For R&D tax credit practices working with software development
Back your software R&D claims with real development evidence.
Evidante captures records from tools like GitHub and Jira, helping advisers connect technical explanations to the work carried out.
- Benchmark: query planner rewriteCaptured 09:14, the first recordCode
- ENG-142: cache fails under loadCaptured 11:02, linked to the code recordTicket
- Why approach A was droppedCaptured 15:47, linked to the ticket recordChat
A technical interview explains the work. The records help support it.
Developer interviews are essential, but important details may be missed or forgotten. Evidante keeps relevant development records together, helping advisers check technical explanations against what was recorded during the project.
Your current process, with source-linked evidence added
Interviews explain the work.
Evidante adds dated engineering records to support the explanation.
Claim software prepares the documentation.
Evidante organises the original development records behind it.
Advisers make the decisions.
Evidante keeps their assessments alongside the supporting evidence.
How it works
Five steps from your client's tools to a source-linked Defence Pack.
Every screen below is from the product itself, using a fictional demo client.
Step 1 of 5: Connect
Your client connects their existing development tools.
Connected once by the client's engineering lead
- Code and builds
- GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps
- Tickets
- Jira, Linear (status changes, such as a ticket moving to In Review or Done)
- Team notes
- Slack (notes typed with the /friction command), Microsoft Teams
What Evidante receives: only what each tool sends about the work, such as commit messages, pull requests, build results, ticket status changes and notes sent to it. It never reads source code.
Step 2 of 5: Capture
Evidante records relevant development activity as it happens.
One record, as Evidante keeps it. A Jira ticket update: when it happened, who made it, which ticket it belongs to, what it says, and when Evidante recorded it. This one is marked "Added later" because it was brought in after the work, and the Defence Pack says so. Step 3 of 5: Organise
Records are grouped by client, project and date.
One project, day by day. Each project's records in date order: what happened on each day, and which commits, tickets, builds and discussions it came from. One project, day by day. Each project's records in date order: what happened on each day, and which commits, tickets, builds and discussions it came from. Step 4 of 5: Review
Advisers link evidence to technical uncertainties and record their assessments.
The reviewing professional's decision, on the record. The decision, its reasons and who made it. Evidante does not make this decision. The reviewing professional's decision, on the record. The decision, its reasons and who made it. Evidante does not make this decision. Step 5 of 5: Export
Produce a Defence Pack containing supporting records and source references.
Anyone can check the records are unchanged. The check fails if any record was changed, removed, added or reordered after it was captured. Anyone can check the records are unchanged. The check fails if any record was changed, removed, added or reordered after it was captured.
The output
One organised record of the evidence behind the claim.
A Defence Pack brings together development records, their sources and the professional's recorded assessment in one PDF.
Sample Defence Pack, PDF, 23 pages
A fictional company, Demo Client LTD, with two projects, both assessed and formally signed off by a professional. It contains:
- A summary of the evidence
- Each decision beside its records
- Every record, with its source
- How to check the pack
The sample's client reference is not a real client, so it will not verify at /verify.
What a pack shows
- What was recorded, by whom and when, as the source tools reported it
- That no record has changed since it was captured: an integrity check on the records, not a judgment on the work
- Which records were added later rather than captured at the time
- The reviewing professional's recorded decisions and reasons
What a pack does not show
- Whether any work qualifies for relief
- Which costs qualify, or how much to claim
- That the IRS will accept a claim
- Anything about work that left no trace in a connected tool
Evidante organises the evidence. The professional makes the judgment. Your team and the reviewing professional remain responsible for eligibility, qualifying expenditure and the claim itself. Evidante does not give tax or legal advice, read source code, or prepare or file the claim.
How client evidence is kept safe and unchanged
What is in place today, checked against the product. Evidante has not yet obtained ISO 27001 certification or a SOC 2 attestation.
- Evidence integrity
- Each record is fingerprinted with SHA-256 and linked to the one before. A changed, removed or reordered record no longer matches the fingerprints after it, and the integrity check shows where.
- Storage
- Record files are kept in Amazon S3 (London region) with Object Lock: stored versions cannot be overwritten or deleted for 7 years. The database is managed PostgreSQL. Both are encrypted at rest by the provider, and connections use HTTPS.
- Client separation
- Each client has its own record chain, keys and webhook secrets. A firm can only see its own clients; this is covered by automated tests.
- Access
- Firm passwords are stored only as bcrypt hashes. Clients sign in with a 12-word access key that can be replaced, and the old one turned off. Firm users can turn on two-step sign-in with an authenticator app.
- Integrations
- Connected tools send events to the client's own webhook address, and each delivery is checked against that client's own secret before it is recorded. Evidante never reads source code.
- Audit and deletion
- Sign-ins, exports, access-key changes, admin actions and deletions are logged. A client's data can be erased on request; write-once copies cannot be deleted before their 7-year lock ends, and are kept out of use until then.
