The CRA will accept eye-witness testimony, from the key technical primes who were engaged in doing the work, even while they actively disapprove of the lack of better technical record-keeping. (Note that I say record-keeping, instead of “documentation” in this instance, because I would not want to mislead you into thinking that what CRA cares about are the user guides, technical reference docs, online help and the like: no – they want the records and journals and issue logs and memos to show what really happened, what the people who were working on it actually did.)
This is where failed projects sometimes drop out of play for SR&ED – because some organizations feel the need to punish technical failure by rewarding people with an over-abundance of free time: people or whole teams may get fired, demoted or banished, without the creation or retention of a single useable fact. Result: the final failure of a failed project is a failure to be claimed for SR&ED, because neither the records nor the people remain. A prime opportunity is lost. Today’s low hanging fruit is tomorrow’s rotten apple. Such a pity.
But I digress.
What you will end up with, once the list of high-value projects is complete, is a hierarchical ranking of the best and most expensive prospects in a SR&ED claim, complete with your assessments of the quality and quantity of available support. Reach up then – pick them. Choose the ones with the most undeniable technological uncertainties, the largest expenditures, and the strongest supporting evidence that experimental work was done. Choose carefully and conservatively, for the most part. File the SR&ED claims promptly, well within the 18 month deadline, so that if there are any last minute clarifications or information requests from the CRA that you are not in danger of missing the filing deadlines. Claim the biggest and strongest ones first, to maximize the return on your efforts.
These are your “low hanging fruit”, and the ability to claim them successfully will breed more success for your SR&ED program.
Bruce Madole