Module 5: Reports and narratives

After this module you will be able to produce a written description of a project that answers the questions every tax authority asks, map it onto the form, registration or approval application of the country concerned without rewriting the technical content, and run a consistency check so that the narrative, the cost schedule and the form tell one story. It builds on the guide Writing a technical narrative that survives review.

What this module covers

The three questions underneath every form, and who should write the answers.
Mapping one narrative onto seven sets of form fields, limits and timings.
The consistency check between narrative, cost schedule and form.
The claim report that sits in the client file behind the filed documents.

Three questions in every form

The forms differ in headings and limits; the questions underneath do not. First, what did you not know how to do: the technical unknown in one or two sentences, in terms a competent professional in the field would recognise, and why the public state of knowledge did not answer it. Second, what did you do to find out: the approaches considered, what was tried, what failed, what was learned and what changed, written chronologically, referring to dated documents by name. Third, what was the result: what was resolved, what remains uncertain and where the eligible work ended.

The person who led the technical work drafts the narrative or dictates it, from the interview note of Module 4 and the dated records. The practitioner edits for structure, for the words of the form and for consistency with the cost schedule, and does not originate technical content. Most projects need one to two pages; where a form imposes a limit, write to the limit and keep the longer version in the file.

Mapping the narrative onto the form

Every form field in the seven schemes is fed by one of six elements of a well built narrative. Write the narrative once, then complete the form from it.

Narrative element	Form fields it typically feeds	What the reviewer checks it against
Field and baseline	Field of science or technology; existing knowledge or baseline; sources investigated	The competence of the people named; the search records
The uncertainty	The uncertainty; the information sought; the technical risk or hypothesis	The earliest dated document stating the unknown
The work	Work performed; experiments and observations; systematic approach	Test logs, experiment records, tickets, lab notebooks
The outcome	Advance achieved or attempted; conclusions; end date	The milestone, test report or release note
People	Personnel and qualifications; senior officer or technical contact	The names in the technical record and the payroll
Costs by project	Expenditure by project and category; estimated expenditure at registration	The cost schedule, the ledger and the time records

Keeping numbers and narrative consistent

The narrative and the numbers are read together, and a reviewer who finds one mismatch looks for others. Five things must agree across the narrative, the cost schedule and the form: the project names, which should be the names the client's own records use; the period of the eligible work; the people, so that every name whose time is claimed appears in the technical record; the costs attributed to each project, so that the form's totals equal the schedule and the schedule equals the ledger; and the count of projects.

The order of work makes the check pass. Freeze the narratives once the technical leads have confirmed them. Build the cost schedule from the boundary in each narrative, not from the project budget. Complete the form from the frozen narratives and the reconciled schedule. Have each lead confirm the final filed wording. Then have someone senior in the practice who did not prepare the claim run the five checks and sign the file.

The claim report

Behind the filed documents sits a claim report, structured the same way in every country: a summary of the projects, totals, method and elections; the legislation note from Module 1; the eligibility analyses and decisions not to claim from Module 2; the calculation and reconciliations from Module 3; the interview notes from Module 4; the narratives in filed and full versions; the evidence index; and the sign-offs by the technical leads, the client's responsible officer and the practice reviewer.

Illustrative example

Illustrative example. Harbour Robotics Ltd, a hypothetical company, has a project with costs of 100,000 and an interview note that fixes the eligible work at seven months and 70,000. The lead engineer drafts a narrative from the note: the unknown about closed loop control with the available sensors, the four approaches, the two abandoned after test runs, and the month seven test report. The consistency check finds two mismatches: the cost schedule claims five engineers for twelve months, 100,000, while the narrative names two engineers for seven months; and the schedule lists the project under its finance code while the narrative uses the engineering name. The schedule is rebuilt from the boundary, two engineers for seven months and a third who ran the test rig, 70,000, under a project name that appears in both systems. The form is completed from the frozen narrative and the rebuilt schedule, the lead confirms the filed wording, and the practice reviewer signs the file. The benefit is calculated on 70,000 at that country's rate.

Across the seven countries

Country	Written description required	When
United States	For tax years beginning after 2025, Section G of Form 6765 asks for information about each business component, with some exceptions: its name, type, the information sought to be discovered, and the qualified research expenses allocated to it.	Form 6765, filed with the income tax return
United Kingdom	Every claim needs an additional information form that describes the R&D projects and breaks down the qualifying costs: for each project described, the main field of science or technology, the baseline level of science or technology, the advance sought, the scientific or technological uncertainties, and how the project sought to overcome them. A claim notification with a summary of the planned R&D is needed if claiming for the first time or the last claim was more than 3 years ago.	Claim notification within 6 months of the end of the period of account; the additional information form before the Company Tax Return
Ireland	The pre-filing notification must include the company's details, a description of the R&D activities and the accounting period for which the claim will be made. The claim is made in the research and development panel of the Form CT1.	Notification at least 90 days before the claim for companies claiming for the first time or that have not claimed in the previous 3 years; the claim within 12 months of the end of the accounting period
Canada	Part 2 of Form T661 asks for each project: the scientific or technological uncertainties attempted to be overcome (line 242, up to 350 words), the work performed to overcome them (line 244, up to 700 words), and the scientific or technological advancements achieved or attempted (line 246, up to 350 words).	Form T661 with the income tax return and no later than 12 months after its filing due date
Australia	The registration form requires for each core activity: the new knowledge intended, the existing knowledge and sources investigated, the hypothesis, the experiment, how results were observed and evaluated, the conclusions, the dates and the estimated expenditure.	Register R&D activities with the department within 10 months of the end of the income year, then claim in the company tax return
New Zealand	The general approval application asks for each core activity: the scientific or technological uncertainty, the new knowledge or improved process, service or good sought, the systematic approach and the start and end dates; and for each supporting activity: the related core activity and how it is required for and integral to it.	Apply for general approval by the last day of the 3rd month after the end of the income year; the supplementary return within 30 days after the income tax return due date
Singapore	IRAS requires an R&D claim form for larger R&D claims, giving project descriptions and a breakdown of expenditure; check IRAS guidance for the current threshold. Smaller claimants should keep the same information on file.	Claim in the corporate income tax return by its filing due date, 30 November of the Year of Assessment