We supported Essex Services Group Limited by transforming their R&D claims process, making the process clearer, easier to manage and more time efficient.

About the client

Essex Services Group Limited (ESG) is a mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) services contractor based in Essex and Central London. The company covers commercial, retail, residential, public, education and technology sectors, providing full MEP service from design to installation.

The challenge

ESG have made R&D claims for over five years for a variety of MEP projects which have required unique design solutions. ESG operates many projects a year across several sectors and activity types. Given the volume of projects and the diverse mix of equipment, contractors and staff involved, previous claims had used sampling to assess the qualifying expenditure. Because of this, it became an extremely complex and a time-consuming task for the company to sign off claim calculations, and to be comfortable that the claim was an accurate representation of the qualifying expenditure. Buzzacott’s role to was strengthen ESG’s claims process, whilst enabling the finance and technical team to continue with their day-to-day work with minimal disruption to operations. Given the complex nature of the costs, the Buzzacott team needed to access and review internal records to accurately link expenses to qualifying projects.

Our approach

Buzzacott conducted a review of ESG’s claim approach and found that the top-down methodology lacked transparency, making it unclear how the claim was built up and which costs were included. At this point, it became clear that new methodology was needed. Our approach prepared the numbers from the bottom up by taking the project costs and discussing each cost item with the competent professional to create a robust and transparent claim calculation. Buzzacott provided ESG with new methodology for enhanced tracking of the claim back to invoicing. For most MEP design companies, the R&D claim for a site is expected to cover a small amount of the total project costs recorded on the financial system. A single supplier or contractor might work across multiple projects, working on a variety of activities in a single project. However, an R&D advisor needs to identify which portions are qualifying, and why.

The Buzzacott team successfully extracted claim information directly from the internal financial system, improving traceability and reducing the client’s workload. This approach led to a detailed audit trail that ESG’s finance team could present to the auditor. As the company is audited, they can agree the claim with the auditor prior to signing off on the accounts. To achieve this, Buzzacott worked to a compressed project timescale such that the full claim details was provided to the auditor within two months of year end. Previously, the claim preparation process took six months and would be completed just before the claim submission deadline, rather than in line with the auditor’s requirements. By tracking projects over the year end, delayed payment invoices that would have been missed with the previous claim process were picked up. Including the raw project costs in the technical interview assisted the competent professional in recalling those involved in the R&D work causing additional work to be claimed.

The outcome

Buzzacott’s thorough and robust claims process:

• Provided ESG with confidence that the submitted claim was accurate and compliant

• Minimised the time required from technical teams

• Identified qualifying items that would have been overlooked under the previous claim methodology.

"We have worked with Buzzacott for two years now and we are extremely impressed with the level of care, attention and service they provide. Primarily, they have provided us with R&D claim preparation expertise. Buzzacott’s knowledge of our business and what we do is exceptional and provides us with extreme confidence that the R&D claims we produce are robust, accurate and complete. The Buzzacott R&D team are the best we have ever worked with - they are efficient, communicative, proactive and always meet our tight deadlines.

What has impressed us the most is their holistic approach - they are able to look at the bigger picture and on numerous occasions have successfully identified issues outside of the R&D remit and provided expert advice (via their Tax Partner and team) and solutions to overcome the problem.

In summary, we cannot recommend Buzzacott enough."

Essex Services Group Limited