Research and Development: AusIndustry
- Jason Roberts
Introduction
If the Experify team conduct and R&D Tax Incentive project, showing a clear audit trail of our thoughts, development and outcomes then on July 1 we can commence an AusIndustry R&D Tax incentive application and claim back upto 43.5% of what we spend. For us, this can mean subsidising our infrastructure costs and potentially domestic contracting costs and eventually salaries as part of our R&D efforts.
What is AusIndustry R&D Tax Incentive?
It’s a government program that gives money back to companies that do research and development (R&D) in Australia. It's like getting a discount on your taxes for trying to invent or improve things. There are two main types of benefits:
For smaller companies (making less than $20 million a year): They can get back 43.5% of what they spend on R&D.
For bigger companies (making $20 million or more a year): They can get back between 33.5% and 41.5% of what they spend on R&D, depending on how much they invest compared to their total spending.
There's also a limit of $150 million on how much a company can claim each year. For more details, check out these links:
To engage in this program we need an idea and one that benefits the product and potentially has scope outside of our closed source product.
Experify’s proposed project
Project Name:
Multi-Source Product Analytics Engine with Customer Review Authentication
Yeah, but what does this mean?
We're building a system that watches how customers interact with products and reviews, pulling in data from various sources (like emails and calls) to understand what works best. It's like having a really smart assistant that can tell you "these types of products get great reviews when demonstrated in person" while ensuring the authenticity of customer feedback. The system helps connect real customers with potential buyers in the most natural and trustworthy way possible.
Output of the project
Product conversion rates by demonstration method
Authenticity scoring of customer reviews and interactions
Market fit analysis for different product categories
Cost-effectiveness of various customer connection methods
AI-assisted communication effectiveness metrics
Recommendations for market expansion based on authentic customer feedback
The system integrates:
Customer review analytics
Purchase conversion data
Communication pattern analysis
Product category performance metrics
Customer engagement authenticity scores
Real-time interaction data
Market compatibility indicators
This creates a comprehensive view of what works best in our ecosystem, focusing on transparency and making the resulting output available to third-parties.
It’s an important point that engaging in an R&D initiative doesn’t mean you’re completing that initiative by July 1, but we will need to show why the initiative needs to continue.
How do we get rolling?
Discussion with RSF Consultant
@Jason Roberts met with Sam Howell from RSF Consulting about Experify, and the proposed project. Sam’s response:
Proposed product interaction should extend beyond internal use
Users must be able to engage, not just observe a black box
Consider white-labelling or using as an internal test case
Intention to use beyond internal business, a key aspect
40% share threshold is important for taxation
Onshore development is generally preferred for R&D
R&D tax incentive requires a plan
R&D tax refunds are not available over a 20 million turnover limit
If claiming R&D expenditure for directors, then a salary must be paid.
If claiming R&D expenditure for infrastructure costs, contractors then invoices will need to be provided.
The AusIndustry R&D tax incentive makes it difficult to use international contractors, as the initiative is to stay domestic.
Document all steps and R&D expenditure as frequently as possible.
What does building this look like
Development Approach:
Regular business updates continue as normal
R&D work runs parallel but is clearly separated
Each task/feature is tagged with R&D (JIRA, and GIT commits)
What to Track:
Development hours spent specifically on experimental features
Infrastructure costs when testing new approaches
External expert consultation time
Research and planning activities
Test environment setup costs
How to Track It:
Use separate project codes for R&D work
Mark invoices with "R&D Project" when applicable
Keep detailed logs of what was tested and why
Document all failed attempts and learnings
Save screenshots and technical documentation