R&D tax software for advisers

The platform R&D tax specialists run their practice on

Projects, financials, reviews and AIFs in one connected workspace, built by R&D advisers.

Financials ½ day 2 hours
Technical narrative 1 day 3 hours
AIF 30 min 10 min
Tax computation < 4 min

See how Novel fits the way your team already works.

📄 Client_A_financials_FY25.xlsx
Payroll · Aug 2025
12 R&D staff, apportioned 64%
Staff
£48,126.40
Invoice 2281 · Subcontractor
Prototype firmware, apportioned 80%
Subcontractor
£12,600.00
Cloud hosting provider
Simulation compute, apportioned 45%
Cloud
£3,148.27
CAD software ×4
Annual licence, apportioned 60%
Software
£9,540.00
Office rent
Not a qualifying cost
Excluded
£3,250.00
Total R&D expenditure
£73,414.67
R&D intensity
34%
Essential tasks
2
ISO 27001 & ISO 9001 certified
From the minds behind Alphatax & Paycircle
5 years supporting R&D teams
In-app support replies in minutes
Why record keeping matters

The bar for R&D claims keeps rising

In an HMRC enquiry, your records are your defence, and too many cases are still lost due to poor record keeping. When HMRC asks you to prove a figure, can your team put their hands on the evidence? Or is it scattered across a Word doc, three spreadsheets and an email from last March?

August 2023

The Additional Information Form becomes mandatory for every R&D claim.

April 2024

The merged scheme and ERIS replace SME and RDEC for new accounting periods.

March 2026

HMRC signals a shift from letter campaigns towards targeted enquiries into specific claims.

May 2026

Mandatory registration for tax advisers is phased in, with the final deadline on 31 March 2027.

Ongoing

Tribunals keep rejecting claims where records can’t show the time spent, the uncertainty or how costs link to the R&D.

Novel keeps the evidence with the claim, so you’re ready if HMRC asks.

Where Novel saves time

Start with the step that slows you down most

Every stage works from the same claim, so what you enter once carries through to the AIF, tax computation and reports.

Novel Intelligence: Financial

Upload financial files and payroll. Costs come back categorised, with live formulas and every figure traced to source.

Before
½ day
→
With Novel
2 hours
  • Raw account transactions or payroll files
  • Full audit trail
  • Export to your own templates

Novel Intelligence: Technical

Get from project material to a first draft in hours, not a day. Start from a report, document or call transcript, and Novel AI drafts it with DSIT references and a hallucination check, ready for you to review, edit and verify.

Before
1 day
→
With Novel
3 hours
  • Activities linked to their uncertainty
  • Automatic baseline review checks each project against what’s already known in the field to spot routine work
  • Competent professional profiles generated from a CV or LinkedIn profile

AIF & CNF preparation

Pre-filled from your projects, financials and claims, checked against HMRC requirements.

Before
30 min
→
With Novel
10 min
  • Built-in compliance checks
  • Copies stored with the claim

Tax computation

Shift between scenarios and compare the results side by side. Claim figures flow straight into a full corporation tax computation, so you can show clients exactly what their claim is worth and which scenario suits them best.

Before
Rekeying
→
With Novel
< 4 min
  • Side-by-side scenario comparison
  • Branded PDF reports

Client collaboration

Run the claim yourself, or bring your client in when it helps. They can collaborate with you or fill in the details they know best.

Before
Docs, PDFs & calls
→
With Novel
One place
  • Comments and tags on the claim
  • Fewer files to send, save and keep track of
  • In-app history log of every client change, so you can verify it and keep a full audit trail

Corporation Tax Tracker

Checks every claim’s HMRC status and notifies you of any changes to the claim, so you’re never waiting on the client or checking manually every day.

Before
Manual monitoring
→
With Novel
Notifications
  • No more checking each claim by hand
  • In-app and email notifications
  • Every client in one view

Only need one part? Novel Intelligence: Financial and Corporation Tax Tracker are also sold on their own. See pricing →

Practice insights
14 active claims across 11 clients
Filters applied (2)
Edit columns
Organisation
Managed by
Claim state
Claim notification
Essential tasks
Forecast benefit
Kestrel Ridge Robotics Ltd
Period ends 31 Mar 2026
Priya Shah
In progress
Due tomorrow
4
£61,200
Brambleway Foods Ltd
Period ends 31 Dec 2025
James Holloway
In review
Submitted
0
£38,450
Vantis Biotech Ltd
Period ends 31 Mar 2026
Megan Clarke
In progress
Not required
2
£24,900
Quillfern Software Ltd
Period ends 30 Jun 2025
Priya Shah
Finalised
Submitted
0
£112,300
Notifications
The claim notification deadline for Kestrel Ridge Robotics is tomorrow.
4 minutes ago
A draft AIF was generated for Vantis Biotech.
2 hours ago
Brambleway Foods was submitted for review.
5 hours ago
One workspace

Every claim and every client in one place

Consultants, reviewers and clients all work from the same, up-to-date version, so nothing slips through the cracks or gets lost in an email thread.

