Every year, around $50 billion from the government is available to small- and medium-sized businesses through the R&D tax credit. But many business owners don’t know about it or don’t realize they’re eligible, which means they are missing out on vital free capital to invest and grow their businesses.
That’s why we’re excited to announce that Ardius—a company that helps businesses and their accountants access tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax credits that they’ve earned—is now part of Gusto.
Making it easier for accountants and businesses to secure R&D tax credits
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), and the accountants who guide them, are the backbone of our communities and our economy. The past year has underscored the resilience and grit of founders, as well as their ability to innovate, evolve, change, and grow. But the past year has also underscored something else—the widening resource gap that allows bigger corporations to take advantage of opportunities and incentives to grow their business while SMBs get left behind.
These entrepreneurs deserve a more level playing field so they are able to access opportunities that were previously out-of-reach. Take the R&D tax credit. The government sets aside about $50 billion each year to reward businesses that invest in innovation via a tax credit. Many SMBs are eligible for the R&D tax credit, but very few utilize it because accessing those tax credits has historically been a nuanced, time-intensive, and expensive process that most SMBs and accounting firms haven’t had the resources to pursue.
Here at Gusto, we’re not just a tool businesses use—we’re an advisor they trust. We exist to help entrepreneurs and their accountants unlock opportunities and build successful businesses. The majority of a company’s R&D tax credit qualifying expenses can come from payroll salary on qualified research and development. So combining Ardius’ AI-powered tax credit technology with Gusto will enable us to scan customers’ payroll to automatically calculate and surface more tax credit savings directly to SMBs and their accountants in-app. That way, the R&D tax credit application—which can take months to complete—could now be done in a matter of days.
The results? We’ll be able to make it even easier for growing businesses to take advantage of the tax credits and incentives they’re eligible for. And it’s a powerful addition for our accounting partners—a new feature they can use to expand their offerings, demystify R&D tax credits, and deliver even higher value to their clients, all while generating new revenue streams for their firms. Businesses and accountants have found that using Ardius has enabled them to secure R&D tax credits that are often 2X or greater than other services.
David Manshoory is the co-founder and COO of Alleyoop—a line of space-saving, time-saving beauty products. “The beauty industry is always changing. Our success hinges on our ability to innovate, so we invest a lot of time and resources into R&D,” Manshoory says. “We didn’t even realize we were eligible for R&D tax credits at first. When we looked into it, we figured the process would be too overwhelming and tedious for us to manage, especially when we stacked it up against everything else on our plates at the time. We found the Ardius integration on Gusto surprisingly efficient, and super simple. Our accountant loves it! In fact, we’ve earned more than a hundred thousand dollars in tax credits since we signed up.”
Gusto People Platform + Ecosystem
We’ve built Gusto’s people platform to provide SMBs with the services they need to hire, pay, insure, and support their teams—from modern payroll and benefits to time tracking, contractor support, and expert HR advice. A key part of delivering on our mission is building a thriving ecosystem of integrations that businesses are able to utilize. There are nearly 100 third-party integrations on the Gusto platform, which includes several tax credit services like Ardius, Boast.AI, Clarus, NeoTax, and TaxTaker. Our focus is to always ensure that customers have access to the integrations they need to run their businesses successfully, and that the customer is in the driver’s seat to choose the integration that is right for them.
Ardius + Gusto
Joshua Lee, Ardius’s founder, has unparalleled experience in taxes and technology: He served as a senior executive at Ernst & Young supporting leading technology companies, helped collaborate on the IRS Audit Technique Guide, partnered with the authors who wrote the final regulations for the R&D sections of the Internal Revenue Code, and was previously a venture capitalist investing in technology companies before starting Ardius. We’ve been fortunate to see up close Joshua’s and his team’s dedication to supporting the passion and perseverance of the entrepreneurs they serve.
Ardius will continue to operate as a stand-alone business, and we’ll be developing a new integration that does even more to simplify the process for accounting partners and businesses to secure the tax credits they’ve earned.
Together, Ardius + Gusto will continue to help millions of entrepreneurs take care of their teams and build successful businesses where work empowers a better life. You can read more in Ardius’ post here and also sign up here to see if your business is eligible for R&D tax credits.
– Tomer London and Josh Reeves
