The landscape of SR&ED claims is shifting, and it’s happening faster than many Canadian businesses realize. Over the past year, we’ve witnessed a clear trend: The CRA is placing unprecedented emphasis on detailed time tracking to support SR&ED claims. During reviews and audits, they’re demanding comprehensive records that demonstrate not just what work was done, but who did it, when they did it, and most critically, how that work connects to eligible R&D activities.
This isn’t about new regulations; it’s about how existing policies are being enforced with renewed vigor. Strong time tracking has always been a best practice, but today, it’s become the difference between a smooth claim process and a painful audit experience.
The Stakes Have Never Been Higher
For Canadian innovators, this shift represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Companies with robust time tracking systems are sailing through reviews while others face delays, reductions, and extensive back-and-forth with CRA auditors.
The question CRA auditors are increasingly asking is straightforward but demanding: “Can you show us exactly who worked on this project, how much time they spent on eligible investigation, and how that time connects to your technical uncertainties?”
If you can answer definitively, great! Your claim proceeds smoothly. If you can’t, however, you’re looking at potential delays, claim reductions, or worse.
Clear Benefits of Strong Time Tracking
When done right, comprehensive time tracking delivers measurable advantages:
Substantiate Your Eligible Work: Transform subjective project descriptions into objective, timestamped evidence that directly supports your technical narrative.
Minimize Audit Friction: Reduce the back-and-forth during CRA reviews by providing the detailed documentation auditors are seeking upfront.
Maximize Claim Value: Accurate time records ensure you’re capturing all eligible activities without leaving money on the table or overclaiming.
Demonstrate Professional Standards: Show CRA auditors that your organization follows business best practices, building confidence in your claim’s integrity.
Who Should Pay Attention Right Now
This trend impacts all SR&ED claimants, but certain sectors are feeling the pressure more acutely:
Software and Technology Companies: Where projects evolve rapidly and R&D activities are deeply integrated into daily development work. The challenge isn’t just tracking time; it’s clearly differentiating between routine development and genuine R&D investigation.
High-Growth Startups: Where formal documentation often takes a backseat to speed and agility. The informal, “move fast and break things” approach that drives innovation can create documentation gaps that become problematic during CRA reviews.
Engineering and Product Teams: Where R&D work is woven throughout regular product development, making it crucial to distinguish between eligible technical uncertainty resolution and standard engineering tasks.
Whether you’re filing your first SR&ED claim or you’re a veteran claimant, this enforcement trend fundamentally changes how you should approach documentation moving forward.
The Documentation That Matters Most
The CRA isn’t just looking for timesheets: They want context. Here’s what your time tracking system should capture:
The Essential Elements
Who: Clear identification of all team members involved in R&D activities, including their roles and qualifications.
What: Specific descriptions of activities that go beyond generic labels like “development” or “testing”; detail the technical challenges being addressed.
When: Contemporaneous time records that show the duration and timing of eligible activities.
Why: Most critically, clear connections between time spent and the scientific or technical uncertainties your team was investigating.
Documenting Innovation in Real Time
The most audit-ready organizations go beyond logging hours—they capture the organic, contemporaneous documentation that naturally emerges as part of the development cycle. This includes:
- Time entries linked to real technical uncertainties, supported by the notes, tickets, or commit messages created while solving them
- Iteration records (ie. design files, code versions, or test results) that show the experimental, trial-and-error nature of the work
- Decision points documented in meeting notes, chat threads, or project boards where technical approaches were evaluated and adjusted
- Outcome artifacts, from prototypes to test reports, that demonstrate what was learned, including from failed paths
Remember: You’re not tracking tax eligibility; you’re capturing the real story of your innovation as it unfolds. When this story is documented in real time, eligibility becomes self-evident.
How Boast Helps You Stay Ahead
Working with hundreds of innovative Canadian companies has given us unique insight into what works (and what doesn’t) when CRA reviews become detailed. We’re helping our clients navigate this shift through:
Proven Systems and Templates
CRA-aligned time tracking templates that capture the right level of detail without overwhelming your team. These aren’t theoretical frameworks; they’re battle-tested systems that have successfully supported our clients through rigorous audits.
Seamless Integration
We work with the tools your team already uses, including JIRA, GitHub, Harvest, Asana, Clockify, and more. Rather than forcing you to adopt new systems, we help optimize your existing workflows to capture the documentation CRA auditors are seeking.
Audit-Ready Documentation
Best practices for maintaining contemporaneous records that clearly link time to technical work and uncertainty resolution. We help you create documentation that tells your innovation story compellingly and credibly.
Strategic Claim Preparation
Our approach goes beyond data collection to strategic narrative development. We help you craft claims that clearly connect your time investment to eligible activities, making your technical case obvious to CRA reviewers.
Review Support
When CRA does come calling, you’re never facing questions alone. Our team provides on-demand support during reviews, helping you present your documentation effectively and address auditor questions confidently.
Take Action Now: Your Immediate Next Steps
The good news? You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. Start with these practical steps:
1. Audit Your Current Process
Evaluate your existing time tracking system against CRA expectations. Are you capturing who, what, when, and why? If not, identify the gaps.
2. Start Differentiating Immediately
Begin distinguishing SR&ED-eligible activities from routine product work in your time tracking. This distinction is becoming crucial for claim success.
3. Focus on Context, Not Just Hours
Ensure your team is recording the technical context behind their time—what uncertainty they were investigating, what approaches they tried, what they learned.
4. Get Professional Guidance
Partner with experienced SR&ED professionals who understand both the technical requirements and the evolving CRA expectations. We can help you build or refine your system to be both scalable and audit-friendly.
Addressing Common Concerns
“What exactly has changed with time tracking requirements?”
Nothing has changed officially in terms of regulations, but enforcement has intensified significantly. CRA auditors are asking for much more detailed support for claimed hours during reviews, including explicit connections between time spent and specific technical uncertainties.
“Do we need expensive time tracking software?”
Not necessarily. Simple tools can be highly effective as long as they capture the essential elements: who did what, when they did it, and why it mattered for your SR&ED investigation. The key is consistency and context, not complexity.
“What if our historical tracking isn’t up to these standards?”
You’re not alone—many successful companies are in the same situation. While we can help retrofit past work documentation where possible, the priority is building a sustainable, audit-ready system for going forward. The sooner you start, the stronger your next claim will be.
“Does everyone need to track their time this way?”
Only team members whose time is included in your SR&ED claim need detailed tracking. However, having clarity around all team roles and contributions always strengthens your case and makes the eligible work more obvious to auditors.
Making This Work for Your Team
The best time tracking system is one your team actually uses. That means it needs to integrate naturally into existing workflows rather than creating additional administrative burden.
At Boast, we believe documentation should accelerate innovation, not slow it down. Our approach helps you build time tracking into your team’s natural rhythm, creating valuable project insights while simultaneously building audit-ready SR&ED documentation.
The companies that thrive in this new environment will be those that embrace comprehensive documentation not as compliance overhead, but as a strategic advantage that drives better project management, clearer technical decision-making, and stronger SR&ED claims.
Ready to strengthen your time tracking system and make your next SR&ED claim more defensible? Connect with our team and discover how we can help you navigate the new CRA expectations with confidence.
