R&D Evidence Collector

This tool captures evidence. It does not determine that anything qualifies for a tax credit. White Rabbit Advisory Group is a technology consultancy, not a CPA firm and not a law firm. Every determination about eligibility belongs to a qualified tax professional who knows your facts.

The Problem It Solves

Every consultant and developer has had this conversation with an accountant in March: “Did any of last year’s work involve real technical R&D?” — “…probably? Let me think back.”

That is the wrong moment to be reconstructing a year of development. The federal research credit rewards contemporaneous records — notes made while the work is happening, not a narrative assembled at filing time. Estimates and after-the-fact testimony can support a claim only when they are anchored to records made at the time.

Most builders keep none. The commits exist, but nothing captures why: what was uncertain, which alternatives were tested, what failed and why the team moved on.

What It Captures

During an ordinary working session, the skill watches for five things and writes a structured record when it sees them:

• Technical uncertainty — a question about capability, method, or design that available information did not answer at the outset.
• Alternatives considered — two or more genuinely different technical approaches evaluated against each other.
• Experimentation — prototypes, proofs of concept, load and failure testing, systematic debugging against competing hypotheses.
• Failures — what was attempted, why it was expected to work, what actually happened, and what came next. Among the strongest evidence there is.
• Resolution — the final approach, why it worked, what was rejected, and what limitations remain.

Each record carries the business component it belongs to, who did the work, where, and how much time went to experimentation versus routine implementation. At year end it compiles into a package organized by business component — which is how Form 6765 Section G asks for the information.

Installing It

1. DownloadTake the bundle above and unzip it.
2. Open ClaudeThe desktop application, in Cowork mode. Claude Code works too.
3. Drag and saveDrop the .skill file into a chat and click Save skill on the card that appears.

No terminal, no configuration, no API keys. The skill activates on its own during development sessions.

Using It on a Project

1. At kickoffSay “Start R&D evidence tracking on this project.” A handful of intake questions, then it creates an evidence folder in the project.
2. While workingNothing. It logs events as they happen and will not interrupt you.
3. End of daySay “Run the end-of-session review.” Six questions, mostly pre-filled from what it already observed.
4. At tax timeSay “Build the CPA package.” Everything compiled by business component, in Word and markdown.

For Consultants: The Contract Half

If you build systems for clients, there is a wrinkle worth understanding. Often it is your client — not you — who is positioned to claim the credit on work they paid for. Whether they can turns on two facts that live in your engagement agreement: who bore the financial risk of the research, and who holds substantial rights in the results.

Most consulting agreements are silent or ambiguous on both, which leaves the client’s accountant inferring from scattered clauses. The bundle includes sample contract language that states those facts plainly, with placeholder cross-references so it can be adapted to your own agreement. It is a sample for discussion only, it creates no attorney-client relationship, and your attorney must review it before it goes near a real engagement.

It also makes a reasonable differentiator: “my invoices come with contemporaneous R&D documentation your CPA can actually use.”

What Is in the Download

• rnd-evidence-collector.skill — the tool itself. Six files, one click to install.
• Quick start (PDF) — one page covering install, daily use, and year end.
• Sample contract clause (Word) — the consultant language described above.

Common Questions

Does my data go anywhere? No. Evidence records are plain files written into your own project folder. Nothing is transmitted to White Rabbit Advisory Group, and one client’s details never touch another client’s log.

Can I modify it? Yes. It is plain markdown inside the .skill file. Adapt it to your practice.

Will it be updated when the rules change? That is the intent. A downloaded copy is frozen at the version you received, so check this page before filing season, or get in touch and we will let you know when there is a new one.