Allocating resources helps to complete tasks on time and keeps the project on budget. While project management software is the best solution for managing project time, templates can also help. That’s why we’ve collected seven free time management templates to help deliver successful projects.

Why Use Time Management Templates?

Time management templates help deliver successful projects. That’s because time management is a key part of project management for many reasons. Time management templates help prioritize work, which allows teams to manage their time better. This leads to greater productivity.

Time management templates can also help with making important decisions. It allows managers and team members alike to make decisions quickly thanks to tasks and activities having deadlines and priorities. This also relieves the stress that comes from procrastination, which can lead to waiting until the last minute to complete work and that can lead to shoddy quality.

The only reason not to use time management templates is that they’re static documents that don’t foster collaboration and pull users away from their work to manually update them. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has time management features, such as secure timesheets that can easily track time spent on tasks as well as the associated labor costs. Users can log hours anywhere to streamline payroll and save money with accurate project time management. Archiving timesheets gives managers historical data on labor costs that can help better estimate time and costs for future projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

Best Time Management Templates for Excel

For those who aren’t ready to upgrade to project management software, these free time management templates for Excel can help them manage their projects and teams better. They can’t deliver the efficiency of a software solution, but they do a good job of creating timesheets, work schedules, project calendars and much more.

1. Daily Schedule Template

A daily schedule template helps individuals and teams map out their hours before the day begins, turning vague intentions into a structured plan. By assigning time blocks to specific tasks, it reduces the mental overhead of deciding what to work on next and keeps priorities front and center throughout the workday.

Using a daily schedule template consistently builds a habit of proactive time management rather than reactive task-switching. It also creates a record of how time was actually spent, which is useful for spotting patterns, adjusting workloads and improving personal productivity over time.

2. Weekly Schedule Template

A weekly schedule template gives teams a bird’s-eye view of the full week ahead, making it easier to balance workloads, prepare for meetings and anticipate deadlines before they arrive. Planning at the weekly level reduces the risk of last-minute rushes by surfacing conflicts and gaps while there’s still time to act.

With a weekly schedule template, managers can distribute work more evenly across the team while individuals can align their daily priorities to broader weekly goals. Reviewing and updating the schedule at the start of each week is one of the simplest habits that consistently improves how time gets used across a project.

3. Work Schedule Template

This work schedule is a time management template to plan and control the human resources of an organization or project. It lists all employees, their location, working times and responsibilities over a specific period. That period can be a day, week or month. It’s a way to ensure that employees and teams are productive and work as efficiently as possible. Use this free work schedule template for Excel to track resource utilization, streamline work scheduling processes and help meet deadlines.

Use this free time management template as a weekly work schedule, which is especially useful for businesses with variable workloads, which plan their schedules based on customer demand forecasts. It can be a monthly work schedule for longer projects with clearly defined tasks and deliverables. The time management template can also be a daily work schedule where employee performance is monitored daily. It can also be used for a work shift schedule, flexible work schedule and part-time or full-time work schedules.

4. Project Calendar Template

Another time management template is a project calendar template for Excel. This free template makes it easy to see assignments on a monthly grid, with deadlines and more. It’s a great tool for planning schedules, executing tasks and managing work throughout a project’s life cycle. Not only is it a time management template, but it is also a to-do list to help teams get their work done promptly. Therefore, it also acts as a task management tool, can help with team collaboration and communicate changes in workflow.

Project managers can use this time management template to chart the regular hours of their team, which makes it easier for them to see the availability of those team members when making assignments. The free calendar template can also be used to avoid scheduling delays by noting holidays, vacations and PTO of the team members. There are also resource management advantages to using this time management template as it helps schedule resources beyond human resources. It’s also a communication tool to keep everyone aware of their work and important dates.

5. Project Timeline Template

A project timeline is used in planning to add project tasks, due dates and milestones. Most timelines are made with Gantt charts, which are divided into two parts: a spreadsheet with the data collected on the left and a timeline showing the entire project on the right. This time management template is the first step to managing the project schedule and delivering that project on time.

