Kroll appears on most lists of cost segregation providers, usually a few places below firms that do nothing but cost segregation. If you are choosing who should study your rental or commercial property, Seneca Cost Segregation and Kroll represent two different models: a firm built around one service, and a cost segregation group inside a global financial advisory company.
As co-founder of Seneca Cost Segregation and a real estate investor myself, I hear this comparison from owners and CPAs who want to know whether a large advisory brand gives them anything a dedicated firm cannot. I run one of the two firms discussed here, so I have kept to what each firm states publicly. Seneca’s figures come from our own records and published terms, and every Kroll detail comes from Kroll’s own website.
Below you will find how each firm approaches a study, where the two differ on pricing, speed, site visits, and audit terms, and which kind of owner each one suits.
TL;DR — Seneca vs Kroll at a Glance
If you only have a minute, these are the differences that change the decision:
- ●Price before you commit: Seneca’s fully engineered studies start at about $2,000 for residential and typically $3,500 for commercial, while Kroll publishes no cost segregation fees.
- ●A delivery window you can plan around: Seneca delivers in 5 to 10 business days for every property type once it has what it needs from you; Kroll publishes no turnaround.
- ●Money back if the study is at fault: Seneca refunds 100% of its fee if its own error leads to a depreciation adjustment above 5%, a term Kroll does not publish.
- ●Institutional depth at Kroll: Kroll’s group is led by an engineer who has consulted on more than $100 billion of real estate, largely for institutional investors and REITs.
- ●Specialist services for complex holdings: Kroll offers REIT-specific studies, statistical sampling, asset scrubs, and ITC cost segregation alongside standard studies.
- ●Common ground: Both firms list engineering-based analysis, look-back studies, and IRS audit defense among their services.
Seneca Cost Segregation and Kroll Side by Side
Each row compares a published detail, or notes where a firm leaves it unpublished.
Kroll’s Real Estate Advisory Group also appears as one of seven firms in our ranking of the best cost segregation companies, alongside Seneca.
How Seneca Cost Segregation Runs a Study
Seneca is a veteran-founded firm, established in January 2024, that performs cost segregation studies and nothing else. Its engineering team has assessed 10,200+ properties and analyzed more than $5B in cost basis, with an average first-year deduction of $171,000.
A Specialist Firm Built for Real Estate Owners
Seneca does not set a minimum basis before a property is worth studying. Its completed work runs from small Midwest single-family homes to multi-million-dollar mansions, covering long-term and short-term rentals alike.
On the commercial side, the team has studied small self-storage facilities, multi-million-dollar manufacturing plants, hotels with more than 120 units, and office buildings above 40,000 square feet, for owners in all 50 states.
Engineer-Built Estimates and a Defined Project Team
Every engagement starts with a free preliminary estimate and proposal, prepared by Seneca’s engineering team from what the owner shares about the property. Each client then works with a dedicated Project Manager, the Engineering team, and an Advisor, all in-house.
The owner picks an on-site tour or a virtual one: many commercial properties get an engineer on site, and a guided video walkthrough suits most residential properties. Real-time updates follow the study through defined stages, so the owner and the CPA always know where it stands.
Head of Engineering Review on Every Report
Seneca’s engineers identify and cost every component that makes up the property, so the report breaks down the whole building, from the structure to the shorter-life assets that drive the deduction. The work follows the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide.
Every report goes through the same internal review, and the Head of Engineering signs off before it reaches the client’s CPA. Seneca also prepares Qualified Production Property (QPP) studies for qualifying production facilities under the 2025 tax law.
AuditDefense With a Written Refund Term
Seneca answers IRS questions about the studies it prepares at no added cost. Its published terms go a step further: if an audit finds that a Seneca-caused issue produced a depreciation adjustment greater than 5%, Seneca refunds 100% of its study fee.
Behind that guarantee sits a record of zero IRS audits triggered or lost.
How Kroll Handles Cost Segregation
Kroll is best known for valuation, risk, and investigations work, and cost segregation is one service within that larger business. Everything below comes from Kroll’s own published pages.
A Practice Inside a Global Advisory Firm
Kroll’s cost segregation work sits in its Real Estate Advisory Group, part of the firm’s financial advisory business. The company traces its roots to Duff and Phelps, founded in 1932, which acquired Kroll in 2018 and later moved the whole firm under the Kroll name.
Kroll is headquartered at One World Trade Center in New York. Its Cost Segregation Group is led nationally from Chicago by Bart Lazarczyk, a former lead mechanical engineer who, according to Kroll, has consulted on more than $100 billion of real estate.
A Service Menu Built for Corporate and REIT Portfolios
Kroll’s cost segregation page lists a wider menu than most specialist firms publish:
- ●Engineering-based studies and look-backs: standard cost segregation analysis for new construction, acquisitions, and renovations, plus look-back studies on property already in service.
- ●Repair regulations analysis: applying the betterment, adaptation, and restoration tests, unit-of-property definitions, and safe harbors from the IRS tangible property regulations.
- ●Asset scrubs and sampling: reviewing fixed-asset registers for misclassified assets, plus IRS-based statistical sampling.
- ●REIT and energy studies: REIT-specific studies covering dividend management and pass-through studies, plus ITC cost segregation.
- ●Specialized breakouts: gray box studies, asset componentization, venue-specific breakouts, and IRS audit defense.
The property types Kroll names include casinos, data centers, golf courses, resorts, and biotech and pharmaceutical facilities. Its national head lists institutional investors, private equity firms, REITs, and owner-operators among the clients his team advises.
What Kroll Does Not Publish
Kroll’s cost segregation page lists services and contacts, but it does not publish study fees, a typical turnaround, a preliminary estimate process, or any refund guarantee. The entry point is a contact form that routes to the Real Estate Advisory Group.