✓

Practice insights. Status, deadlines, forecast benefit and fees for every client.

✓

Tasks by role. Split between technical users, financial users and advisers, with reminders before deadlines.

✓

Review and sign-off. Choose a reviewer, attach preparer’s notes and finalise. Finalised claims stay locked unless someone explicitly requests permission to reopen them, providing a preserved submission state and full audit trail.

See the full platform →
Technical narratives

Capture R&D detail whilst the client is talking

Call Companion

Turns a client call into draft projects, picking out uncertainties, the baseline and the advancement sought as they’re mentioned.

Projects and activities

Each activity links to the uncertainty it addresses, so the narrative’s logic is built in.

Competent professionals

Upload an expert’s CV and Novel AI builds their profile.

AI-drafted narratives

Drafted with DSIT references and a hallucination check, ready for you to review, edit and verify.

Call Companion
Live
Transcript

Client
Once we got below minus ten degrees, the sensors just kept drifting.

You
Had anyone solved that commercially?

Client
Not that we could find. Every datasheet quotes about half a percent.

You
So what were you aiming for?

Client
Under 0.2%, and holding down to minus twenty.

Captured so far
✓

Uncertainty: sensor drift below −10°C

✓

Baseline: commercial sensors drift 0.5% at −10°C

✓

Advancement: drift below 0.2% at −20°C

Eligibility checks
Not publicly available
Not readily deducible
Qualifying field
Appreciable improvement
Completeness
72%

What leaves Novel at the end of every claim

Every report goes out under your firm’s name and branding, from your logo and colours to your cover page, written the way your team already writes.

Technical Narrative

R&D projects and activities, qualifying information and the competent professional’s details.

Financial Narrative

Qualifying expenditure by category and project, with the tax computation and the client’s forecast benefit.

Additional Information Form

Pre-filled from the claim and checked against HMRC requirements.

Claim Notification Form

Flagged when required and tracked to its deadline.

Compare

How Novel compares

Word & Excel
ChatGPT and similar
Novel
Technical narrative drafting
From scratch
Generic drafts
Manual or with the help of Novel AI
Financial analysis with audit trail
Manual
No audit trail
About 2 hours
AIF and CNF preparation
Manual
Copy and paste
Pre-filled from the claim
Review and sign-off workflow
Email
Not covered
Built in
Deadline and HMRC payment tracking
Spreadsheet
Not covered
Automatic alerts
Details entered once, reused in later claims
Retyped each year
Starts from scratch each chat
Flow into the next accounting period
Tom Elsbury
Co-founder · 10+ years in R&D tax relief
Ben Crampin
Co-founder · 10+ years advising SMEs
Who we are

Advisers first, software second

Novel started inside an advisory firm. Tom brings over a decade of experience preparing R&D tax relief claims, and Ben has spent over a decade advising SMEs. Together, they first built Novel as an in-house tool for their own team of consultants. Today it’s still shaped by people who know what a claim season feels like.

Tom brought the tribunal case that required HMRC to disclose its use of AI in R&D tax relief reviews. We’ve always cared about how AI handles your clients’ data, and we take great care to make sure it stays protected.

Meet the team →
Run your numbers

See how much time Novel could save your team

Enter your claim volume and team cost to see the hours Novel could give back each year.

Claims per year
120
Blended hourly cost
£65
Hours back per year
842
Value of that time
£54,730

Illustrative. Assumes about 7 hours saved per claim: technical narrative (7.5 h → 3 h), financials (3.75 h → 2 h), AIF (30 → 10 min), tax computation (30 → 4 min).

Questions we get asked

Before you book a walkthrough

Will we have to change how we work?

No. You’ll work through the same stages you follow today: projects, financials, internal review and the AIF. The only difference is that you can do it all in one place.

Is Novel just an AI narrative writer?

No. Narratives are only one part. Novel also handles financials, apportionment, AIFs, reviews and deadlines.

How long does it take to get going?

Teams that are ready can be up and running within a week, and most feel completely at home within a month. You’re never on your own. Unlimited in-app support is one click away, with replies from our team in minutes.

How is pricing worked out?

Choose a plan that fits your practice. Plans are tiered by organisations, users and features. Novel Intelligence: Financial and Corporation Tax Tracker can also be sold separately. See pricing

Is our client data secure?

Yes. Your clients’ data is fully protected, secured to ISO 27001 standards and handled in line with your contract.

Where is your data stored?

All client data is stored within the UK and the EEA (European Economic Area).

Book a walkthrough

See how a claim comes together in Novel

We’ll take you through a sample claim, from first project to a finished AIF and report, with no client data needed.

Book a 30-minute walkthrough