Defined term
Contemporaneous documentation
Also: contemporaneous records · real-time documentation
Records created during the R&D work that substantiate a claim.
Contemporaneous documentation is evidence generated at or near the time work is performed: project charters, hypothesis notes, experiment and test logs, design iterations, sprint or lab notebooks, timesheets tied to activities, supplier statements, and decision records. Tax authorities generally give more weight to contemporaneous records than to narratives reconstructed years later. Strong documentation links technological uncertainty, the systematic work performed, and the costs claimed. It underpins audit defense and reduces reliance on memory.
Related on the Index
Related terms
Common questions
- Is a year-end write-up enough?
- A summary helps, but without underlying time, technical, and cost records created during the work, claims are harder to defend. Prefer continuous capture over retrospective reconstruction.
More glossary terms
Educational definition only. Not tax or legal advice. Confirm current program rules with official guidance and a qualified adviser.