Missing terms say nothing about study quality, but you will need each one in writing before a Kroll proposal can be compared with Seneca’s.
Key Differences Between Seneca and Kroll
Five differences matter most once both firms are on your shortlist.
Who Each Firm is Built to Serve
Kroll frames its cost segregation service around companies, and its group leader’s client list centers on institutional investors, private equity firms, and REITs. Owners already working with Kroll on valuation, transactions, or property tax may find a study fits naturally into that relationship.
Seneca is built for real estate owners of every size, from a first single-family rental to a commercial holding with several buildings.
Pricing and the Path to a Quote
Seneca prices commercial studies to the complexity of the property, typically from $3,500, and fully engineered residential studies from about $2,000. The free estimate and proposal come first, and the owner pays only on deciding to proceed.
Kroll does not publish fees, so pricing a Kroll study means requesting a proposal. Ask whether the fee is fixed or tied to the projected tax savings, since the IRS audit guide tells examiners to closely scrutinize studies performed on contingency fees.
The breakdown of what a cost segregation study costs walks through the factors behind any provider’s fee.
Turnaround and Project Updates
Seneca’s 5 to 10 business day window applies to residential and commercial properties alike, complex commercial included, provided the owner shares documents and answers questions promptly. Kroll’s page gives no timeline.
Timing shapes what you can claim on the current return. Property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 qualifies for 100% bonus depreciation under the One Big Beautiful Bill, so a report that lands well before the filing deadline gives your CPA room to use it.
For the factors that stretch or shorten any engagement, see how long a cost segregation study takes.
Site Visits and Engineering Detail
The IRS guide describes the detailed engineering approach as including a site visit to inspect the facility and identify the assets it contains. Both firms describe their studies as engineering-based.
Seneca lets the owner choose between an on-site visit and a guided virtual tour, depending on the property and the timing needed, and the article on virtual property tours for cost segregation covers when a remote walkthrough works well. Kroll’s page says its team examines properties but does not specify whether that happens on site or remotely.
Audit Protection Terms
Both firms list audit defense. Kroll includes IRS audit defense in its service menu without stating whether it is part of the study fee, and Seneca’s AuditDefense comes with every study.
Only Seneca publishes a refund term: 100% of the fee back if its own error drives a depreciation adjustment above 5%. The piece on why audit defense matters explains what that protection should cover, and no firm can promise how an examination will end.
Where Seneca Cost Segregation Has the Edge
Seneca tends to suit owners in these situations:
- ●Residential or smaller commercial owners: No minimum basis applies, and a virtual tour keeps a single-family or short-term rental study simple.
- ●Owners facing a filing deadline: A study back within two weeks of complete documents leaves room for CPA review before an extension runs out.
- ●Buyers who want the fee up front: The estimate and proposal show the expected benefit and the price before any commitment.
- ●Owners who want written recourse: The refund term is a defined remedy if the study itself causes an adjustment.
- ●Owners building a production facility: Seneca prepares QPP studies alongside standard cost segregation work.
Where Kroll Has the Edge
Kroll is the stronger option for a narrower group of owners:
- ●REITs with distribution planning needs: Kroll offers REIT-specific studies that address dividend management and pass-through studies.
- ●Companies with large fixed-asset registers: Asset scrubs, repair regulations analysis, and IRS-based statistical sampling suit corporate tax departments cleaning up historical depreciation.
- ●Owners already using Kroll: A business that relies on Kroll for valuation, transaction, or property tax work may prefer to keep cost segregation with the same firm.
- ●Energy and specialty assets: ITC cost segregation and venue-specific breakouts serve energy projects, casinos, and similar specialized properties.
Questions to Ask Seneca, Kroll, or Any Study Provider
When an owner brings us proposals from more than one firm, what we see consistently is that the documents differ most on the terms they leave out. These are the questions we suggest putting to every provider in writing:
- ●Who prepares and signs the study: Ask about engineering credentials and membership in the American Society of Cost Segregation Professionals.
- ●Which method applies: Ask which approach from the IRS guide the study follows and how the allocated costs reconcile to your total basis.
- ●How the property is inspected: Ask whether an engineer visits on site, runs a virtual tour, or relies on documents alone.
- ●How the fee is set: Ask for a fixed fee in writing and whether any part depends on the tax savings.
- ●When the report arrives: Ask for a delivery date measured from the day your documents are complete.
- ●What audit support covers: Ask whether it is included, how long it applies, and whether any refund follows if the study is at fault.
- ●What your CPA receives: Ask for a sample report, the fixed asset schedule format, and support for a Form 3115 filing if the study is a look-back.
The checklist in how to choose cost segregation services adds more on reading two proposals side by side.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the questions owners ask most often when Kroll and Seneca are both on the shortlist.
Why Investors Choose Seneca Cost Segregation
We keep every part of a study in-house: our engineers build it, our Head of Engineering signs off on it, and AuditDefense stands behind it, with 10,200+ properties assessed and zero IRS audits triggered or lost. If a Kroll proposal or any other bid is already on your desk, ask us for a free estimate and compare the two line by line.
Conclusion
Kroll and Seneca both describe their studies as engineering-based, and both offer look-backs and audit defense. The real difference is the kind of client each firm is organized around.
Kroll brings a global advisory platform and a service menu shaped for REITs, corporate tax departments, and specialized assets. Seneca brings published pricing, delivery in 5 to 10 business days once your documents are in, a written refund term, and a team that does cost segregation only, while recovery periods under IRS Publication 946 apply the same way whichever firm prepares the study.
Every proposal we prepare at Seneca starts with a free engineering estimate, so the simplest next step is to get a number for your own property and set it beside anything else you are weighing.
