Documentation
An essential part of any SR&ED claim is supporting documentation. The purpose of this documentation is to confirm that the research and development activities took place during the time period of the claim.
- Supporting documents are not submitted with claims, but should be archived for CRA reviews.
- Dates on supporting documents are vital.
- Anything is better than nothing and you can’t keep too much!
Examples of Technical Documentation
- Project File (a single file, identified by Project Name, containing all relevant documents)
- Project Plan (e.g., Gantt chart, schedule, etc.)
- Test Plan/Design of Experiment (DOE) documents
- Progress reports (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly)
- Reports from subcontractors, test labs, etc.
- Meeting minutes or notes
- Action item logs
- Memos
- Results of experiments, tests, trials
- Drawings (hardcopy or CAD, with revision history)
- Prototypes
- Sample parts/test parts
- Photographs
- Invoices, purchase orders
- Correspondence (including faxes or email)
Examples of Financial Documentation
A Project Cost Summary must be submitted for each project claimed. In generating costs, reasonable estimates are often acceptable if an exact record is unavailable, especially for first claims. For example, it may be reasonable to estimate labour usage in the absence of a time tracking system.
Project Cost Summaries must have some kind of backup. Some examples are:
- T4 earnings documents for all people involved
- Worksheets showing how labour estimates were prepared
- Labour tracking schedules showing hours by project (if available)
- Copies of invoices showing materials purchased and consumed during the development process
- Copies of invoices that show costs of subcontractors
- Scrap records showing parts discarded during the development efforts