It’s all about how you document your work
The Government provides specific “guidance” on what documents they want to be provided as evidence of the R&D work you are undertaking.
You need to cover the following areas to the right level of detail:
- Product strategy with project roadmap and new knowledge assessed
- R&D project documentation with project hypothesis explained
✓ R&D project eligibility proof for core R&D activity documentation
✓ R&D project timelines, plans and budgets that have been monitored.
- R&D work records that track time and materials as core and supporting
- Experiment plans to prove hypothesis documented*
- Experiments conducted and evidence recorded with the results evaluated/reported*
- Minutes of meetings to formally evaluate results, correct, and iterate on the hypothesis
The areas marked with an asterisk* need to use scientific language to describe your hypothesis, experiments conducted to test the hypothesis and capture the new knowledge you produce.
What is the right level of detail?
You will need a way to ensure you capture enough evidence without going overboard. The best way to do this is to have a set of templates used for all R&D projects and checklists to make sure you don’t miss any, leaving holes that may be discovered in an Audit. If you haven’t got time to check out our Template Packs and the R&D Tax Incentive Implementation Checklist, why don’t you find out now!
Maybe you would like to get a self-assessment of your R&D tax claim, check out our Self-Audit service. By doing a Self Audit questionnaire, you can complete and receive a personal report written by our consultants. You can find out how well you are keeping records and how much you are missing out on.
If you are not sure what help you should get, book a 10-minute consultation to discuss your specific situation.