SR&ED Consultant Fees vs. Fixed-Fee Software

Traditional SR&ED consultants charge 15–30% of your refund. On a $300 000 claim, that’s $45 000–$90 000 in fees over the life of the credit. Here is what you’re paying for — and what you’re not.

What SR&ED consultants charge in Canada

The standard model for SR&ED consulting is contingency pricing: the preparer takes a percentage of the SR&ED benefits recovered. Typical rates range from 15% to 30%, though some boutique firms charge more for niche industries. The percentage applies to the total federal and provincial benefit — not just the federal ITC.

Some firms charge a base fee plus a lower percentage, or offer fixed-fee retainers for large enterprise clients. Most small-to-mid-size companies are quoted straight contingency with no cap.

The five-year cost comparison

Many Canadian companies file SR&ED every year for 5–10 years. The compounding cost of percentage fees is substantial:

• Year 1 credit $150,000 at 20% = $30,000 fee
• Year 2 credit $200,000 at 20% = $40,000 fee
• Year 3 credit $250,000 at 20% = $50,000 fee
• Year 4 credit $250,000 at 20% = $50,000 fee
• Year 5 credit $300,000 at 20% = $60,000 fee
• Total fees over 5 years: $230,000

At SREDY.IO’s $299 flat fee per claim, the same five years cost $1,495. The difference is the amount you keep.

Self-Serve vs. managed: what you actually get

A percentage-fee consultant typically provides technical writing assistance, financial allocation support, and sometimes CRA audit defence. The value proposition is that they “know what CRA wants.” That knowledge is real — but it is also learnable, and most of it is encoded in CRA’s own published guidance.

SREDY.IO’s Self-Serve package provides: a guided technical interview that maps your work to CRA criteria, AI-assisted T661 narrative drafts in CRA’s language, financial schedule generation, and an evidence index for your accountant. You write the claim. Your accountant reviews and files. No percentage leaves your refund.

For founders who want full management, White Glove service is also available at custom pricing — still typically below contingency consultant rates.

Red flags when hiring an SR&ED preparer

• Guaranteed credit amounts before reviewing your work — no one can promise a specific refund
• No written engagement letter or scope of work
• Reluctance to explain the eligibility criteria or what CRA specifically requires
• Inflation of claim scope beyond what your records support
• No CRA audit support included in the engagement
• Fees contingent on not being audited (a sign the claim may be aggressive)

When self-service SR&ED preparation makes sense

Self-serve preparation is well-suited to: software and SaaS companies with well-documented development work (Jira, GitHub, etc.), biotech and medtech companies with clear lab records, and founders who understand their technical work and want to articulate it themselves. If your technical team can describe what they tried and what they learned, you can prepare a defensible claim with the right structure.