Documenting R&D made easy

One of the biggest stumbling blocks when your R&D Tax Incentive claim is under review can be the question of documentation. You have to be able to demonstrate that you did what you claim you did when you did it.

Typically this means keeping tabs on relevant emails, entries into lab books or diaries, pictures, figures and graphs generated from research – the forms of documentation are almost limitless providing the have a reliable date stamp attached that demonstrates when you were doing the activity you are claiming to have done.

One brilliant, and much overlooked, method for documenting your research is the use of social media. Its date stamped, it says what you are doing at that time and it can have an attached picture which, of course, is worth a thousand words!

Take the example above. Part of one of my research projects that will be subject to a RDTI claim involves me driving across the city today to pick up a specimen. That activity took a couple of hours of my time as well as vehicle costs. I could have documented this by the trail of emails setting up the pick-up. I could also produce the diary entry that shows I have set aside a couple of hours on the day to complete this task. And yes, I did file away all of these documents away to substantiate my claim.

But I also took a quick selfie at the location, add a brief description of what I’m up to, then posted it to three social media channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). Now there can be no question that today I drove across town as part of my research project!

That one social media post effectively adds and secures several hundred dollars in value to my RDTI claim.

There are some sensible constraints around posting research to social media, particularly if that research is still in progress. The main restriction being not to give away any information that may jeopardise a future publication. Note that my description of what I’m doing is specific enough to tie into my research project but vague enough not to give away exactly what the research is all about.

This should be a heads-up if your company is doing any R&D and you intend to claim the RDTI. If you already have a social media stream following your R&D, make sure that you tailor posts so that they can be used as documentation for proof of activity. If you do not have a social media stream, get one NOW! It could save you thousands of dollars if your RDTI claim is reviewed.

Back to R&DCertainty

Are you ready to get FREE CASH for your R&D efforts?