The projects that qualify are rarely the ones finance expects. A short workshop with the people who did the work produces a candidate list, a rejected list and the first draft of the evidence at the same time. This agenda packages the format in the guide to running a project identification workshop as a document the facilitator can print or share, with a capture sheet for the scribe.
Download the workshop agenda (DOCX)
What the template is for
Finding and testing candidate projects before anyone writes a narrative or counts a cost. It is deliberately free of the legal definition, which makes people self-censor or tailor their answers; the test is applied in the challenge round and again afterwards against your own scheme's eligibility page.
| Segment | Minutes | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Framing | 10 | A shared understanding that routine work is out of scope and that excluding it strengthens the claim |
| Candidate round | 30 | Each candidate with the four answers: goal, unknown, what was tried and failed, people and period |
| Challenge round | 20 | Candidates marked in, out or unsure against the competent professional question |
| Boundaries | 20 | Start, end and routine parts of each survivor; the documents that exist |
| Owners and next steps | 10 | A technical owner and a finance owner per candidate, and a date for the project notes |
How to use it
- Send the one-line brief in the template to each technical lead a week ahead and ask for three candidates each.
- Keep the group under eight people; senior management is optional and often unhelpful.
- The scribe fills one row of the capture sheet per candidate during the session; the sheet becomes the project list.
- File the rejected list with reasons. A documented decision not to claim is evidence of a careful process.
- Run a short version each quarter so candidates are fresh and the project notes are written while the work is happening.
Related pages
- How to run a project identification workshop with your technical team
- In-House Finance Team Program, module 7: Working with technical teams
- Technical Teams Program, module 2: Identifying uncertainty
- Project narrative template
- All templates
Educational material, not advice. Test every candidate against your own scheme's definition before claiming.
Educational content only, not tax advice. See the disclaimer.