Engineered Tax Services vs.
Cost Seg Smart.

At a glance: residential $500K STR comparison

Dimension	Cost Seg Smart	ETS
Price (residential $500K)	$895	Quote required (not published). ETS’s FAQ says most professionally prepared studies range from $3,000 to $12,000 depending on property size and complexitySource, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cost-segregation. Conditions: A range across all property types, not a residential price or a fee schedule. ETS also says studies generally make economic sense at a depreciable basis of roughly $500,000 or more.
Turnaround	1–2 business days	4–6 weeks typical (per ETS)Source, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cost-segregation.
Site visit	Every study is priced as a remote study, and when a walkthrough would improve it, we do it with you on a video call at no charge. For commercial and 5+ unit property, an in-person site visit is available as an add-on for $895, travel included, throughout the contiguous United States and Washington, DC, for buildings up to 20,000 sq ft. Residential rentals (1–4 units): an in-person visit by an independent field data collector, $595 throughout the contiguous United States and Washington, DC, travel included. Larger buildings, Alaska and Hawaii are by quote.	Yes (on-site property inspection)Source, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cost-segregation.
Methodology	Public government construction cost data + MACRS	Engineering take-offs and construction cost data, following the IRS Audit Techniques Guide (per ETS)Source, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cost-segregation.
Service scope	Cost seg only	Cost seg + R&D credits + §179D + §45L + other specialty servicesSource, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services.
Form 3115 lookback	Included	Look-back studies for existing property, with supporting schedules for your CPA; whether Form 3115 applies is a CPA decision (per ETS)Source, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/how-form-3115-calculates-cost-segregation-catch-up-depreciation.
Best fit	Residential / STR / small MF / small commercial	Per ETS: commercial and investment property, generally at a depreciable basis of roughly $500,000 or more; owners who also want R&D or energy incentivesSource, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cost-segregation.
Free revision policy	Free for 12 months after first delivery (36 months for your CPA's requests), then $195 per round; corrections of our errors always free (original scope of the study)	Not published; ask ETSSource, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cost-segregation.
CPA coordination	Included: written answers, and calls or meetings with your CPA as needed	CPA firm partnership program; per-client terms not publishedSource, checked Nov 2, 2026: engineeredtaxservices.com/services/cpa-partner.

Methodology overlap (both firms)

Both firms describe an engineering-based approach aligned with the IRS Audit Techniques Guide. The shared framework:

• Construction cost data — component-level $/SF basis with regional cost multipliers, calibrated to the property's market.
• MACRS classification per Rev. Proc. 87-56 — asset class lives that determine 5-, 7-, 15-, 27.5-, or 39-year recovery periods. Rev. Proc. 87-56 is incorporated into IRS Pub. 946 Appendix B.
• IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide (Pub 5653) — the 13-element quality framework the IRS uses to evaluate a study. ETS says its methodology follows the guide at every step; Cost Seg Smart documents every study against it.
• Form 3115 §481(a) lookback support — for properties owned 2+ years without a prior cost-seg study, both firms produce the depreciation schedule the CPA files with the change-in-accounting-method election (DCN 7).
• Checked deliverable — ETS describes itself as a licensed engineering firm and lists an engineering analysis report, component-level cost detail and audit-ready documentation; every Cost Seg Smart study is quality-checked before delivery, and one that fails a check is held rather than sent.

When Cost Seg Smart may be the better choice

• You only need cost seg. ETS is built as a multi-service specialty tax firm. If you just need a single property's cost segregation done, the $3,000–$12,000 range ETS’s FAQ gives for most studies can take a large share of a small property’s first-year benefit. Our $895 study on a $500K residential property covers the same Rev. Proc. 87-56 classification and ATG framework.
• Residential rentals under $5M. A $400K SFR or STR is a hard fit for a study priced in the thousands. At our pricing, the same property generates real ROI on the study fee in Year 1 alone.
• STR portfolio owners. If you're running 5+ short-term rentals across markets, an automated workflow at our pricing scales linearly. Each property is a fresh order and a fresh study, within 1–2 business days; you don't need to schedule a different engineer visit per property.
• Speed-sensitive filings. If your CPA is filing your return next week and needs the schedule, our 1–2 business day turnaround in most cases beats the 4–6 week timeline ETS publishes.
• Form 3115 lookback on residential properties. The cumulative §481(a) catch-up on a 5-year-old $500K residential rental can easily exceed $30K–$50K. At our $895 study fee, the math works at any reasonable bracket. At ETS's pricing tier, the math requires high bracket and recent purchase to justify.

