Yeah, tell the client to find a new consultant Wiles. (I answered this question for the OP in a different forum.) If they paid big bucks, they need a properly developed fixed base, because taxpayers that cannot show a properly determined fixed base can have the whole credit denied. See the
Quebe case. In the past, (and, it appears, the present), some R&D consultants have used 16% when they "knew" the taxpayer would end up with the statutory max fixed base. Except they don't really know and they can't prove anything on audit without doing the work they should have done in the first place. Better to take the ASC and avoid these risks. Or hire a competent preparer in the first place.