Education vs experience – What makes a competent professional?

One of the most important factors in determining whether an R&D project is valid for an R&D tax relief claim is the involvement of a competent professional.

These are the people who are responsible for overcoming the uncertainties that stand in the way between a good idea and a completed innovation.

However, there can be some confusion as to how to verify a person is a competent professional, so accountants seeking to help clients with R&D should gain a greater understanding of the metrics HMRC use.

What qualifications make someone a competent professional?

HMRC is tasked with the nigh impossible goal of providing a definition of a competent professional that will successfully include all relevant parties and exclude only those who are irrelevant.

Rather than give a list of criteria to hit, HMRC opts to refer to the term as “self-explanatory” while providing some guidance on the type of considerations that should be mind when determining eligibility.

On the one hand, this is useful in that it does not needlessly exclude any professional who may have gained competency through unconventional means.

However, the lack of defined criteria makes it more difficult to demonstrate that a person’s knowledge does define them as a competent professional.

As such, HMRC places a great focus on the qualifications a person holds.

Ideally, a competent professional will hold a master’s degree or a PhD in the relevant field, though they may also have different forms of high-level qualifications that are more sector-specific.

The presence of qualifications is held in high regard by HMRC and may supersede other forms of evidence when claims are being assessed.

This means that, should one competent professional leave a project to be replaced by another, the level of qualification could be a point of contention if the R&D tax relief claim is subject to an enquiry.

How valuable is experience for a competent professional?

While most in the R&D space view experience as superior to qualifications alone, HMRC do not necessarily share the same perspective.

Experience is still important, but it must be demonstrable from the experience a person holds that they are a genuine competent professional and not just someone who has worked in the industry for many years.

It is worth considering the type of experience a person holds to know whether they would meet HMRC’s criteria.

For instance, a cleaner may work in a factory for three decades, but it would not be reasonable to claim they were an expert on the production line having spent their career merely adjacent to the machinery.

Instead, experience is best evidenced with a proven track record of innovation or engagement with professional pursuits.

This may come in the form of references from well-regarded peers or instances where the competent professional has collaborated with a more well-known professional to work on a project.

Having a detailed history of the work and achievements of a competent professional should only be necessary in the event of an enquiry, but it can be beneficial to have it to hand when preparing the initial R&D tax relief claim.

While specific details can be fleshed out later should they be the focus of an enquiry, having the baseline information may avoid an enquiry or at least shorten the process of justifying the validity of the R&D project.

There is no single way to prove that someone is or is not a competent professional, but there are ways to strengthen someone’s claim.

Our expert team of R&D tax consultants know how to highlight your clients’ wealth of experience and knowledge in a way that is understandable for HMRC.

We can work with the competent professionals directly to help compile the R&D tax relief claim or support those who are recording the information to know what to gather.

Above all, an R&D tax relief claim is only valid if the work done addresses an uncertainty that cannot be readily deduced by a competent professional.

This means being able to prove how a person is a competent professional is the first step in justifying the full complexity of the research itself.

Get in touch with our team to become confident in demonstrating the capabilities of a competent professional for an R&D tax relief claim.

Adam Bointon

Adam Bointon is a Technical Director specialising in R&D Tax Credits for SMEs in manufacturing and software sectors. With over 15 years’ experience, he works closely with businesses to identify qualifying R&D activities and prepare clear, compliant claims. He combines technical expertise with a strong understanding of economics and finance to support successful outcomes. Adam also contributes to industry webinars and CPD sessions, sharing insights on R&D tax relief and HMRC requirements.