Easier Every Year: How an Atlanta SaaS Company Turned Ongoing Software Development into $282,909 in Tax Savings
For about 20 years, an Atlanta software company had been doing what software companies do: building, testing, and improving its own platform and the algorithms behind it. What it hadn’t been doing was claiming R&D Tax Credits on that work.
After an introduction from one of the company’s attorneys, Trove went back three years to capture what had been missed, then set up an annual process. Five tax years in, the company has realized $282,909 in tax savings, and its most recent year produced its largest R&D savings yet.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) |
| Location | Atlanta |
| Time in business | About 20 years |
| Programs | Federal and Georgia R&D Tax Credits; Georgia Retraining Tax Credit |
| Tax years | Five, including three prior years recovered through amended returns |
| Total savings | $282,909 |
| Introduced by | One of the company’s attorneys |
The work was already happening
The company’s technical team is constantly working on its platform:
- Developing and improving proprietary software
- Reworking and improving algorithms
- Creating new functionality and improving existing features
- Solving technical challenges within the platform
- Testing different approaches as the software evolves
Engineers and developers think of this as building the product. Activities like these can also qualify for federal and Georgia R&D Tax Credits. Trove didn’t create any new activity. Its role was to recognize the tax value inside work the company was already doing.
Step one: recovering three years of missed savings
When Trove started working with the company, qualifying development had been going on for years. Rather than look only at the current tax year, Trove evaluated the company’s prior activity and suggested amending its returns for the three preceding tax years.
That allowed the company to capture R&D Tax Credits for development work it had already completed and paid for.
Step two: an annual process
With the history addressed, Trove moved the company to a go-forward process, so its R&D activity is evaluated and claimed every year instead of piling up unclaimed.
The historical review was the heavy lift, because several years of development activity had to be reconstructed at once. Since then, the work has become much more streamlined. Trove and the company know which activities to look at and what information to gather, so each year’s analysis goes more smoothly than the last.
Easier process, larger savings
A common worry about R&D Tax Credits is the administrative burden. This company’s experience points the other way. As the annual process matured, it got easier, and the most recent tax year produced the company’s largest R&D savings to date.
Across five tax years, the company has generated $281,123 in combined federal and Georgia R&D Tax Credits. For a software business whose product never stops evolving, that opportunity can continue year after year.
Expanding beyond R&D
In 2025, Trove looked beyond R&D for the first time. The company had rolled out a new performance management platform, and employees needed training to adopt it. That training generated another $1,786 in Georgia income tax savings through the Georgia Retraining Tax Credit.
It’s a small number next to the R&D savings, but it may be the start of something larger. The company expects more software rollouts and training in 2026. And as its own platform adds new functionality, employees may need training on that, too. The same technology investment can create two different opportunities at two points in its life:
- Developing and improving the technology may qualify for R&D Tax Credits.
- Training employees on the new technology may qualify for the Georgia Retraining Tax Credit.
The results
| Program | Tax savings |
|---|---|
| Federal and Georgia R&D Tax Credits (five tax years) | $281,123 |
| Georgia Retraining Tax Credit (2025) | $1,786 |
| Total | $282,909 |
These figures reflect realized savings from completed projects and don’t include potential savings in future years.
Why an attorney’s introduction mattered
The relationship began when one of the company’s attorneys introduced Trove. The attorney didn’t need to run an R&D study or decide which development costs qualified. The value came from recognizing that a client constantly investing in its own software deserved a specialized review, and then making the introduction.
That introduction has led to $282,909 in tax savings for the client and a relationship spanning five tax years.
For attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, and other trusted advisors, the lesson is simple: you don’t need to do the specialized analysis yourself. You just need to recognize the business traits that should start a conversation.
Key takeaways
- Software development that improves a product, its features, or its algorithms can qualify for federal and Georgia R&D Tax Credits.
- R&D Tax Credits missed in prior years may be recoverable through amended returns.
- An annual process makes each year easier and keeps savings from slipping through the cracks.
- The same technology can create both R&D and Georgia Retraining Tax Credit opportunities.
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