Ricerca
The platform

From raw data to defensible credit — one system, no gaps.

Most R&D credit tools are a questionnaire with a spreadsheet behind it. Ricerca is a purpose-built platform that enforces the IRC §41 statutory tests in software — collecting the evidence, screening the exclusions, computing every layer of benefit, and challenging its own work — before R&D experts review and finalize the study.

Talk to our team See the process
Benefit layers, one base
  • Federal §41 credit — both methods
  • State R&D credits
  • §41(h) payroll-tax offset (Form 8974)
  • §174A domestic expensing position
  • §41(f) controlled-group allocation
The pipeline

Five stages, each one accountable to the last.

Data flows one way — from source systems to a finalized study — and every stage must clear before the next begins.

  1. 01

    Collect

    Payroll, general ledger, and engineering evidence flow in through secure connectors or uploads — organized automatically.

  2. 02

    Substantiate

    Every business component is documented against the §41 tests before a dollar is counted — the platform enforces it.

  3. 03

    Compute

    QREs, both credit methods, state credits, and your §174A position — computed from one substantiated base.

  4. 04

    Challenge

    An independent AI examiner red-teams the study; a second model family runs compliance QC; humans resolve disagreements.

  5. 05

    Deliver

    R&D experts review and finalize. You receive the study, filing-ready forms, and an organized audit file.

Substantiation engine

The statute, enforced — not assumed.

Thin studies fail because qualification is asserted, not documented. Ricerca refuses to count a dollar of QRE until the §41 substantiation behind it is complete.

Why this matters

Four-part test, per business component

Permitted purpose, technological in nature, elimination of uncertainty, and a process of experimentation — evaluated and documented for every business component, not asserted in bulk.

All eight §41(d)(4) exclusion screens

Research after commercial production, adaptation, duplication, surveys and studies, internal-use software, foreign research, social sciences, and funded research — screened up front so excluded work never inflates the claim.

Funded research & contract analysis

Rights-and-risk analysis on contract work, the funded-research rules applied to your agreements, and contract research capped at the statutory 65% — the analysis examiners probe first.

Enforced at three layers

The portal collects employee duties and roles, component types, alternatives evaluated, supply/computer/contract screens, and trade-or-business facts — and enforces completeness at intake, at submission, and again before any credit is finalized.
Credit engine

Every layer of benefit, from one substantiated base.

Once the facts are in, the platform computes the full stack — federal, state, payroll offset, and expensing — so nothing is left behind and nothing double-counts.

Both methods, compared

The Regular Credit and the Alternative Simplified Credit are both computed so you can see the stronger result — with the §280C reduced-credit election considered in context.

§41(f) controlled groups

Related entities are aggregated as a single taxpayer, the group credit is allocated across members on QRE share, and a standalone controlled-group statement documents the determination.

Payroll-tax offset for startups

Qualified small businesses can elect under §41(h) to apply up to $500,000 per year of the credit against payroll taxes — computed and carried onto Form 8974.

State credits, same base

State R&D credits are computed from the same substantiated QRE base, with each state’s own qualification and exclusion rules applied — the benefit most studies leave behind.

§174A expensing position

Your domestic research expensing position under the new §174A is mapped alongside the credit — deduction and credit, captured together and consistently.

Prior years & amendments

Open prior years, base-period amounts, and amended-return posture are handled from the same books-and-records trail, so history and current-year positions stay consistent.
Adversarial review

The platform argues with itself, so the IRS doesn’t have to.

Before a study reaches human reviewers, it survives an adversarial gauntlet — independent AI reviewers with different model families, and a system that would rather stop than guess.

01

Independent AI examiner

A red-team agent — a different AI model family than the one that drafted the study — challenges qualification the way an IRS examiner would, hunting for weak components before an examiner can.

02

Cross-family compliance QC

A second, independent model family re-checks the statutory tests and the math. Independence is counted by model family, so the same brain never grades its own homework.

