Supporting Documentation

What supporting documentation do I need to keep?

In order to support your SR&ED claim, it is important to maintain evidence that substantiates the SR&ED work performed and expenditures incurred. The CRA stresses the importance of current and accurate documentation to support all aspects of the research project.

If your SR&ED claim is selected for review, you will be asked during the review process to provide this evidence. Generally, the best evidence is that which was generated as the SR&ED was being carried out.

Examples of technical and financial supporting evidence that should be kept:

  • Proof of salary paid/payroll records
  • Material receipts/invoices
  • Project planning documents
  • Documents on design of experiments
  • Experimentation plan
  • Design documents and technical drawings
  • Project records, laboratory notebooks
  • Design, system architecture and source code (software development)
  • Records of trial runs
  • Project progress reports
  • Minutes of project meetings
  • Test protocols, data, results, analysis and conclusions
  • Final project report or professional publications
  • Photographs, videos
  • Prototypes, samples
  • Scrap, scrap records
  • Contracts, lease agreements
  • Records of resources allocated to the project, time sheets, activity records, etc.
  • Purchase invoices and proof of payment
  • Accounting records

Note: This list is not comprehensive; you should keep any documentation that you feel will support your claim.