Grant funding & Innovate UK accounting

Grant accounting for UK innovation companies, claim schedules, eligible cost tracking, audit trails and the interaction with R&D tax relief.

• Eligible cost categories tracked from the start of the project

• Quarterly claim preparation and supporting evidence

• Timesheet and apportionment approach agreed up front

• Grant income recognition in the statutory accounts

• Interaction with R&D tax relief modelled before you accept

• Independent accountant's report where the funder requires one

Grant income is generally recognised in profit as the related costs are incurred, with unspent amounts deferred. Recognising a grant on receipt distorts both profit and the corporation tax position.

Subsidised expenditure interacts with R&D tax relief. Under the merged scheme the treatment of grant-funded projects differs from the old SME scheme, and enhanced R&D-intensive support has its own conditions, model the combined outcome before accepting funding, because the grant can cost more relief than it provides cash.

Funders audit. Timesheets, purchase evidence and apportionment methodology need to exist at the time the cost is incurred; reconstructing them at claim stage is where clawback risk comes from.

Thresholds, rates and deadlines quoted here reflect the 2026/27 UK position. Check current GOV.UK guidance, or ask us, before you rely on them for your own company.

We start by looking at the last filed accounts, your current records and your filing dates, then confirm a fixed scope and fee in writing.

Once the work is live you get reminders ahead of each deadline, a named person to ask questions, and a plain-English summary when the figures are ready, not a PDF with no explanation.