How a WeCostSeg Cost Segregation Study Works in 4 Steps

Four steps from inquiry to tax savings. Most residential engagements complete in three to four weeks elapsed time. Most commercial engagements complete in four to six weeks.

Step 1: Free preliminary analysis (4 business hours)

Send property details via the free proposal form or WhatsApp. We need property type, purchase price, placed-in-service date or binding contract date, and your approximate combined federal and state marginal tax rate. Our engineer returns a written estimate of your first-year deduction and a quoted study fee within four business hours during US Eastern hours. No payment, no contract.

Step 2: Sign engagement (same day)

When the estimate makes sense, you sign a one-page engagement letter and upload documentation: closing statement, appraisal (if available), blueprints (if available), photos of post-purchase improvements, and a list of personal property included in the sale. Your CPA is CC'd on the engagement per the CPA Coordination Protocol.

Step 3: Engineering review (2 to 4 weeks)

Virtual or in-person site inspection. Our engineer reviews documentation, walks the property (with the owner or property manager guiding via video for residential studies, or in person for commercial), and documents each component per the 13 Principal Elements in IRS Publication 5653. Assets are classified into 5-year, 7-year, 15-year, and real property recovery periods using the detailed engineering approach from actual cost records.

Step 4: Report and CPA handoff (1 week)

Draft report shared with your CPA five business days before final delivery. CPA review on allocations. Final engineer-signed report delivered as PDF plus an Excel fixed asset schedule. If it is a look-back study, Form 3115 is included and ready to attach to the current return with the Section 481(a) catch-up adjustment. Five years of audit defense begins at delivery.