Archive for September, 2009

There seems to be an endless amount of paperwork required to keep a successful business operating efficiently and effectively these days. With all of the different regulatory, industry association requirements and internal documents to deal with, adding another heap of tediousness might seem counterproductive. Northbridge clients know that Research & Development document control is one of the most critical in daily operations because it directly impacts the company’s revenue stream; if you don’t keep proper R&D records the CRA has the right to refuse your annual claim outright. Here are some quick and easy ways to ensure at least a bare minimum is being adequately logged:

1. Keep any emails discussing projects involving installation of new machinery, new products, or improvements to existing processes and products. A great way to effectively database these emails, company-wide, is to set up an email were employees can forward relevant emails which pertain to projects on the go (i.e.: research@company.com). This also ensures that if someone deletes their Inbox folder accidentally that the backups are still available.
2. Meeting notes and other logs of discussions are very useful in tracking project development. The compiling of typical and project info talked about during meetings shows that there is an ongoing environment in the organization which promotes and encourages innovation and puts specific timelines on issues and projects which are traceable.
3. In certain manufacturing environments it is hard to sit down at a computer and allocate time to projects and fill in spreadsheets (especially if there’s no computer in that department!). In these cases a simple log book or printout of a spreadsheet will suffice, it’s getting the technically ‘un-savvy’ personnel to fill it out on a daily or weekly basis which could be a challenge.
4. There are many companies which employ external quality assurance programs such as ISO and GMP measures, these systems generally have templates which can assist in the detailed tracking of R&D projects. The resident QA/QC manager should have access to this information through an available add-on for additional purchase.

While this is the bare-bones of what the CRA would require there are many other easy and effective ways to implement project tracking. There are key elements which the CRA looks for and if they are missing it could mean a rejected submission. For first time filers this rule is somewhat relaxed but going forward a company is required to keep proper documentation to ensure effective internal management of the SR&ED program. Northbridge gives (free of charge) each and every client the tools and training they need, on a department basis, to successfully track projects which means no hassle the next time around!

An article was brought to my attention by one of my colleagues that I think makes plenty of sense. The Globe And Mail recently wrote an article called Information-rich and attention poor, on how we as a society have an abundance of information but much less of an attention span. The thought is when there is an abundance of one thing there tends to be a shortage of something else. In this age of digital technology we receive everything so quickly and it is hard to process it and to discern the factual information from the disinformation. So the mind becomes overloaded and starts to not pay attention to what maybe important. If anyone has school age kids try talking to them when the TV or iPods are on.

Throughout the day in the workplace we are bombarded with information from every angle, it is often more difficult to take on new responsibilities because you just don’t have the time. Now more than ever there is reason to utilize consulting experts in such mundane tasks as gathering information, report preparation and implementing process improvements. In claiming Research And Development Tax Credits like SR&ED it make sense to employ a consultant’s services, due to the often 6 or 7 figure returns that outweigh the consultant costs. The difficulty for companies who want to claim on past innovation efforts, is finding time to dig up what was often done 2 years in the past. Often the information is available but the task becomes insurmountable for companies who do not know where to look. Often companies can’t see the forest for the trees or have no time and need a second pair of eyes to realize the benefits of claiming SR&ED.

There’s still a lot of talk about what tax harmonization means for those conducting businesses in Ontario. (As a refresher – GST and PST will be combined into a new HST, which will result in businesses being charged slightly more for some purchases.) To compensate, the CRA has created the 4.5% Ontario Research and Development Tax Credit. The ORDTC is creditable against Ontario tax for fiscal year ends of December 31, 2008 and later, and is applied to SR&ED claims. It can only be applied for companies that have to pay Ontario corporate income tax.

Some interesting points about the ORDTC:

• The ORDTC was created to compensate for the fact that Ontario taxable income will include the federal ITC from the prior year. Without the ORDTC, Ontario tax would have been higher than in previous situations
• The ORDTC is a non-refundable tax credit, meaning that you can ONLY get tax credits for it
• The ORDTC can be waived if you do not want to receive it, and would not be removed from the expenditure pool
• The ORDTC is applied after the OITC and before the federal ITC, meaning that the pool of expenditures that the federal ITC can be applied to would be reduced.

If you have any questions about the ORDTC, please feel free to contact us!