IT & Tech
IT startup: R&D Audit & International Expansion
Making sense of R&D project obligations and the legal and financial landscape of international growth.
Client: IT startup
The challenge
A Croatian sports technology startup with ongoing R&D projects and plans for international expansion came to us with two needs: (1) to review their R&D project documentation and obligations for compliance and audit readiness, and (2) to understand the legal, tax and financial framework for entering new markets. International expansion for software looks simple on the surface, but in practice raises complex questions around tax treatment of software revenues, transfer pricing, permanent establishment risk and local regulatory requirements.
What we did
We systematically reviewed R&D project documentation, expenditure records and reporting against programme requirements, identified gaps and inconsistencies, and defined a corrective action plan that we then implemented with the startup’s team to ensure audit‑ready records. For international expansion, we mapped key legal and financial considerations in the target markets — corporate structure options, taxation of licence income, VAT, employment law implications and sector‑specific regulations — and organised findings into a clear decision framework outlining questions to resolve, risks and dependencies, and which external experts (legal, tax, accounting) will be needed in each jurisdiction.
Outcome
R&D project documentation reviewed and corrected for compliance and audit readiness. An international expansion framework delivered, guiding strategic decisions on market entry sequencing and corporate structure
