Leigh Pearce

Leigh is an a Director of the R&D tax team and has over 16 years of experience in professional services, industry and medical innovation environments. This includes six years of dedicated R&D tax experience, managing multidisciplinary teams to assist clients through all facets of the R&D application and review processes.

Prior to commencing at BDO, Leigh spent four years as a manager at another global accountancy and advisory firm in Perth, and five years as a project manager commercialising medical innovations.

Services

• R&D tax compliance and consulting advisory
• Project management of large technically complex projects, comprising multidisciplinary teams
• Project manage R&D applications
• Management of ATO dispute resolutions
• Commercialisation
• IP strategy and management
• Product development
• Risk management
• Stakeholder engagement and management
• Governance and compliance
• Government liaison

Sectors

• Mining and exploration
• Information Technology
• Biotechnology
• Medical Technology
• Construction and engineering
• Manufacturing

Key assignments

Leigh’s clients are predominantly in the information technology, biotechnology, mining and exploration, medical technology, construction and engineering and manufacturing industries.

Some of Leigh’s key assignments include the following:

• Key client liaison responsible for the management and delivery of R&D tax compliance services for a large-scale construction SGE with a presence throughout Australia, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and India
• Key client liaison responsible for the management and delivery of R&D tax compliance services for an information and technology SGE with a significant presence in the United States and Australia
• Successfully defended a multimillion-dollar mining R&D tax review. Overturned a negative finding, entitling the R&D applicant to the previously at risk R&D benefit
• Successfully managed ATO disputes for large private and public entities
• Leigh and his team have successfully acted as project managers for multiple clients’ R&D applications with annual turnovers in excess of $1 billion.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours, Major: Biotechnology), Murdoch University
• Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Curtin University
• Innovation Management
• Prince 2 Project Management