Does the Cost of An Incentives Consultant Outweigh The Benefits? Part II

In my earlier post, I discussed how a business may consider using an Incentives Consultant to help guide them through the incentives process. To continue this discussion, I urge you to consider the potential consultant's experience with tax incentive programs and their associated requirements.

After your project has been approved by the grantor agency and an agreement has been negotiated, you may wish to continue your relationship with your current consultant, hire a new consultant, or utilize your staff to monitor and prepare the required compliance reports.  Whichever strategy you choose for this stage, ensure that the person(s) assigned to your project is truly knowledgeable of your project’s compliance requirements.  This is extremely important, as this is the part of the incentives process where you begin receiving your scheduled payments.  Again, in order for you to achieve any benefit, your consultant should be knowledgeable of economic development incentives and their requirements.  Your consultant should also be efficient, to ensure accurate and timely reporting. Essentially, your consultant’s goal is to ensure that you maximize your incentives payments.

Based on my experience, a business may be justified in hiring a professional consultant to assist with obtaining government incentives. A business should also consider whether it is better to use a consultant to assist with the monitoring and reporting functions of the business' compliance requirements. If your consultant adds value to the incentives process for your company, I believe the benefits outweigh the cost.

If you believe an incentives consultant will make participation in the incentives process, contact me at info@marlynnconsulting.com.