For accounting firms
You know your clients.We know their R&D payroll tax exemption.
Some of them may be able to recover tens of thousands of euros in payroll tax without knowing it. You tell us who they are, we prepare and defend the file — while you retain the relationship.
Choose your time directly in the calendar. Nothing to prepare and no documents to gather. See how responsibilities are shared
We never contact one of your clients without you. If no file succeeds, nobody receives an invoice.
Published by EIF Digital · supported by Forecast Consulting and Groupe EIF
Company A
6 developers · software publishingCompany B
2 engineers · engineering officeCompany C
1 technical profile · to assessCompany D
retail · no R&D≈ €43,200 / year
Actual amount subject to Belspo eligibility.Your commission
On every successful file, agreed in writing beforehand.
Harper relies on a network of firms specialising in the R&D exemption — Forecast Consulting and EIF Innovation — to secure every file and ensure no amount due is missed.
R&D happens where you least expect it.
There is no need for a laboratory or a technology company. Whenever a business designs, improves or develops something with qualified profiles, the question is worth asking. You probably already have such clients in your portfolio.
Software and platforms
A product, an application, a redesigned architecture, or improvements to system security or performance.
Engineering and design offices
Design, calculation, prototyping, testing and development of a bespoke solution.
Industry and production
A new process, a modified line, a material or a machine adapted in-house.
Health, biotech and pharma
Analytical development, trials, medical devices and formulation.
Food industry
New recipes, manufacturing processes, preservation, quality and packaging.
Construction and special techniques
Implementation methods, energy performance, materials and novel technical solutions.
Energy and environment
Recovery, treatment, efficiency, emission reduction and the circular economy.
Data, AI and electronics
Algorithms, models, sensors, embedded systems and automation.
The sector is not what matters. The work is.
An industrial baker developing a preservation process conducts research. A service company reselling standard software does not. Three questions are enough to sort your clients:
1
Are they developing something?
A product, process or method — not merely producing or reselling.
2
Do they employ qualified profiles?
Engineers, developers, scientists and qualified technicians.
3
Is there an element of uncertainty?
The outcome was not guaranteed: they had to research, test and try again.
Three yeses probably mean there is something to recover. Can you already think of two or three names? One name is enough for us to take a look.
This is not accounting. It is technical qualification.
Describing research projects, substantiating qualifications, establishing R&D time and documenting everything so it stands up for years is not part of your remit — nor should it be.
No general accounting firm offers it. It is not an omission; it is another profession.
It is ours. In fact, it is all we do.
Projects qualified
4 of 7 projects retainedQualifications verified
6 profiles · 6 substantiatedR&D time established
monthly recordsBelspo file
documented and archivedThe accounting firm is not involved in any of these stages.
A right that almost nobody claims.
The exemption exists and your clients are entitled to it, yet it remains unused. Not for lack of interest: between the right and the money recovered are four obstacles that nobody in an SME has time to overcome.
Qualify the projects
Each project must be described and shown to constitute genuine research. A commercial title or invoice is not enough — the uncertainty and the work undertaken must be explained.
Our engineers qualify every project and write the technical justification.
Substantiate qualifications
Every person included must hold an eligible qualification, and evidence must be available. One misclassified profile can invalidate the entire line during an audit.
We verify every profile and exclude anything that would not stand up.
Establish research time
You must know who spent how much time on which project, month after month. An estimate reconstructed at year-end will not withstand an audit.
We set up tracking and document it at source as work progresses.
Stand the test of time
An audit may happen years later — after the people involved have left and nobody remembers the project. Without an archived file, the exemption is lost.
The file remains archived and documented, and we respond to the authorities.
Seven steps. You handle one.
This is everything between “this client may be doing research” and “the money has been recovered and the file stands up”.
The first step is yours. The other six are ours — and you track their progress through your firm access.
Let us be clear from the outset: we are not here to take your clients.
We only work on files you entrust to us, and only on the R&D component. We never contact your clients on our own initiative, during or after the file. We do not offer accounting, tax or advisory services.
Your client remains yours, on this matter as on every other — and that is written into the agreement.
Your client remains yours. The technical file is ours.
You retain
Nothing changes in your client relationship.
The client relationship
Accounting and tax
Your advisory role
The decision whether to entrust us with a file
Harper handles
The part nobody wants to prepare.
Project and profile qualification
Preparation of the technical file
Belspo documentation
Follow-up and defence in the event of an audit
7
referred files3
in progress2
completedCompany A
exemption notifiedCompany B
file being preparedCompany C
qualification pendingYou do not hand over a file in the dark.
Every partner firm has its own access to the Harper platform. You can see the status of every file you have entrusted to us without having to ask.
All referred clients in one placeWho is eligible, in progress or completed.
Real-time progressNo more calls to find out where things stand.
Amounts recovered, file by fileYou know what your client actually received.
Your commission trackingWhat is due, what has been paid and for which file.
You remain informed before your client — you never hear the news from them.
If an audit happens, we answer.
We document and archive the file and handle discussions with the authorities, together with the network’s experts. Your firm does not assume responsibility for the R&D component.
Documented file
Projects, qualifications and hours substantiated item by item from the outset.
Complete archive
Everything is retained and can be retrieved years after filing.
Defence included
We handle discussions with the authorities at no extra cost.
A firm partnership, paid on results.
You refer a client and we do the work. If the file succeeds, you receive an introducer’s commission. The rate is agreed with you based on volume and involvement, in writing before the first file.
No cost to your firm
No volume commitment
Your client signs, so the relationship remains yours
Referral rate
agreed with you based on volumeWritten agreement
signed before the first filePayment
on every successful fileThe network behind Harper
You are not recommending a stranger.
Behind the platform is a team of R&D exemption experts — engineers, tax specialists and Belspo specialists — who prepare and defend your clients’ files.
Human expertise behind the automation — Harper, Forecast Consulting and EIF Innovation.
300+
clients supported
€20M+
in savings generated
100+
files validated each year
15,000+
researchers audited each year
28
experts in the network
350 years
of combined expertise
In practice
Three steps, only one involving you.
1
You refer a client
two minutes of your timeA name, a sector and an idea of the number of technical profiles. That is all.
2
We check their eligibility
free and without commitmentFor both you and them. If they are not eligible, we tell you and stop there.
3
We prepare the file
your client signsWe do the work, you track everything through your firm access, and you receive your commission if the file succeeds.
No commitment and nothing to prepare.
Your questions
What accounting firms ask us
Yes — this is a recognised practice and is simply formalised in writing before any file. Your client is informed that a technical partner is involved in the R&D component, making everything transparent. Depending on your preference, remuneration can take the form of a referral commission or fees invoiced by your firm — you choose.
The model is outcome-based: Harper is paid from what is actually recovered. If nothing is recovered, nothing is invoiced. You receive the detailed figures during the first discussion.
We only claim what is due. If an audit occurs, we provide the file and handle discussions with the authorities together with the network’s experts.
They recover money they were not recovering. They sign, and you remain their point of contact, with progress visible through your firm access.
Only the time it takes to give us a name. We handle data collection, file preparation and follow-up.
Nothing happens. We are only paid when successful — there is no invoice for either you or your client.
Let’s see whether your clients qualify
Fifteen minutes on the phone. We review two or three of your clients, and you will know whether there is something to recover.
If it is not for you, we will say so and will not pursue it.