It is a perfectly reasonable and sound approach for a Project Manager to say, first of all, “Let’s use the proven approaches to get there.” Avoiding and minimizing risk is what Project Managers are for. However, the time may come when it’s clear that the technology challenges will have to be overcome, and there is a gap in the current level of knowledge, or techniques or capabilities, that will have to be overcome to reach the project goal. Perhaps the proven approaches have been tried and failed. Other factors, such as financial or technical constraints, may drive the project to take that unfamiliar path toward experimental development. If the initial or ongoing technical “gap analysis” reveals such a risk, a savvy Project Manager will invoke standing requirements and processes for claiming SR&ED (assuming they exist within the organization), and will institute a process for regular technical status, activity, and cost tracking – particularly in respect of those perceived technology gaps and the work required to overcome them.
Project technical discussions and approaches considered or attempted will be documented, even the failures. The decision making process will be recorded, not just the decisions, and all of the players and all of the costs will be tracked, so that, at the end of the year, a SR&ED claim will be possible to help offset unexpected costs. If, in the very worst case scenario, the project fails to achieve the technical goals sought, the ability to claim SR&ED provides a margin, a level of “salvage” that could enable a company to recover something from an otherwise unsatisfactory result.
It’s kind of like a parachute – nobody wants to think about needing one, but when you need one, you really, really need one.
Under ordinary circumstances, however, the SR&ED program is not acting as a lifeboat, or a theoretical parachute, or anything of the sort. Most of the time, the SR&ED team is just another group of people who are asking the Project Manager for a lot of information that he or she had perhaps not thought about the need to provide. The Project Manager is often the key contact for a project in terms of understanding who worked on it, what the costs were, what issues and challenges were encountered (and when), and the current status (if the work is ongoing.) Even if there may other people with a more detailed, nitty-gritty view of the technological uncertainties, in most circumstances, the Project Manager plays a critical, supporting role in the development of any SR&ED claim.
Bruce Madole