Download the free project timeline template for Excel to create a project schedule. It can also be used to share the project schedule with the team and stakeholders to manage their expectations. This time management template collects all the project tasks, start and end dates, plus duration on the left-hand spreadsheet. The right-hand timeline is then automatically populated with this data. The timeline taskbars, which represent the duration of specific tasks, can then be color-coded to differentiate the different phases of the project to make the time management template easier to read.

6. Workload Analysis Template

Workload analysis is used when managing a workforce. Its goal is to evenly distribute the workload across all team members to keep them working at capacity without risking burnout and eroding morale. This time management template is also a productivity tool and delivers better work quality while increasing team member satisfaction. The free workload analysis template for Excel identifies, measures and evaluates the amount of work each team member needs to do and how to balance that to avoid over-allocation.

This workload management tool will help managers get the most out of their workforce and help to produce high-quality deliverables. It can also help with resource identification and getting an accurate picture of the resources available for the project. Analyzing things like seasonality and potential disruptions to the workforce leads to a more strategic plan that helps managers better prepare for the unexpected.

7. Meeting Agenda Template

A meeting agenda template ensures every meeting starts with a clear purpose and a structured list of topics, preventing the unfocused discussions that make meetings feel like a waste of time. By distributing the agenda in advance, participants arrive prepared, which shortens meetings and produces better decisions.

Poor meeting management is one of the most common sources of lost time in the workplace. A meeting agenda template forces organizers to think through what needs to be decided before the meeting starts, making it easier to stay on track and end on time. It also creates a reference document for following up on action items after the meeting concludes.

8. 30-60-90 Day Plan Template

A 30-60-90 day plan template breaks a longer planning horizon into three focused phases, making large goals easier to sequence and execute. Commonly used for onboarding new hires or launching initiatives, it helps define what needs to be learned, contributed and led within the first three months.

Beyond onboarding, a 30-60-90 day plan template is useful any time a team needs to structure progress toward a milestone over a medium-term window. By setting expectations for each phase, it creates accountability checkpoints that keep work moving without requiring constant check-ins from management.

Pros and Cons of Using Excel for Time Management

Excel templates are only going to be helpful to a point. They serve a purpose, but eventually hit a wall and will be more frustrating than useful. That doesn’t mean Excel templates for time management are without merit. Here’s a short list of their pros and cons.

Pros of Excel for Time Management

• Easy to use
• Cost-effective
• Organize data

Cons of Excel for Time Management

• Needs technical expertise to get the most out of Excel templates, such as knowing formulas, conditional formatting and filtering
• Poor collaborative tool, as templates are static documents
• Risk of data loss or corruption
• Manual updates are time-consuming

Go Beyond Excel Time Management Worksheets With ProjectManager

It’s clear to see time management templates have their uses, but they fall short of project management software. Their limitations will frustrate managers who want to track time to ensure that teams are working efficiently and keeping to their schedule. To get the most out of time management and other project management techniques use ProjectManager, award-winning project and portfolio management software that uses multiple project views to plan, manage and track time throughout the project’s life cycle. For example, our Gantt charts schedule tasks and resources and filter for the critical path. Use timesheets to track time and labor costs or leverage other tools to monitor progress and more.

Track Time With Dashboard and Reports

Monitoring the team’s progress with real-time project and portfolio dashboards is easy. They offer a high-level overview of the project, collecting live data and displaying it on easy-to-read graphs and charts that show time, but also costs, workload and more. Use this tool as an instant status report to spot issues and keep projects running on schedule. For more detail, toggle over to the customizable reports that can be generated with a keystroke and filtered to show details for managers and more general data to keep stakeholders informed. For example, timesheet reports can show the hours teams have submitted, get time estimates and streamline payroll.

Use Calendars and Resource Management Features

One of the multiple project views accessible with our software is the calendar. It can help managers plan availability for their team, which can be set when onboarding the team. The calendar can show if there are vacations, PTO or even global holidays. Managers can use the color-coded workload charts to easily see who is overallocated and then balance the workload right from that chart. This keeps teams working at capacity without burning them out.

Related Time Management Content

For those looking to explore time management beyond the time management template, there are many opportunities to do so on our site. We published weekly blogs, guides, eBooks and free templates on all aspects of project management as it relates to various industries. Here are some of the recent posts we’ve published on time management.

