The SR&ED (Scientific Research & Experimental Development) Tax Credit program is the one of the core economic drivers of innovation in Canada. Every founder and technical leader in Canada knows that. What they also know is that SR&ED time tracking and documentation is where things get messy.
The CRA is clearer now than ever: you need to be able to show what work was done, when it happened, who did it, and how that work advanced your understanding. This means that SR&ED time tracking in 2026 is a non-negotiable. The challenge is that most engineering teams do not have the capacity to add new admin tasks to their week.
This is why we built two complementary approaches into the GrowWise platform. For teams that want a simple, centralized place to track SR&ED activity, our platform includes built-in project and time tracking, so you no longer need to manage scattered spreadsheets or ad hoc logs. At the same time, we can also pull SR&ED evidence from the work you already produced. Jira tickets, GitHub commits, engineering notes, emails, and technical documents often contain the full story of an SR&ED project. We can assemble the SR&ED puzzle from your existing records without requiring hours of meetings or you and your team filing out questionnaires about your projects. This is how we simplify the SR&ED claim process.
Below is a practical guide to what the CRA expects for SR&ED time tracking in 2026 and how busy teams can build tracking systems that actually work.
Why Tracking SR&ED Time is Critical in 2026
The CRA continues to emphasize the importance of contemporaneous documentation (created at the time of the activity). Their guidelines clearly state that in order for work to be SR&ED eligible, proof of the technical challenge, what was done to address the challenge and who did that work must all be tracked at the time of the problem, not later or retroactively.
At GrowWise, we have seen CRA SR&ED reviewers increasingly want to see strong project and time tracking, not only about hours but also showing a structured investigation, which is central to the SR&ED program. The lack of this information is the most common cause for an SR&ED claim to be reduced in an audit.
What Information Does the CRA Need You to Track for SR&ED
The CRA needs to see four main aspects to consider work to be SR&ED eligible and withstand a CRA SR&ED audit/review:
- The specific technical uncertainty or challenge. The CRA needs to see that there is a clear, well-documented technical challenge that existing knowledge or solutions cannot address. This information can come in any format (meeting notes, technical logs, emails, data sheets, etc.), but must show the specific area that requires further investigation.
- What tasks were performed to address the technical challenge. In a CRA SR&ED review/audit, the CRA dives quite deep into what exact tasks, tests, iterations and problem-solving approaches were done to address the technical challenge. This is where the core SR&ED eligibility comes from. There must be a true scientific/systematic investigation where inputs are changed, tested and manipulated, and outcomes are studied.
- What was learned from the investigation. Regardless of whether the investigation yields the result you were aiming for, the process must have revealed some new information or a deeper understanding of the area. If the results of the experiment do not create new information or understanding, it is unlikely that the work meets the technical depth and systematic investigation required of an SR&ED project.
- Who did this work. This is typically the most tedious part of this whole process. Companies must be able to show how much time each employee/contractor spent on each SR&ED project in each month throughout the year. Ideally, this comes from strong time-tracking records with tasks documented, which project they relate to, and how long each employee took each day. This level of detail isn’t always maintained. More details on this below.
Practical Ways Busy Teams Can Track SR&ED Time
In a perfect world, you would have time sheets with each employee documenting what tasks they do, which project they relate to, and what they accomplished every day… but this is real life, and that rarely happens.
What matters is consistency and the ability to accurately calculate the percent of each employee’s time spent on each project in each month. What the CRA needs to see is that you aren’t just estimating that John Smith spent 50% of his time in January and 60% in February. You need to show that you are generating those time allocations based on data and evidence, not “It was a while ago, but I would guess he spent 40% of his time in January”. That answer will guarantee a reduction of your SR&ED claim if an audit occurs.
In practice, these SR&ED time allocation calculations can be substantiated in multiple ways:
Perfect World – Manual SR&ED Time Logs
Teams can record hours and tasks in a spreadsheet or timesheet tool. Existing tools out there for time tracking such as Clockify, Harvest, or a Canadian option: VeriClock. If you are in the biotech, pharma, or science industries and your team is used to time tracking, this approach to SR&ED is the strongest and most audit-proof.
For software developers, manufacturing companies or teams where typical time sheets always get forgotten about, it is better to implement a sustainable system that will actually be used, than a perfect system that gets dropped after a month.
Jira / GitHub-Based SR&ED Tracking
If your team works primarily in Jira (or other project management tools) or GitHub, both tools can support SR&ED time allocation by showing which developers worked on which pieces of technical work throughout the year. In Jira, tickets can be grouped or tagged under SR&ED project labels. At year-end, you can pull all tickets linked to a specific SR&ED project and see which team members contributed to them, how often they were involved, and over what time period. While Jira does not technically calculate percentages of time, the volume and timing of work across those tickets typically provide a reasonable basis for understanding how much effort each contributor spent on a project.