When ETS may be the better choice

• You want a one-stop specialty-tax shop. If you're claiming R&D tax credits, §179D energy deductions, and cost seg for the same business, ETS's bundled engagement model is genuinely valuable. One project manager, one set of working papers, one audit defense relationship.
• Large commercial properties with energy upgrades. §179D requires energy modeling and certification — ETS does both alongside cost seg, so the basis allocations stay coordinated.
• R&D-credit-heavy businesses with rental real estate. Same one-vendor logic: if your business is already running R&D credit studies through ETS, adding cost seg as a related workstream makes operational sense.
• Properties where on-site engineering judgment matters. Specialty industrial, hospitality, ground-up commercial new construction over $5M — ETS's site-visit model captures details a remote pipeline could miss.
• Enterprise tax-prep workflows. Mid-market and large public companies running quarterly tax close cycles benefit from ETS's enterprise engagement structure. Our pipeline is built for individual real estate investors and small CPA practices.

Questions worth asking ETS and us

Whichever firm you choose, these questions show what a study covers. Each answer below is what a Cost Seg Smart study does today.

• Where does the land value come from, and does the report say which source was used? Cost Seg Smart: We set land from your own documents or from public county records where they exist, check assessor figures for reliability, and the report names the source we used.
• Does it read your closing statement, or do you type the numbers in yourself? Cost Seg Smart: Upload your settlement statement and any itemized invoices or cost schedules and we read them: capitalizable closing costs go into your basis, documented costs are classified line by line, and a cost document we cannot read holds the study for review instead of being skipped.
• On a condo, does it count your share of the shared outdoor site improvements, or only the unit? Cost Seg Smart: Where a residential condo unit includes an ownership interest in the common elements, the study may allocate a conservative portion of the unit's existing basis to the shared outdoor improvements it identifies, such as parking, landscaping and fencing, as 15-year property. It reallocates basis you already have; it does not add any. Pools, clubhouses, gyms and other building amenities are not included. Condominium law normally gives each unit an undivided interest in the common elements, so the share is included even if you did not know you held one.
• Does the schedule reconcile to your depreciable basis, and what happens if it does not? Cost Seg Smart: Every component schedule adds up to your depreciable basis to the cent, and a study that does not is automatically blocked before delivery.
• What is checked before the report reaches you, and what happens when a check fails? Cost Seg Smart: Every study is automatically quality-checked before delivery, and a study that fails a check is held rather than sent.

How to decide

Three questions to ask:

1. Do you need R&D credits, §179D, or other specialty tax services alongside cost seg? → ETS. The bundled engagement is the value.
2. Is the property over $5M with significant energy upgrades, specialty assets, or hospitality build-out? → ETS.
3. Otherwise (residential, STR, small MF, small commercial under $5M, cost seg only)? → Cost Seg Smart: a lower study fee and faster turnaround.

If you want to see the math on a specific property before deciding, our free calculator gives a Year-1 estimate in 30 seconds. Full methodology details are at /methodology/, pricing tiers at /cheap-cost-segregation/.

Last updated: November 2, 2026. Every ETS cell in the table above names its source page on engineeredtaxservices.com, checked on 2026-11-02. Maintained by the Cost Seg Smart Editorial Team. Engineered Tax Services is a trademark of its owner. Cost Seg Smart has no affiliation with Engineered Tax Services. This comparison is informational; both firms produce IRS ATG-aligned engineered cost segregation studies. Confirm pricing and scope directly with each vendor.