Simple, Effective Research Tax Credit Software

This article discusses a Lotus Notes solution. For a discussion of this process with 100% Web based solutions, see this page for information about research tax credit software.

For organizations utilizing Lotus Notes software, Tracker Suite facilitates the capture of research tax credits with integrated solutions for project management, time and expense reporting, purchasing and business intelligence.

Organizations may claim these tax credits if their current research and development is increased from historic base levels and outstrips revenue growth. Research tax credits may be claimed by a wide array of organizations, ranging from biotechnology companies to manufacturers.

For organizations seeking a research tax credit software solution, Tracker Suite facilitates the efforts of organizations to claim these research tax credits by providing a highly structured project management environment with integrated time and expense reporting, purchasing and business intelligence generation. In a similar fashion, it can be utilized by organizations in managing internal software projects under SOP 98-1 guidelines.

Manage Projects from Start to Finish

Project Tracker offers an end-to-end project lifecycle for managing research and developement projects from requisition to completion, providing a central location for project materials including tasks, documents, status reports, milestones, budgets and personnel.

• Project portfolio management capabilities for tracking multiple R&D projects.
• Utilize milestone dashboards to track projects.
• Store documentation and files supporting the project's R&D qualification, including narratives, meeting minutes, emails and IP agreements with contractors.
• Assign R&D account codes to qualifying tasks.

Tracking Project Tasks and Activities

Project Tracker integrates with Time Tracker, Expense Tracker and Purchase Tracker, allowing users to charge time and expenditures against research projects, utilizing account codes for items which may be applicable for tax credits. Purchase Tracker includes a General Ledger section for segregating items used in research and development.

The data from the various Tracker Suite modules is pushed to the Tracker Data Warehouse. The Tracker Data Warehouse serves as a single point of access for business intelligence, a research tax credit software solution that receives data from the Tracker Suite modules as well as legacy HR and Accounting databases.

Using the Tracker Data Warehouse software, organizations can compare current revenue and research and development activities against historic base levels to determine the potential for research tax credits. The real-time posting capabilities of the Tracker Data Warehouse also make it possible for organizations to generate immediate reports on the progress and costs of their R&D projects.

For organizations, particularly bio-technology and pharmaceutical companies, that are also seeking to improve their ability to track and control deviation in R&D projects, the Tracker Data Warehouse can deliver a variety of reports, including Planned vs. Actual R&D, Project Trends and Project History Graphs.

1. From "Small Businesses Miss $1.2 Billion in Tax Credits for Research". Julian Francis. July 6, 2011.