Read the full Security page, including what is not yet in place
What your firm gets for every software client
- A dedicated evidence space.
- Development records organised by project and date.
- Evidence linked to technological uncertainties.
- Professional review and sign-off.
- An exportable, source-linked Defence Pack.
Pilot
Start with a small number of clients.
See Evidante working on real client tools before committing your practice.
- Who it is for
- US R&D tax credit practices preparing claims for clients whose R&D is software development, in any industry.
- What is involved
- A short call to agree the scope, then each client's engineering lead connects their tools using the setup guide. We help with the first connection. The pilot length and the number of clients are agreed with you, in writing, before you start.
- What your firm receives
- Your firm portal, a dedicated evidence space for each client you choose, live record capture from their connected tools, Defence Packs you can review and export, and a walk-through of a Defence Pack built from their records.
- What your firm does
- Choose the pilot clients and ask each client's engineering lead to connect their tools. Your team then reviews the records and a Defence Pack built from them.
- What success looks like
- Agreed with you at the start; typically, records arriving from each connected tool and a pack your team has reviewed.
- Afterwards
- Continue on a subscription, or stop. Either way, you can export Defence Packs and the records index first.
Staff time (optional)
Estimate the effect on staff time, using your own numbers
An illustration, not a promise. Every value is yours to change, and the starting numbers are examples.
Illustrative estimate from your numbers
Illustrative only. The starting values are examples, not industry averages or results from Evidante customers; replace them with your own. Time freed up is only a saving if it is used for other work.
- Current annual cost of evidence work
- $28,000
- Potential hours saved a year
- 100
- Potential annual staff-time saving
- $7,000
Questions partners ask
For US practices, references to records and review apply to IRC §41 claims in the same way.
Does Evidante replace developer interviews?
No. Interviews establish the technical explanation and the reviewing professional's judgment decides what is claimed. Evidante keeps the supporting records so the explanation can be checked against dated, source-linked activity.
How is Evidante different from existing R&D claim software?
Claim software typically prepares the claim: figures, forms and supporting documents. Evidante does a different job. It keeps the original development records, groups them by project and date, and lets the adviser link them to technical uncertainties. It is meant to sit alongside the tools you already use, not replace them.
Does Evidante access source code?
No. Evidante receives only what each tool sends about the work, such as a commit message, author and time. It never reads or stores source code. Clients can connect private repositories.
Does the IRS require Evidante?
No. The IRS does not require Evidante, or any particular software or integration. It expects the research credit to be supported by appropriate documentation; Evidante is one way of keeping and organising it.
What does the pilot involve?
A short call to agree the scope. Each client's engineering lead then connects their tools using the setup guide, and we help with the first connection. Pilots are for US R&D tax credit practices with software development clients. The length and the number of clients are agreed with you, in writing, before you start.
Our technical interviews already work. Why would we need Evidante?
Interviews establish the technical explanation, and Evidante does not replace them. What it adds is the supporting records: dated, source-linked and organised by project, so you can connect each uncertainty to the engineering work behind it, with less searching through client systems. A pilot is how you judge whether that is worth it for your practice.
Does Evidante support non-software R&D?
Evidante currently focuses on software development activity recorded in supported engineering tools. This can include software R&D within manufacturing, fintech, biotech and other industries. It does not currently cover every type of R&D activity.
Does Evidante guarantee that a claim will be accepted?
No. Evidante does not decide whether work qualifies, cannot prevent an examination and cannot guarantee any outcome with the IRS. It preserves and organises the records your team and the reviewing professional rely on.
Who owns the evidence?
The client. Our Terms say evidence data and Defence Packs belong to the client and their appointed professional.
Where is the data stored?
Record files are stored in Amazon S3 in the London region, in write-once storage. The application runs on Railway and the database on Supabase (managed PostgreSQL). Amazon S3 and Supabase encrypt the stored data at rest. The Security page lists exactly what is stored and where.
What happens if we cancel?
You can download Defence Packs and the records index at any time, including before you leave. How long data is kept after cancellation is set out in our Terms.
How do the evidence integrity checks work?
Each record is linked to the one before it, so any change shows. At evidante.com/verify, anyone can enter the client reference on a pack to check nothing has changed, or check a pack file itself. An offline verifier works without our servers. These checks show records are unchanged. They do not show that the work qualifies.
Can we review the evidence before exporting?
Yes. The partner portal shows every record by project and date, with the professional's review form, before any pack is produced. The pack itself lists what each project's record does not yet hold.
How long does onboarding take?
Connecting a tool is a one-off step for the client's engineering lead, following the setup guide. For a pilot, we agree the onboarding plan with you at the start.
How does it handle many clients?
Each client has its own dedicated evidence space. Your firm sees all of its clients in one portal, with which projects are awaiting review.
Book a 15-minute briefing.
A short video call: how Evidante would work for your practice and your clients, a walk through a Defence Pack, and your questions.
Prefer email? partners@evidante.com