Canadian R&D
Tax Credit Expertise

Modern technology, human accountability

Action Berry helps Canadian innovators prepare and defend R&D tax credit claims, including SR&ED. We take the time to understand your work, its scientific and technological context, and your business and tax circumstances. That understanding shapes our advice, from preparing a claim to deciding whether a challenge is worth pursuing. We take responsibility for the work and see the difficult questions through.

Talk to us about your claim

How We Help

Planning or preparing a claim

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Whether you are planning ahead or approaching a filing deadline, we help you identify R&D activities eligible for tax credits, gather supporting evidence and prepare your claim. We check that the expenditure included in your claim corresponds to the R&D activities described, explain the positions being taken and address gaps before filing.

Discuss your claim →

A challenge has to earn its keep, in dollars, time and demands on your team. Drawing on our experience of the programme, we weigh the strength of your position, the amount at stake, the prospects of success, the risks, and the likely costs and delays. We also consider the time and effort required from your team and the implications for your other claims. We explain the options plainly, recommend a course that makes business sense, and carry the work through reviews, objections and appeals where appropriate.

Discuss a review →

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Review process

Seeking a second opinion

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Get an independent assessment of a proposed claim, advice you have received or a position taken during a review. We examine the technical work, expenditure records and supporting evidence, then explain where we agree, where we differ and why. You can use that assessment to decide whether to proceed, strengthen the case or change direction.

Ask for a second opinion →

Supporting a client

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We work alongside tax professionals, lawyers and other professional service providers to support R&D tax credit claims, reviews, objections and appeals. At the outset, we talk through who will do what and how we’ll keep each other informed, so you can bring specialist R&D tax credit expertise into your existing client relationship.

Discuss support for your client →

The Team

Portrait of Simon Berry, founding partner of Action Berry.
Portrait of Simon Berry, founding partner of Action Berry.

Our company was founded by Simon Berry, who has spent nearly 30 years helping Canadian claimants prepare and defend R&D tax credit claims. His clients have ranged from entrepreneurs working in their garages to household-name companies.

That experience informs our team’s approach to examining the work, assessing the evidence and explaining the available choices. At the outset of an engagement, we establish who will be involved, what each person will do and how we will keep you informed.

Let’s chat!

  • “I’ve worked with Simon and team across two companies. I expect good value, and they deliver. They understand our technology, know how to deal with the CRA, and make sure we claim everything we’re entitled to at a reasonable fee. They turn a few hours with our technical people into a completed SR&ED claim and coordinate with our accountants. I give them the go-ahead and they get it done. I’ve recommended them to others and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again.”

    — D.S., CTO of an automotive and transportation engineering company

  • “After years of working with different SR&ED providers, it took me a long time to find a partner who gave me real confidence in the process and the quality of our claims. Simon’s expertise, professionalism and thorough approach stand out. He takes the time to understand the business, asks the right questions, and builds a claim through a clear, well-supported process. His knowledge and attention to detail contributed to an excellent result. I would confidently recommend Simon and Action Berry.”

    — J.E., CEO of a retail experience technology company

  • “Our clean-energy development spans turbine mechanics, generator design and control software. Simon helped us explain the technical challenges and organize the work into clear SR&ED projects. He asked focused questions, prepared the descriptions and gave us specific points to check and expand. We could concentrate on the engineering details while he handled the SR&ED requirements. I appreciated that practical approach and his ability to make sense of how the different parts of our development work fit together.”

    — M.L., CTO of a distributed renewable energy company

  • “Simon has helped us through difficult SR&ED audits, objections and an ongoing appeal. He knows the case law, CRA policies and how the process works in practice. He listens, tells me straight where we stand, and takes ownership when needed. He works constructively with CRA and our team to put the strongest case forward that the evidence supports. I trust his judgement about when to push and when to rethink the approach. He’s someone I can count on when things get complicated.”

    — S.M., CEO of a software technology company

  • “After a difficult first SR&ED experience, it was reassuring to work with Simon and team. Simon explained the issues clearly, worked with our technical and accounting teams, and kept the engagement within our agreed budget. We received our 2025 refund without an audit. He also identified an opportunity to challenge the previous year’s assessment and is helping us pursue it. I appreciate his thoroughness and knowing we have someone experienced looking out for us. We’re very happy to work with them again.”

    — R.C., VP of Operations at an at-home medical diagnostics company

  • “We’ve worked with Simon on our SR&ED claims for many years, both during his time at PwC and now through ActionBerry. What has always distinguished Simon is that he doesn’t simply know the SR&ED rules and forms - he understands how the CRA interprets a claim, what they are likely to question, and what makes a claim credible and defensible.

    Simon also helped us improve the way we document our development and QA activities throughout the year. His processes became integrated into our development efforts, helping our team recognize what constituted SR&ED work and capture the supporting evidence while that work was actually taking place. That proved particularly valuable when Simon assisted us through a CRA audit.”

