Also not an accountant, but I am a sole proprietor. What my CPA has told me is that lack of anticipated income is not a "loss" and cannot be written off. But ... to a degree it depends on whether you are operating on a cash basis or on an accrual basis, and also what the arrangement is. On a cash basis, no payment means no income, but not a "loss." On an accrual basis, the charge is created at the time the invoice is submitted, and thereafter it is reported as an "asset," just as if it were real money. Down the road, if you finally acknowledge that a deadbeat client isn't going to pay, you write it off as a bad debt and a "loss."
But it sounds like you don't intend to have these people pay, so there won't be an invoice even if you operate on an accrual basis. So ... I don't see any (legitimate) way to write it off.
