Australia's R&D Operating System.
One team and one evidence platform for companies investing $1M+ a year in R&D: entity, program, evidence, IP and the R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI) claim.
Who it's for
Everyone we work with invests at least $1M a year in R&D and is running a multi-year program, typically three years or more.
Already in Australia
Your R&D program, run like an operating system.
For Australian companies spending $1M+ a year on R&D and scaling a multi-year program. You need a program that scales, clean evidence and board reporting.
First step: a program health check
Coming from overseas
Run your R&D in Australia. We run everything else.
For international R&D-intensive companies investing $1M+ a year in R&D in Australia. You need a base, a qualifying program, talent and local know-how.
First step: an Australia readiness assessment
The problem
The incentive exists to reward serious R&D. The system around it is fragmented, retrospective and exposed. That is the gap R&D Labs exists to close.
Lawyer, accountant, consultant and patent attorney. Each competent; none accountable for the whole program.
Evidence rebuilt months after the work, usually by the most senior engineers.
Scrutiny of R&D claims is rising, and a weak claim is hard to defend after the fact.
At $1M+ a year, a weak claim is material to runway, tax and board confidence.
How it works
Set up, Run, Evidence, Claim: repeated every year of the program, with every job inside one engagement.
Entity, agreements, IP
Program design, people, partners
Captured as the work happens
Registration, schedule, review
Services
Delivered by R&D Labs or a delivery partner, depending on the service [to confirm which, per service]. You deal with one program lead either way.
01 Set up
The right entity and group structure for your R&D, decided before the spend.
Australian-resident director arrangements where your structure needs them.
Core activities mapped from the first hypothesis, so the program is designed to be evidenced.
Cover for the entity, the people and the program, arranged through licensed partners.
02 Run
The science itself, delivered by your team, research fellows or research partners.
One named program lead and one plan for every workstream.
The day-to-day running of the program around the science.
R&D spend recorded as it happens and tied to the activities it supports.
03 Evidence
Written research that sets out what was known, what was uncertain and what new knowledge the work set out to generate.
Hypotheses, experiments and results logged on the platform the day the work happens.
Independent review of the records and the numbers, through qualified partners.
04 Claim
Advice on the R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI): eligibility, registration and what the program needs to show.
How R&D spend is treated in the accounts and in the claim.
The claim prepared alongside your tax position, by registered tax agents.
If AusIndustry or the ATO asks questions, the records that answer them are already in one place.
How delivery works
The services are delivered internally and through delivery partners and research fellows. The platform keeps everyone on the same page, with the information stored in one system for audit and compliance.
Your named program lead, the operating model and the platform. We own the plan, the deadlines and the gaps between providers.
Accountants, lawyers, RDTI specialists and consultants who deliver specialist services inside the program, working in the same system.
Researchers and research partners who design and run the science with your team, with their work recorded as it happens.
Partner and research fellow names will be listed once agreements are in place [to confirm]. Tax agent services are provided by registered tax agents, and insurance and audit through appropriately licensed or registered partners [to confirm].
The platform
The R&D Labs platform [name to confirm; proposed: Loop] is where the client, the program lead, delivery partners and research fellows work on one program, in one system.
The platform is in development. Features below describe the prototype and may change.
Each program broken into research questions and core and supporting activities, with owners and review status.
Hypothesis, experiment, observation and conclusion, recorded in order and dated.
Files, results and decisions linked back to the activity they support, so the chain is visible.
Engagements with research fellows, labs and delivery partners, each with access scoped to their work.
Milestones, contracts and R&D spend in the same place as the science they relate to.
Registration, reviews and information requests, worked on together by the client, the program lead and the tax agent.
Why R&D Labs
Entity, program, evidence, IP and claim under one engagement.
Contemporaneous records, captured the day the work happens.
Programs planned three years ahead, including proposed changes to the RDTI [to confirm wording].
No incentive to over-claim. Fee model [to confirm].
An R&D assessment looks at your program, your structure and your records before anyone talks numbers. Format and fee [to confirm].