GitHub commits offer a similar trail. Each commit shows who made the change, when it happened, and which part of the codebase it involved. By reviewing the commits tied to a specific SR&ED project branch, repository section, or tagged experiment, you can understand which team members were actively contributing and during which intervals. When used together, Jira and GitHub provide a clear picture of project involvement that can support SR&ED time allocation in a defensible, evidence-based way.
Manufacturer Trial Run Sheets for SR&ED projects
In manufacturing environments, batch sheets or trial run sheets typically list both the operator and the run time. These are routinely used to infer how much time each person spent supporting experimental runs. More information about SR&ED for Manufacturing here.
Billable Hours for SR&ED Time Tracking (Consulting Model)
In a consulting business like an Engineering firm, employees are typically allocated to specific projects, and the client is billed based on those hours. If the project for a client is considered SR&ED eligible, those billable hours can be used as a basis for your SR&ED claim to show how long that project took certain employees.
Alternatively, if the R&D project is internal and resulted in a reduction in billable hours, the reduction itself is a strong indicator of SR&ED time. If a consultant usually bills 140 hours per month, but in March, they billed only 95 because 45 hours were spent on an SR&ED prototype, that delta forms a defensible time allocation basis for SR&ED.
Alternative Forms of SR&ED Time Tracking Evidence
Not every company implements one of the above systems, and that can be okay. If your business gathers data in multiple formats that collectively paint the picture of who spent what amount of time on what project, that is what the CRA needs.
This can look like employee schedules, calendar time blocks, prototyping logs, test line production output information, email trails of project discussions, CAD or simulation revision history, meeting notes, etc. A combination of any of these formats (and others) can substantiate your SR&ED time allocation.
Ultimately, the more information you keep, the stronger records you have and the cleaner and more accessible this information is, the easier it will be. At GrowWise, we always recommend stronger time tracking in order to simplify your claim preparation and, in the case that you get into an SR&ED audit, and you have to substantiate your time allocation calculations.
The GrowWise SR&ED Time Tracking System
Many companies find SR&ED time tracking challenging. That is why we created a system at GrowWise to solve the two key challenges of SR&ED tracking.
The first problem: time tracking. Many companies are using spreadsheets, ad hoc logs and various documents here and there to keep track of SR&ED time. We always say that the better documented your SR&ED project is, the more it will withstand scrutiny in an audit situation. That is why we built time tracking functionality directly into our AI-driven platform.
This means that you and your team can log onto the platform and enter how much time you spent on each project each day. You can also add details about what work you did, which will be used when we pull together your SR&ED claim at the end of your fiscal year. This level of detail supports stronger, larger SR&ED claims.
Many of our clients in the manufacturing, deeptech, hardtech, etc. spaces with large teams utilize this functionality to replace manual time sheets or Excel files that get lost or forgotten about.
The second problem: SR&ED project tracking. We built our tracking tools to remove friction and give teams a simple way to stay compliant with SR&ED without reinventing their documentation processes. We ingest relevant project information in whatever form it may be in: Jira, GitHub, spreadsheets, presentations, notes, emails, internal engineering notes, etc., and identify work that aligns with SR&ED criteria. Our Supervised AI technology organizes these inputs into projects and uncertainties that mirror CRA expectations.
Instead of time-consuming technical interviews or long documentation sessions with SR&ED consultants after your year-end, Sam, our AI-supported senior SR&ED consultant, can call any team member on a schedule you choose (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.). In a short five-minute conversation, we gather updates on progress, challenges, iterations, and any new uncertainties. These updates flow directly into your SR&ED project record.
Lastly, after your year-end, we review the inputs throughout the year. If we need any further details about your projects, we conduct short interviews to gather the remaining details required to maximize your SR&ED claim.
With all of these inputs, our team creates strong SR&ED claims that are maximized and audit-proof. Because your project records are built continuously, the end-of-year process is faster, cleaner, and far less stressful.
The GrowWise goal is simple. Make SR&ED easy for teams that are already busy and allow engineering time to be spent on innovation instead of administration.
Conclusion
Make 2026 the year you strengthen your SR&ED recordkeeping and maximize your SR&ED claim.
The companies that get the most value from SR&ED are the ones with consistent documentation that aligns with the CRA’s expectations. Time tracking and project tracking are essential parts of this, and although most companies find it frustrating, it is a necessary evil in order to access SR&ED and refund up to ⅔ of your innovation costs. We have built GrowWise to solve these challenges and make sure SR&ED tracking does not slow down the SR&ED innovation itself.
A lightweight system that fits your workflow can produce stronger claims, cleaner records, and a smoother review process. If you want to see how the GrowWise approach and technology can simplify SR&ED for your team in 2026, you can book a short intro call anytime: https://growwise.ai/intro/
