The same process powers both ways of claiming the credit (income-tax or payroll-tax offset). The election is finalized at Step 6, before your CPA files.
You complete a short assessment covering business activities, technical work, and team. Mainstreet uses it to confirm eligibility and build a preliminary estimate.
Mainstreet works with you to identify each business component — the specific products, processes, software, techniques, or formulations being developed or improved. Every claimed dollar traces back to a defined component.
For each component, Mainstreet documents how the work satisfies the four-part test: permitted purpose, technological in nature, elimination of uncertainty, and process of experimentation. This is what an examiner reviews on audit.
Mainstreet collects payroll, contractor, and supply data, then calculates qualified research expenses (QREs) per component — applying time allocations, the 65% contractor cap, and the optimal method (Regular vs. ASC) to maximize the credit.
Every supporting artifact — component descriptions, four-part test memos, expense workpapers, and time allocations — is packaged into a complete audit defense file, stored securely and available if the IRS ever requests substantiation.
Mainstreet prepares Form 6765 with all line items populated and shares it alongside a calculation summary. You review, ask questions, and approve before anything goes to your CPA.
You hand Form 6765 and filing instructions to your CPA, who attaches it to the annual business return. The credit reduces federal income tax for the year — and any unused amount carries forward up to 20 years.
Start at 15% success-based, or pick the pricing structure that fits your business. No credit, no fee.
Your company will grow. Your fee shouldn’t. Qualifying credits lock Year 1 pricing, so your credit climbs while your cost stays flat.