Why R&D Binder exists.

R&D Binder operates as a documentation service. We never prepare or sign a tax return. We never give an opinion on a return position. We never elect a method or strategy on a customer's behalf. The customer's existing CPA-of-record files IRS Form 6765 with our binder attached as the contemporaneous workpaper, and that CPA carries preparer responsibility under Treasury Circular 230.

This is a deliberate scope choice, not a limitation. It produces three concrete benefits for the customer:

• Lower cost. A $4,995 binder (our SaaS Standard tier) replaces $25,000 to $40,000 of consultant time at a Big-Four-style boutique. The price difference is mostly the absence of preparer-liability risk on our side, plus a productized pipeline that turns commit history into the four-part-test analysis at scale.
• No conflict with your existing CPA. Your CPA does not have to defer to an outside firm on the return. They review our binder, file Form 6765 the way they always have, and keep client ownership.
• Audit-defense readiness. Per Internal Revenue Manual 4.51.2 and IRS Notice 2023-63, the IRS expects contemporaneous documentation for the four-part test, business components, and Qualified Research Expenses (QREs). Most generalist CPAs have never produced that artifact. We do it as a standing product.

The binder is the deliverable. The credit is your CPA's claim. We never blur that line.

R&D Binder is built and operated by Aliso LLC, a California limited liability company that runs a small portfolio of productized engineering and tax-adjacent documentation services. Our other products serve adjacent niches (web accessibility audit reporting; homeowners-association governance briefs; AI-citation visibility audits) using the same studio pattern: ingest one type of structured input, apply a domain rubric, render a CPA-ready artifact.

The same engineering discipline runs the binder. Source-of-truth pipelines, deterministic rendering, no opaque AI calls in the audit path, and every claim citing a primary source the customer or their CPA can verify independently. The pipeline that produced the Cal.com 2024 demonstration binder is the same pipeline that produces every paid binder. There is no sales-versus-fulfillment gap.

• We are not a CPA firm. We do not prepare returns, sign returns, or hold a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). If you do not have a CPA, we can introduce you to a small panel of generalist CPAs comfortable filing Form 6765 with our binder; the engagement letter is between you and them.
• We are not a tax-law practice. We do not give legal opinions, tax-position advice, or method-of-accounting elections. For Section 174A elections, OBBBA transition decisions, or any IRS audit response, your CPA or tax counsel is the right call.
• We are not a payroll-tax-offset filer. Qualified Small Businesses electing the Section 41(h) payroll-tax offset (capped at $500,000 per year against employer FICA) need a Form 8974 filed by their payroll provider or CPA after Form 6765 is accepted. Our binder gives them everything they need to do that; we do not file the offset.
• We are not a state credit specialist. California, New York, Texas, and most other states layer their own R&D credits on top of federal Section 41. We document the federal credit by default; state add-ons are available as scoped add-on workpapers ($995 per state) and require a separate scope agreement.
• We are not an audit-defense firm. If the IRS opens an Information Document Request (IDR) on a return that included our binder, we engage on a separate hourly scope ($250 per hour) to assist your CPA or tax counsel with binder-specific factual questions. The audit response itself is owned by them, not us.

• Statute: 26 U.S.C. Section 41 (Credit for increasing research activities) and 26 U.S.C. Section 174A (post-OBBBA domestic R&E expensing).
• Regulations: Treas. Reg. Section 1.41-4 (qualified research, four-part test, substantially-all rule) and Treas. Reg. Section 1.41-2 (qualified research expenses).
• IRS guidance: Notice 2023-63 (contemporaneous-documentation expectation), Rev. Proc. 2025-28 (Section 174 / 280C compliance procedures, issued 2025-08-28), and the December 2025 Form 6765 instructions (introducing the Section G layout, mandatory for non-exempt filers from tax year 2026 forward).
• Legislation: One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, signed 2025-07-04), specifically Section 174 / 174A repeal of capitalization for domestic R&E and the small-business retroactive-amendment window for tax years 2022 to 2024 (under $31M average annual gross receipts; deadline the earlier of 2026-07-06 or the statute of limitations for refund).
• Internal Revenue Manual: IRM 4.51.2 (research credit examination handbook), the field guidance our binder is structured to satisfy.