• Project Time Management Software
• 15 Excel Spreadsheet Templates for Tracking Tasks, Costs & Time
• Time Estimation in Project Management: Tips & Techniques
• Project Time Management: Strategies, Tips & Tools
• A Quick Guide to Time Blocking
• Time and Materials Contract (T&M): When to Use One

ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere else in the world. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay up to date with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

The post 8 Free Time Management Templates for Excel and Word appeared first on ProjectManager.

There are resource allocation templates, resource management Excel templates, resource planning Excel templates and resource forecasting templates to ensure that projects have the resources they need when they need them to deliver projects on time, within budget and while meeting quality standards. This collection also covers role clarity and workforce continuity, giving teams the tools to manage resources from initial planning through long-term succession.

1. Resource Plan Template

A resource plan is when project managers identify, list and organize the resources required to complete the project. This resource management template helps determine the amount of resources needed, how much they’ll cost and when they’ll be required in the project. This includes storable (available unless used up) and non-storable resources (must be restocked periodically or used during specific times).

Download this free resource plan template for Excel to integrate with the project schedule and budget to keep on track and not overspend when in the execution state. This resource management template is critical to the planning phase of any project. But it’s not a one-and-done activity. The resource plan template for Excel must be regularly reviewed and updated throughout the project life cycle as changes occur and impact the plan.

The problem is that templates aren’t a great tool for that. They can be helpful for planning, but because they’re static documents and must be manually updated. On top of that, it’s not collaborative, which means teams aren’t aware of the changes until they’re informed. Project management software can solve those problems. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has robust Gantt charts to plan resources and their costs and share with teams to keep them updated on deadlines, changes and more. Once the resource plan is done, set a baseline to capture it and compare that plan against the actual progress in real time. Templates can’t do that. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

2. Capacity Planning Template

It’s often said that people are one’s most valuable resource. To deliver projects on time, within budget and meeting quality standards, resource capacity must be well-planned. This free capacity planning template for Excel is the perfect tool to ensure an organization has an effective operational or project plan to meet future resource requirements.

Capacity planning is used to determine how much production capacity is needed to meet demand for products. It can be tricky as demand is constantly changing. To do this, managers have to integrate resource, time, team and work management processes. This resource management template helps balance available resources to meet customer demand or the project’s capacity needs.

This resource utilization template shows the time and effort used by everyone on the project team for them to do their assigned tasks. This allows managers to make the necessary changes to future projects based on skill set and team availability. Keep track of autonomous teams, stay aware of changing priorities, prepare for unpredictable tasks and manage remote workers.

3. Workload Analysis Template

Managing a team’s workload is crucial for many reasons. If some have more tasks than others it’s going to erode morale, reduce productivity and threaten burnout. To avoid those pitfalls, use this free workload analysis template for Excel. This resources management template helps to evenly distribute tasks across project teams.

This is done by identifying, measuring and evaluating the work that must be completed by team members to deliver the project. Workload analysis is used to avoid overallocation and underutilization, which can negatively impact the project schedule, budget, quality and more. This aspect of workload management gives managers a process to get the best performances from their teams and allows them to produce the highest-quality deliverables.

Use this resource management template and reap those benefits by first listing all the team members by name and hourly pay rate. Then, enter their total available work hours per month. At this point, the manager will begin to allocate work hours to each team member and, as they execute those tasks, monitor the resource utilization rate and costs. Of course, this must all be done manually, which can be frustrating, but there is a solution, which we’ll get to shortly.

4. Timesheet Template

Timesheets aren’t necessarily top of mind when thinking about resource management. They’re more associated with payroll and human resources. While that is true, there is more to timesheets than simply capturing the hours a team member has worked. Using a free timesheet template for Excel can provide more benefits than one would first expect.

Yes, this resource management template will help employers to keep track of the hours their employees work. It collects all the pertinent information needed to streamline that process, from the personnel data, such as the employee’s name, department, supervisor and hourly rate. The timesheet is then divided into a week’s worth of work and the hours the employee works over that time are collected and added up.

