Start with your client’s actual needs.
Identify whether your client needs an initial activity assessment, a full study, additional state analysis, or review of a file already prepared. Those are different assignments. Tell the provider which entities, years, and jurisdictions your firm expects to address and where the filing calendar creates constraints.
Ask who will collect technical facts and whether your firm will participate in client interviews. Ask who will resolve discrepancies in project records or questions about a contract. Confirming what each proposal includes makes the fees and services easier to compare.
Ask how the provider reaches a conclusion.
Request an explanation of how research activities are evaluated and how costs are connected to those activities. Ask how the team handles mixed employee duties, customer-funded work, incomplete records, and software classification. These questions reveal more about the preparation process than a broad statement about maximizing credits.
A useful discussion should include exclusions and uncertainty. Ask what happens when the available evidence supports less than the client expected. Your firm needs conclusions that can be traced to facts, not only a polished final narrative.
For a focused review framework, see our R&D study checklist for CPAs.
Ask what your firm will receive.
- Business-component descriptions and the underlying factual support.
- Qualified research expense schedules with source reconciliations.
- Wage allocation explanations and excluded activities.
- Contract research analysis appropriate to the engagement.
- Historical inputs and calculation-method workpapers.
- State-specific schedules and open questions where included.
Ask whether schedules will be usable in your review process and how revisions will be identified. Your reviewer should be able to follow a number from the calculation back to its supporting record. Confirm how final files will be delivered and retained.
A sample deliverable discussion can be helpful without requiring anyone to share another client's confidential information. Ask the provider to explain its format and review process using a hypothetical example.
Set expectations for client communication.
Agree on who introduces the engagement, sends requests, schedules technical discussions, and communicates unresolved issues. Some firms prefer to stay closely involved; others want the study preparer to coordinate directly with the client while keeping the accountant informed.
Specify which approach your client needs rather than assuming it is included. A staged document request can reduce repetitive questions and help your firm distinguish urgent filing inputs from items that can follow later.
Also separate preparation from return filing and examination representation. Define those responsibilities explicitly, including what support is available after delivery and whether additional services require a separate engagement.
Confirm the fees and services included.
Paribus Advisors does not charge up-front fees. Fees vary by project, so discuss the arrangement and payment timing for your client's engagement. Confirm how scope changes would affect the work before adding years, entities, or states.
When comparing providers, ask the same questions about deliverables and exclusions. A proposal is easier to assess when your firm knows what the client receives and which responsibilities remain with the tax preparer.
Call Paribus to discuss your client's R&D study needs and your firm's review process. Learn how our outsourced R&D studies can help your firm prepare a client’s claim.