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Life Sciences

Financial Leadershipfor the Long Development Cycle

Grant accounting, clinical trial accruals, and strategic financial guidance for biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies navigating from discovery to commercialization.

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Industry Challenges

Life Sciences Finance Is Highly Specialized

Life sciences companies face accounting complexity that most firms cannot handle.

Investor-Driven Audit Pressure

As funding rounds grow, so do investor demands for audited financials. Many life sciences companies aren't ready when the request comes.

Clinical Trial Accruals

Accurately accruing clinical trial costs is one of the most complex areas in life sciences accounting. Getting it wrong creates audit problems.

Pre-Revenue Operations

Managing burn rate and runway while operating at a loss for years requires specialized financial planning.

Milestone Revenue Recognition

ASC 606 creates significant complexity for collaborative agreements and milestone-based payments.

Investor Reporting

Life sciences investors expect specific metrics and projections. Board packages require industry-specific financial presentation.

Scientist in lab
$500K
Annual Payroll Tax Offset
Our Approach

Financial Systems for Discovery Through Commercialization

Primary Service

Outsourced Controller & CFO Services

We provide financial leadership throughout the development lifecycle:

  • Clinical trial accrual methodologies and tracking
  • Burn rate management and runway forecasting
  • Program-level cost tracking for R&D portfolio management
  • Board and investor reporting packages
  • Audit preparation with life sciences expertise
  • Grant accounting for NIH, SBIR/STTR, and other funding sources
Tax Strategy

Tax Strategy for Life Sciences

With proper financial systems, we capture available tax benefits:

  • R&D tax credits for qualifying research activities
  • Orphan drug credit opportunities where applicable
  • State tax incentives for life sciences investment
  • IP planning and transfer pricing considerations
  • Exit planning from a tax perspective
Research lab
By The Numbers

Key Statistics

$500K
Annual R&D credit payroll tax offset for startups
ASC 606
R&D arrangements growing more complex each year
100%
QSBS gain exclusion potential for 5+ year holds
FAQ

Common Questions

Yes. Qualified small businesses can elect to apply up to $500,000 of R&D credits annually against payroll taxes rather than income taxes. This allows pre-revenue startups to benefit from R&D credits even without taxable income.
Many activities qualify including clinical trial design and execution, drug formulation development, medical device prototyping, diagnostic test development, process development for manufacturing, and software development for research applications.
We implement site-by-site accrual tracking, patient enrollment analysis, and protocol-based cost estimation. This ensures your financials accurately reflect incurred costs, which is critical for investor reporting and audit readiness.
Qualified Small Business Stock (Section 1202) allows investors in qualifying C-corporations to exclude up to 100% of capital gains on stock held more than 5 years. For life sciences companies, this can provide enormous tax savings on a successful exit.

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Life sciences

Let's Discuss Your Development Stage

Schedule a consultation to build financial systems that support your path to commercialization.

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