also know where the boundaries sit: which activities qualify, how grant funding and subcontracting change a claim, and when the merged scheme or ERIS applies.

That depth matters most for the cases HMRC looks at closely, such as software claims, first claims and claims with large subcontractor costs. Our R&D tax credit specialists work on exactly these.

Why HMRC scrutiny has changed the decision

HMRC now asks for far more detail than it used to. Claims need an additional information form with project level descriptions, and companies claiming for the first time, or after a gap, may need to submit a claim notification first. Missing either step can make a claim invalid.

HMRC also opens more compliance checks than in the past, and generic descriptions such as "we developed new software" are a common trigger. Our claim notification and AIF guide explains the steps in full.

Working together, not instead

You do not need to change accountant to use a specialist. The best results come from a clear split: the specialist prepares the technical report, qualifying cost schedule and additional information form; your accountant reviews the figures and files the CT600.

At GrantUp we hand over clean figures and a short summary your accountant can drop straight into the return, and we answer their questions directly so there is no duplicated work.

What it costs

Accountants usually charge for R&D work by the hour or as part of the annual fee. Specialists more often charge a success fee, a percentage of the benefit you receive, so you pay nothing if there is no claim.

GrantUp charges a success fee only for R&D tax claims, typically 10%, with no upfront fee, no lock in and no minimum claim size, so startups and first claims are welcome. Because we also win innovation grants, we can plan grant funded projects and your claim together. Our guide to what to look for in an R&D tax credit specialist covers fee models in more detail.

Five questions to decide

1. Is the R&D obvious and the claim small and simple? A confident accountant may be enough. 2. Is most of the work software, data or AI? A technical specialist will usually write a stronger case. 3. Is this your first claim, or your first after a gap? Notification deadlines make early specialist input worthwhile.

4. Do you have grant funding or overseas subcontractors? These change how costs are treated, so check with someone who handles both. 5. Would you be comfortable defending the claim if HMRC asked questions? If not, choose an adviser who includes enquiry support.

Where to go next

Get a quick figure with the R&D tax calculator, then book a call. We will tell you plainly whether a claim is worth making and how we would work with your accountant.