If you have had a chance to watch or play Wheel of Fortune, you know that each game starts with an unknown phrase with a set number of letters. It is a puzzle-type of game, where the category of the phrase is given; and then individual letters are chosen by the player. As more letters are chosen, the phrase begins to take shape. As the game progresses, strategies can be used to make the next letter picked a revealing one. At some point, even before all the letters are revealed, it is possible to deduce what the phrase is. Game over. The puzzle has been solved.
As much as Wheel of Fortune is America’s game, SR&ED is Canada’s game for every company that engages in the development of technology-based products.
Being able to effectively compile an SR&ED project report is the end game. If you get this done right, you will maximize your SR&ED refund. And there is nothing like an SR&ED refund. It just gives that incredibly good feeling of found money.
But at the beginning of any development project, who really wants to think about the SR&ED component of the project? It seems counterproductive. After all, SR&ED is not what defines the success of the project. It’s just a nice tax incentive that you really don’t want to miss out on.
So at the beginning, it seems best just to take the Wheel of Fortune approach. The phrase to be solved is blank. And I have never seen anyone guess the phrase starting with a completely blank puzzle. And so it is with the SR&ED pieces of information that will eventually make up the SR&ED claim. You don’t exactly know what they are going to be.
But as your development moves on, those tough-to-solve problems which need to be overcome, will emerge and take shape. And here is where the important part of the game comes along. If you can leave some kind of trace of the technological uncertainties that you are uncovering, it’s value to the SR&ED claim will only grow as you move forward.
On Wheel of Fortune, when a player guesses a letter that is a part of the phrase, Vanna does her job – she turns the letter around. Or rather, in our high tech world, she taps the blank to have the letter appear. And oh how so many people have marveled at Vanna’s job. She turns the letter. That’s it. Of course the implication is, anyone could do that.
But of course, it is such a crucial part to the whole process. The letter must be turned so that it is recorded. Can you imagine if no one recorded the letters as they were guessed? And just went ahead and proceeded, with the foolish thinking that they will remember. Of course they wouldn’t remember. As the game moves on, the whole mental effort and strategy is bound to shift several times. And what was very memorable when it happened, starts to get hazy as things go on.
Your SR&ED process is not so different. When information that will contribute to the SR&ED claim is uncovered, someone needs to do Vanna’s job. Capture a record of it somehow. If you don’t, the details will most certainly start to fade.
When you get to the end of your project, you can compile your SR&ED claim. How onerous the process will be, will be directly related to how much of the puzzle is showing in the traces that you have left. If no one has done Vanna’s job, you will have the equivalent of staring at a phrase full of blank letters within a certain category. You are out of luck. If you are fortunate enough to have a few letters showing in the puzzle, as happens in Wheel of Fortune’s bonus round, you might have a chance depending on the letters. And of course, if you solve the puzzle, you get the money. My suggestion, play to win and record what matters.