What SR&ED consultants cost
How contingency pricing works, what the 15–25% range means at real claim sizes, what you are paying for, and when a flat fee makes more sense.
Most SR&ED consultants are paid a percentage of the credit they help you claim, payable when the refund arrives. The commonly quoted range for an established claim is 15% to 25%; first-time claims and small claims often sit at the top of it or above. The appeal is obvious — nothing up front, nothing if the claim fails — and for a company that has never seen a T661 it can feel like the only option.
What the percentage means in dollars
The fee scales with the credit, not with the work. A claim twice the size takes roughly the same interviews, the same three write-ups per project and the same schedules, but costs twice as much to have prepared.
| Combined credit | Consultant at 15% | Consultant at 25% | SREDDY flat fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $7,500 | $12,500 | $4,700 |
| $150,000 | $22,500 | $37,500 | $4,700 |
| $390,300 | $58,545 | $97,575 | $4,700 |
The last row is the corporation in Alberta's Example 1: $390,300 combined, on $1,000,000 of qualified expenditures.
What you are paying a consultant for
- The interview. Someone who knows the eligibility tests asks your engineers what they did and why it was hard.
- The write-ups. Lines 242, 244 and 246 for each project, in CRA's vocabulary.
- The arithmetic. Salary allocations, the proxy amount, contract netting, assistance, the Alberta schedule, and the T2 lines they land on.
- The coordination. Getting the package to whoever files the return, on time.
- Review support, if the claim is selected — sometimes included, sometimes billed separately. Read the engagement letter.
None of that changes with the size of the credit. What changes is the consultant's revenue.
Other ways it is priced
Some firms offer a fixed fee, an hourly rate, or a reduced percentage for a multi-year commitment. A fixed fee is worth asking for on any claim you expect to repeat, because after the first year the work is mostly maintenance of a process you already have.
Where SREDDY sits
SREDDY charges $4,700 per claim, per tax year, whatever the credit comes to. It is not a consultant: nobody at Bison & Bird prepares or reviews your claim. The interview and the write-ups are done by the AI you already use, working from the files you give it; the arithmetic, the deadlines and the checks against the rules are done by SREDDY's engine, with every step shown. Your accountant files the return as usual.
If a review comes, SREDDY does not represent you. The working papers and the evidence index it produces are laid out the way a reviewer asks for them, and your accountant or an SR&ED specialist can work from them.
Fee ranges: publicly quoted contingency terms of Canadian SR&ED consultancies, as recorded in SREDDY's advertising-claims register · Worked figures: SREDDY engine on TRA Guide Example 1
Rates and limits are read from SREDDY's parameter table at build time, last verified against the published sources on August 13, 2026. This page explains the rules; it is not tax, legal or accounting advice, and CRA and Alberta TRA decide every claim on its own facts.
- The Alberta Innovation Employment Grant, explainedWhat the IEG is, who gets it, how the 8% and 12% parts are worked out, and two examples from Alberta's own guide, calculated step by step.
- Federal SR&ED tax credit rates and limitsThe 35% and 15% investment tax credit rates, the expenditure limit and how taxable capital reduces it, what is refundable, and the proxy, contract and salary rules behind the qualified figure.
- SR&ED deadlines: federal and AlbertaWhen the T661 has to reach CRA, when Alberta's Schedule 29 has to reach TRA, why they differ, and the dates for common year ends.
- Proxy versus traditional: the overhead electionWhat the choice on Form T661 actually decides, the 55% proxy amount, when each method wins, and a worked comparison from the engine.
- What qualifies as SR&EDThe three questions CRA asks of any project, what counts and what is excluded, how software work is judged, and the three write-ups the T661 requires.
- SR&ED terms in plain languageThe words on the forms and in the rules, each explained in a sentence or two, with the number attached where there is one.