Technology

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Approximately 50% of all claims submitted fall under Information and Communication technology (ICT), primarily focused on computer hardware and software. ICT claims can be some of the most challenging to get approved, as code and development change at a breakneck pace without sufficient documentation. Commenting and documentation are seen as overhead when code written is not necessarily code that is used.

Furthermore many solutions could be seen as routine by the CRA, including front-end design, as such its key to document the novel approach you undertook, the challenges, and also the iterations you went through in developing your product. These could be pictures from your simulations, commit logs with sufficient detail of the obstacles you encountered, drawings and revisions of different hardware iterations, test logs and test data, etc.

Other advanced technologies are typically easier to qualify as SR&ED (Greentech, electrical product design, IoT, advanced materials, etc.). However, it is important to document the reason for the experiments to determine if the experimentation is Experimental Production (EP) or Commercial Production and Experimental Development (CP + ED). Particularly when dealing with pilot plants and prototypes, not understanding the above can lead to a grossly miscalculated claim and big surprise when the CRA reviews your file. Furthermore routine and experimental development are easy to conflate, when incremental revisions in hardware design are performed.