How to build an in-house R&D tax claims service

Quite early on in our journey building WhisperClaims we realised that we hadn’t just built a tool that would allow savvy accountants to do R&D claims quicker and easier, but in actual fact we had built something that would allow them to do much more. 

It’s one thing to harbour a desire to do things quicker and more thoroughly, and we have plenty of customers who are seeking to do just that – but we quickly noticed that many of our early adopters were actually looking to enter the R&D tax claims market for the first time. It wasn’t that they were looking to do more or better claims, it was simply that they either wanted to gain control over the process and stop outsourcing to third parties, or they wanted to build a new service line altogether.

We realised that what our customers were largely trying to do was to build a new in-house service effectively from scratch. 

To do this, they need more than just our app – which gives them the structure and the tools necessary to deliver a service without having to recruit or build a dedicated team (it really is very simple to use) – but they also needed wider help and support to give them the confidence to set out on what is a significant journey to building a new revenue stream.

So we started to build our support, and wow, has that grown! 

Our users gain confidence to make this journey through interacting with us on five key levels:

1. Consuming our comprehensive technical and advisory content on our website
2. Reading and digesting our range of ebooks, which give help and support in specific areas, including assessing scheme eligibility and sales & marketing
3. Attending our regular open webinars
4. Participating in our training courses, focussing on building core knowledge in the scheme and building CPD points as they go
5. Fully utilising our in-app help and support, including live chat within the WhisperClaims app itself where they can literally ask our team anything about the scheme (and they do!)

It’s been quite a journey, but all of this help and support is really giving our users the confidence and ability to get out there and provide the best possible service to their clients, delivering service quickly and, most importantly, cost-effectively.

So far, our users have identified over £200m of eligible activities in their clients, representing around £50m in tax benefits – a massive contribution to their clients successes, not least because that’s happened against the most difficult of economic backdrops.

As a first step to understanding how to go about building a new service line for yourself, take a look at our first ebook and maybe while you’re there you can check out our other ebooks here!