business focus of the month of the month
Unearthing innovation with R&D writes Kapil Davda, director, Haines Watts
Tax benefits hidden within your work could give you an edge on your competitors.
Uncovering innovation within a business is rarely a simple process. You’ll often find it buried within different aspects of an organisation, and in some cases it’s even outsourced. Sadly, only a fraction of eligible companies are actually claiming. Many business owners say to me: “We don’t really do R&D”.
The very term ‘R&D’ (Research and Development) often deters many firms from applying. The reality is, for those who work outside of the science and technology sectors, it is a term that’s seldom used in day-to-day work and therefore they assume they aren’t eligible.
Whether you’re a digital agency designing a new app, an architect improving building efficiencies or a food manufacturer developing production techniques, innovation can come in all different shapes and sizes, and is seldom bound by industry.
A healthy benefit
The tax benefits of R&D relief are potentially huge. The average claim for a SME can generate upwards of £55,000 in tax benefit – a worthwhile venture in anyone’s book.
The numbers speak volumes
R&D relief enables a company to deduct an extra 130% of qualifying costs from its yearly profit, as well as the normal 100% deduction, to create a 230% total deduction. Qualifying expenditure can include costs spent on staff, software, transformed/consumed materials and subcontractors.
Last year Haines Watts achieved 100% success rate helping over 1,750 clients all over the UK recoup an average of over £55,000 in cash refunds through R&D tax credits, and helped businesses save over £70 million in total. In turn, this has enabled business- owners to reinvest in innovation, future-proof their companies and, most importantly, ignite further growth.
What’s more, your R&D projects do not need to have been successful – it’s the time and money invested in developing new processes, products or technology.
Vast numbers of these problem-solving businesses are neglecting the hidden value of innovation – with an estimated nine out of 10 eligible SMEs failing to claim for R&D tax relief.
If you’re unsure if you could qualify for tax relief, it is absolutely worth speaking to a R&D specialist. The potential dividends could transform your business and help you realise your financial goals.
To discover more, contact your local Haines Watts office.
hwca.com
To find out more:
clienttalk.co.uk
of the month
Where strategy meets of the month
people - a new professional services marketing consultancy launches in Reading
November sees the launch of Client Talk. Founded by Claire Rason, formerly head of marketing and business development at Boyes Turner LLP, Client Talk promises to change the way marketing consultancies support professional services firms
Client Talk is where strategy meets people. It brings together marketing and business development excellence with coaching and training. Rason believes that it is only by seeing the bigger picture that a strategy can add real value to a professional services firm. Rason has brought together consultants, trainers and coaches under one roof. All of them know professional services and all know that delivering excellence means focusing on the bigger picture: strategy, clients and professionals.
Rason told us: “I have worked for numerous professional services firms of varying sizes, and what is universally true is that for a strategy to deliver it needs to not only have clients at its core, but also the professionals. A strategy must bottle what makes the professionals special. It must have their buy-in if they are to deliver it.”
Client Talk’s ethos is that for a firm to give its clients a reason to choose them, it must truly understand its clients, so as to better meet their needs. Professionals can never ask too many questions and should never stop trying to understand what their clients want, think and feel. However, marketeers and business developers must also understand the professionals, so that they can work better with their strengths, in order to achieve successful implementation of strategy.
“If we can dive down and understand people’s motivations and mindsets, we can see greater returns. We have created a diagnostic to provide a snapshot of where your professionals are against four key metrics: skills, motivation, mindset and understanding of strategy. We can identify what might be stopping your strategy from achieving the results you envisaged and can help show you where you will get the best return on investment with your professionals. It’s a simple tool that provides powerful insight.”
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businessmag.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
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