How AVLancer used Gusto to win valuable tax credits with minimal legwork
A $117k tax credit they ‘weren’t even thinking about’
No one at AVLancer was thinking about the federal R&D tax credit. “Next thing I knew, we had a $117,000 dollar credit,” says Henry Schueller, founder and CEO.
Without Gusto, I wouldn’t have even known that R&D tax credits were a thing. Not only did Gusto walk us through the process, they showed us that there was a credit we weren’t even thinking about.
It all began with a friendly email from Gusto. “It said we might be eligible and asked us to fill out a few questions – pretty straightforward,” Henry says.
Afterward, Gusto’s experts prepared the tax documents using payroll data that Gusto already had about AVLancer, and told Henry how to supplement this with a few easily available reports. “Gusto was great at coaching me about where to find information,” Henry says. “I dug into Trello and Quickbooks, and found all the data really quickly.”
In all, the process was “way quicker than I thought it would be,” according to Henry. Especially since he didn’t need to study the complex tax credit rules himself. Instead, Gusto’s experts led the way.
Optimized workflows unlock ‘massive’ opportunity with ease
With R&D tax credits in mind, leaders at AVLancer began to think even bigger – improving the way they documented development work so they could qualify for even more R&D tax credits.
“We had logged only about half of what we were actually working on,” Henry says. “So the future opportunity should be massive.”
With guidance from Gusto, AVLancer tweaked the company’s employment structure, development process, and the way they conducted meetings, so the development work they were already doing could translate into tax credits down the line.
“These are all things that we were already doing — we just wouldn’t have known they were creditable, without Gusto” Henry says.
Doubling the speed of development
With the tax credit, developing software at AVLancer can now kick into overdrive. The credit could fund two new full-time developers, doubling the company’s development rate.
With additional resources, AVLancer can extend the impact of its mission: automating the reporting and invoicing tasks that bog down freelancers and the companies they serve. This helps Henry and his team take care of freelancers who are at the heart of the company’s vision.
“Our development is key to our efficiency, and our efficiency is key to our ability to spend facetime with our freelancers,” Henry Says. “The key to that is automating the mundane – getting our heads out of the computer and out of the spreadsheets and into actually working with our people. Taking care of people will pay dividends for years and years to come.”
As AVLancer hires more developers, Gusto’s automated tools can help the company save time. Gusto automatically applies the company’s $117,000 tax credit to their payroll taxes each pay period, so AVLancer can benefit from tax savings in real time, without extra cost, paperwork, or time investment.
“That’s going to be huge for us,” Henry says.
Sharing a people-centered vision
Overall, Henry is excited that Gusto shares his company’s people-first ethos, which is critical to how AVLancer builds relationships with both freelancers and AV companies. “If we take care of them, they’ll take care of us,” Henry says. “We’re hoping to grow with Gusto for many years.”