03

Abstention gate

When reviewers disagree or substantiation is thin, the platform abstains — no study auto-issues. Open questions route to people, consistent with AICPA standards for tax positions.

04

Experts finalize

R&D experts review qualification decisions, amounts, and narratives, and finalize every study before it is issued. Approval is gated on complete §41 substantiation — the software will not let it through otherwise.

The qualification engine is also regression-tested in CI against a golden set of §41 fact patterns, with a hard gate on over-claiming — so a release can’t quietly loosen what qualifies.

What you receive

A deliverable set built for three audiences.

Your leadership gets clarity, your preparer gets filing-ready forms, and — if it ever comes to it — an examiner gets organized, contemporaneous substantiation.

The study report

Credit summary plus rich technical narratives per business component, per employee, and per expense category — mapped to the four-part test.

Filing-ready forms

Form 6765 (Dec. 2024 revision, Sections A–G) that reconciles on its face, Form 8974 for the payroll offset, and a pro-forma Form 3800.

QRE workpapers

Wages, supplies, contract research, and cloud/computer rental — every figure traced back to payroll, GL, or invoice source.

The audit file

Contemporaneous evidence, exclusion screens, and the controlled-group and funded-research analyses — organized the way an examiner will ask for them.

Security & confidentiality

Built like the tax data it holds is sensitive. Because it is.

Payroll files, general ledgers, and engineering records are among the most sensitive data a company has. The platform treats them that way at every layer.

Our security approach

Encrypted everywhere

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, with integration tokens sealed under dedicated key encryption.

§7216 confidentiality, automated

Taxpayer-identifying data is automatically redacted before any AI processing — confidentiality enforced in code, not policy documents.

Enterprise AI routing

In production, AI calls route exclusively through enterprise Azure AI Foundry endpoints. Your data is never used to train public or third-party models.

Read-only, minimal connectors

Accounting and payroll connections are read-only; engineering connectors collect metadata only — never your source code.

Modern access control

Sign in with Microsoft 365 single sign-on, role-based access, and tenant isolation between firms and clients.

E-signed engagements

Engagement letters are signed electronically in the portal, so scope, terms, and authorization are on record before work begins.

Integrations

We meet your data where it lives.

Ricerca pulls wages, the general ledger, and engineering evidence from the tools you already use, so intake is near-effortless and every qualified dollar traces back to source. And you can always start from a secure spreadsheet, GL, or payroll export — no integration is ever required.

  • Live Connect today with a direct OAuth link
  • Rolling out Connector built — being enabled now
  • Planned On the roadmap

Accounting & ERP

QuickBooks Online connects directly today. The rest connect through our unified accounting connector — one secure, read-only link to your general ledger.

  • Live QuickBooks Online
  • Rolling out Xero
  • Rolling out NetSuite
  • Rolling out Sage Intacct
  • Rolling out Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • Rolling out FreshBooks

Payroll & HR

One secure connection through our unified payroll connector reaches hundreds of payroll and HRIS systems — these are the ones we see most.

  • Rolling out ADP
  • Rolling out Gusto
  • Rolling out Paychex
  • Rolling out Justworks
  • Rolling out Rippling
  • Rolling out TriNet
  • Rolling out Workday
  • Rolling out BambooHR

Engineering evidence

Contemporaneous proof of experimentation from the tools your engineers already use. Metadata only — commits, pull requests, and tickets. Never your source code.

  • Rolling out GitHub
  • Rolling out Jira
  • Planned GitLab
  • Planned Bitbucket
  • Planned Linear
  • Planned Azure DevOps

Don’t see your system? Tell us what you use — our connector layer reaches hundreds of payroll, accounting, and HRIS platforms, and secure exports work today regardless.

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See the platform on your own numbers

Connect a system or upload an export, and we’ll show you what a fully substantiated study looks like — computed, challenged, and finalized by R&D experts.

Contact Us How it works