section174-tax — launch kit

1-liner

Section 174 R&D tax-credit prep from GitHub repos. CPAs subcontract at $2-10K per engagement.

Tweet hook

Post-TCJA, every software startup must capitalize R&D under §174. CPAs charge $5-25K to prepare the schedule.

Built a tool that reads your GitHub commits and classifies QRE-eligible activity. Cuts CPA prep time 70%.

Pipeline 🧵

Outreach (B2B to CPAs)

• Tax-CPA subreddits + CPA Twitter
• Direct to startup-focused CPA firms (Pilot, Bench, Kruze)

Cold-email ICP — CPAs

Boutique tax-CPA firms with 10-100 startup clients. Pilot, Bench, Kruze alumni. Tax-only firms in startup hubs.

Cold-email template — CPA

Subject: §174 prep at $2K/engagement (you keep most)

Hi {first} — quick offer for {firm}.

Most §174 schedules take a senior CPA 8-15 hours per client. At $300/hr
billable, that's $2.4-4.5K of CPA time you could be doing audit prep
or strategy work.

I do the prep: read client's GitHub, classify QRE-eligible commits,
draft the schedule. You review + sign + bill the client whatever you'd
normally bill.

I charge $2K to you. You bill the client $5-15K. Difference is yours.

Free first engagement to prove the workflow. Reply with a candidate client.

SEO content

1. "TCJA §174: the rule that changed software-startup taxes"
2. "QRE classification heuristics — what auditors look for"
3. "Boutique CPAs and §174: workflow for 100-client books"

section174-tax

Section 174 R&D tax-credit preparation. Reads a startup's GitHub repos, classifies each commit as QRE-eligible (Qualified Research Expense) or not, drafts a Section 174 schedule for the company's CPA.

Why this exists

Post-TCJA, Section 174 forces R&D capitalization (5/15-year amortization) unless companies properly document QRE allocation per employee. Most software startups can claim significant R&D credit but don't because the prep work is too painful to do manually.

CPAs charge $5-25K to do this. We do the heavy lifting (commit-by-commit classification + schedule draft) at $2-10K, then the CPA reviews and signs.

Pricing

• $2,000 one-time per fiscal year — single repo, up to 50 contributors
• $5,000 — multi-repo (up to 5), 50-200 contributors
• $10,000+ — enterprise, 5+ repos, 200+ contributors, full work-papers
• $499/mo retainer — quarterly schedule prep + Q&A access

Architecture

GitHub repo + fiscal year
        │
        ▼
classify.py      Qwen classifies each commit (is_qre, confidence, rationale)
        │
        ▼
schedule.py      Roll up by author × category × salary
        │
        ▼
CLI emits        Section174Schedule for CPA review

Run

cd C:\openclaw-products\section174-tax
python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .

# 1. Walk repo (operator wires PyGithub commit iteration)
sec174 classify-repo --repo myco/app --year 2025 --out classifications.jsonl

# 2. Build the schedule
sec174 build-schedule classifications.jsonl --year 2025 \
       --salaries salaries.json

Compliance notes

• We are NOT giving tax advice. Output is a draft for the CPA who signs the return.
• Classification is conservative-leaning to reduce audit risk.
• Each QRE flag includes a rationale string suitable for inclusion in the work-paper (auditable trail).
• Contributors flagged QRE need contemporaneous documentation (commit messages count) per IRS requirements.

Roadmap

• PyGithub commit iteration (live wiring)
• Per-author QRE-percentage time-allocation reports
• PDF generation of work-papers
• Multi-repo aggregation
• Integration with Gusto/Rippling for salary auto-pull