    — S.H., CEO of an enterprise IT management company

  • “I’ve worked with Simon on research and development projects over the past 10 years, a relationship that continues today through Action Berry. He’s a remarkable talent, able to quickly understand the purpose of our complex work and handle CRA requests and submissions from A to Z. Once we started working with Simon, our filings became more streamlined and organized, which helped move our claims toward a more predictable pattern of success without audit. Simon knows our technology inside out! We very much appreciate working with him and recommend him to everyone doing R&D.”

    — T.D., CEO of a sustainable infrastructure materials company

  • “Simon has been a trusted advisor to our organization for more than a decade. His expertise and strategic guidance have helped us establish a consistent and effective approach to preparing and submitting our SR&ED claims, providing the clarity and confidence needed to ensure our submissions meet expected standards. Simon’s professionalism, knowledge, and attention to detail have made the filing process efficient, seamless, and timely.”

    — J.B., CEO of enterprise content management company

  • “Simon Berry has been invaluable in helping us navigate the SR&ED claim process and respond effectively. He brings an exceptional combination of technical competence and deep knowledge of the program. Just as importantly, he is a patient coach and trusted advisor who takes the time to understand the issues and provide clear, practical guidance.”

    — A.M., CEO of a workplace safety technology company

  • “Simon has been an exceptional SR&ED advisor to us for nearly 20 years, a relationship that continues today through Action Berry. When we first worked together, he revisited a claim prepared by another firm and tripled our return by identifying eligible work and expenditures that had been overlooked. Since then, he has consistently delivered excellent results through a trusted, thorough and highly knowledgeable approach.”

    — D.B., Co-Founder of a digital agency

Research and development in science and technology supported by Canadian R&D tax credits.

Our Approach

Advice that fits how you work

Some clients want to work through every technical detail. Others want us to get on with the claim and bring them the questions and decisions that need their attention. We find a way of working that fits your team and makes good use of your time.

Our team is responsible for understanding your activities, assessing their eligibility and the supporting evidence, and preparing claims we can explain and defend. We invest in established professional software, develop our own tools to make the work more efficient, and keep our skills current through ongoing training. The technical story and the financial story should describe the same work.

Throughout the engagement, we explain where things stand, what we recommend and why. When the evidence raises a difficult question, we work through it with you.

Your Sector

  • We bring current software development knowledge to claims involving AI, performance, scale, reliability, system uncertainty and more. We examine what was uncertain, what you tried and what you learned. No perfect filing system needed to start: we work with your records to identify supporting evidence and gaps.

  • Work in this field can include biological research, diagnostics, medical devices and experimental methods. The R&D may form part of a wider product development or regulatory programme. We help identify the work relevant to the claim and explain its scientific and technical basis.

  • Development work can involve products, machinery, production processes, materials or scale-up. Technical challenges often cross these boundaries. We help explain the experimental work within the wider engineering effort, distinguishing it from routine production and troubleshooting.

  • Work can range from individual components and circuits to embedded software and complete electrical systems. Technical questions may concern performance, reliability, power management, signal behaviour or interactions between different parts. We bring that wider technical context to preparing and defending your claim.

  • Research can involve new formulations, material properties, chemical reactions or processing methods. Composition, stability and operating conditions may interact in unexpected ways. We help explain the questions investigated and what the experimental work revealed about the material or process.

  • R&D can arise in cultivation, biological systems, production methods, food processing and preservation. Variable conditions can make the work difficult to assess and explain. We help identify the experimental development within the practical demands of growing, producing and processing.

If you don’t see your field, or your work crosses several, let us know! We love a challenge so tell us about your work. →

Modern technology,
human accountability

Experienced human judgement with technology where it helps in Canadian R&D tax credit claims.

MAKE THE TECHNICAL RECORD USEFUL

A technical record is most useful when it explains the question being investigated, what was tried, the results and the conclusions. Keep the links between those records and the people, dates and work involved. An unsuccessful experiment can still contribute to that explanation.

READ REVIEW REQUESTS CLOSELY

Before preparing a response, identify the specific review questions being asked, the records requested and the response date. Gather the relevant correspondence and supporting material so that the response can address the issues clearly. If a request is unclear, seek clarification early.

HOW IS YOUR INFORMATION HANDLED?

Before sharing confidential records with a provider, ask where the information will be stored and processed, who can access it, whether it may be used to train models and how long it will be retained. Clarify who reviews the resulting analysis and takes responsibility for the advice.

A good first conversation makes the next decision much clearer

Tell us a little about your situation and what you need help with, including any approaching deadline. You may be planning a claim, responding to a review or looking for another perspective. We can use that first conversation to understand the situation and consider the next step.

Please keep confidential details for a later exchange using an agreed method.