Village Gamer

With the recent announcement of SR&ED ONE partnering with DOVICO Software to release a web based SR&ED documentation tool, Canadian business owners now have a tool they can use to ensure they are effectively capturing the documentation required to support their Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) claim, while also increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of their overall operations.

The new CRA Claim Review Manual is bringing about more structure to the overall review process, created to bring a measure of consistency and predictability to reviews, a move SR&ED ONE strongly supports. It also sets out the importance of contemporaneous documentation so claimants who do not seriously consider the importance of documentation are at risk for claim denial.

“We recognized the importance of having a robust and non-intrusive time-tracking system created to capture SR&ED activities, which is why we chose to partner with DOVICO Software,” explains Danny Ladouceur, Principal & Co-Founder. “Their flexible system, already used by many high profile companies such as Bayer, Vodafone, Pitney Bowes, and Allianz, serves clients in 72 countries.”

Working together, SR&ED ONE and DOVICO have made the necessary modifications to create the most effective SR&ED documentation system available today. “Time tracking itself does not guarantee meeting CRA’s documentation guidelines. It must also help front line staff, using the system flag that they could be working on a SR&ED eligible project, and gather information about the obstacles the employees are facing, the work they are performing, and the supporting documentation they are creating during their developments,” says Ajoa Mintah, VP Technical Services at SR&ED ONE.

“It is also important to note that not all R&D projects qualify for SR&ED. In fact, it isn’t until after the project is completed that a company must look back and determine, based on evidence, which portions or nuggets of work within their projects is SR&ED. This can prove to be very challenging without a proper time-tracking system in place, which is why we are pleased to be offering this system to all our clients, ensuring they accurately capture all SR&ED eligible activities and costs throughout the year, with minimal effort and disruption to employees’ regular activities,” explains Mintah.

Some of the benefits of the system include:

• Being simple, intuitive and non-time consuming, this system helps capture information about technological challenges and experiments conducted.
• Making it easier for clients to ensure they are claiming all eligible projects.
• Protecting clients in the event of staff turnover.
• Ensuring compliance with the CRA SR&ED guidelines, making it difficult to ever be denied by CRA due to lack of documentation.
• Having strong technical history and details, which make it possible to conduct a more comprehensive costing analysis, ensuring the claim is fully optimized.
• Software created to help clients effectively manage other aspects of their business.
• Providing valuable tools in project planning, resource allocation, time tracking and access to a wide range of reporting functionality including costing and forecasting tools.
• Resource level functionality to facilitate “what if” scenarios so managers can continually and easily adjust plans on the fly.
• Tracks actual hours against budgeted hours to monitor progress.

The SR&ED ONE Documentation System, powered by DOVICO is also available as an App for iPhone & iPod Touch users. To learn more about the software and/or if you would like to book a training session for your team on how to identify what is SR&ED please contact Michelle Ross at michelle.ross@sredone.ca.

SR&ED ONE, a division of Ideacia ONE Inc., is the premier full service SR&ED firm serving clients of all sizes from diverse industries. Our team of professional consultants that cover all fields of science and finance, deliver quality results using our proven methodology, which has earned us a solid reputation with CRA. We also provide IRAP and Media Tax Credit claim preparation to our clients as an added value service. We also offer free on-site eligibility assessments.