SR&ED Documentation Best Practices - SAU Consulting
Chances
are,
you
didn’t
magically
produce
your latest innovation in your head – it took hours of prototyping, tweaking and fixing, and some extra help here and there. If you didn’t document going
to
those
challenges,
support
your
work
how and
are
you
make
a
successful SR&ED claim?
To qualify for an SR&ED tax credit, you must show
that
technology,
you you
attempted faced
to
advance
challenges.
Documentation is extremely important so that you can support your claim, regardless of its size.
SR&ED Documentation Requirements The CRA requires that documentation is: 1. Contemporaneous – this means that it is documented at the time the SR&ED work is done. 2. Dated – to prove that the work occurred in the fiscal year you are claiming. 3. Highlights technological issues/challenges – to support the technical reports that will be submitted with the claim.
Forms of Documentation Still
unsure
what
counts
as
adequate
documentation?
Here
are
common
forms
of
documentation (that you are hopefully already using) that can be used to support your software
SR&ED claims Canada:
Timesheets Technical challenges Version control for all technical documents Software prototypes Whiteboard photos
In other industries, you can also include product prototypes and associated materials, and engineer notebooks.
SR&ED Documentation Tips Don’t underestimate the importance of challenges and notes captured in emails.
Start recording early, even if you aren’t sure if your work is SR&ED eligible yet.
Schedule reminders to create notes in your project management system.
Schedule reminders to record your time at the end of every day.
For software companies, record notes on the source code itself.
Enlist an internal champion to oversee the process.
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