How does this help with managing resources? It’s a window into labor costs, which is essential if one hopes to stay within budget. Managers can access these templates to look at where the team member is in terms of completing their tasks and how much that costs. If they’re behind, resources can be allocated to get the project schedule back on track before cost overruns threaten the project budget.

5. Job Estimate Template

There are many angles by which to approach resource management. One is by estimating the job, such as the materials and labor that will be needed to complete it on time and within budget. Using this free job estimate template for Excel is the first step to compile the costs and create a realistic schedule and budget.

This resource management template helps managers estimate costs for contracted work as well as a timeframe for completing the job. This is an essential step towards building an accurate budget for the work. Therefore, this resource forecasting template should be used in the early stages of a project, when soliciting quotes from vendors and contractors during the initiation phase.

The resource management template is broken into three distinct parts. There’s space to add the project description, which is important to put the work in context. Following that there is a chart where the labor needed is listed, including the dates required, duration and price. Following that is a similar chart for the materials, with dates, quantities and unit prices. These two subtotals are then added together and with tax will provide an accurate estimate of project costs.

6. Work Breakdown Structure Template

Before project managers can move on to identifying and allocating resources, they have to know the work that must be completed in the project. This free work breakdown structure for Excel is a tool that does just that. It’s a hierarchical chart with the final deliverable on top and the various other deliverables mapped below. From that, one can determine the tasks needed to create those deliverables.

This resource management template allows managers to visualize the deliverables in their projects and, in so doing, the tasks and subtasks that create them. It decomposes the total scope of work that will be done by the project team. Therefore, it’s an important tool to provide a place to start understanding cost estimating, control and the project schedule.

The work breakdown structure is divided into two sections. There’s a spreadsheet where all the project tasks can be listed. These tasks are broken down into sections that correspond to each of the five phases of the project. The other spreadsheet is the tree diagram with the main deliverable on top and the other deliverables that build to that point listed below.

7. Team Charter Template

The team charter is a document that sets the agenda for the project team before they start collaborating during the execution phase. It helps define who does what in the project and establishes boundaries, which is what makes it a useful resource management template. Like the project charter, this free team charter template for Word should be created early in the project.

The team charter is a way to set up human resources for the coming project. It offers guidance and support, identifies the team leader, sets up goals and defines the reason for the project. This resource management template is also a means to provide transparency for better alignment, accountability, etc.

Project managers can use this resource management template to educate their teams before assigning them tasks and moving into the execution phase of the project. It should answer all their questions and put them in a better place to do their jobs when the project manager allocates the resources.

8. RASCI Matrix Template for Excel

Even when resources are correctly allocated, projects stall when team members are unclear on who owns a decision or who needs to be consulted before work moves forward. A RASCI matrix template maps every task or deliverable to the people responsible, accountable, supporting, consulted and informed, removing the ambiguity that leads to duplicated effort and missed handoffs.

This RASCI matrix template for Excel lists tasks down one axis and team members across the other, with a cell for each RASCI designation. Managers can complete it at the start of a project to set clear expectations for every role and revisit it as the team or scope changes. It is especially useful on projects with multiple departments or external stakeholders where accountability needs to be explicit.

9. Succession Plan Template for Excel

People are the most critical resource on any project or team, which means resource management has to account for what happens when key contributors leave or move into new roles. A succession plan template helps organizations identify those critical positions, assess potential successors and build a development roadmap before a vacancy creates a disruption.

This succession plan template for Excel logs key employee details, successor readiness ratings and development actions in a structured spreadsheet. HR teams and project managers can use it to maintain an up-to-date view of workforce continuity risk and ensure that no single team member represents an unmanaged dependency on the project or the broader organization.

10. Work Log Template for Excel

Tracking what resources actually did – not just what was planned – is essential for accurate reporting and future estimating. A work log template gives teams a consistent way to record daily activity, time spent and task progress, creating a paper trail that supports both accountability and post-project analysis.

This work log template for Excel captures task descriptions, assigned resources, time logged and completion status across a project or work period. Managers can use it alongside timesheets and workload analysis templates to cross-reference planned versus actual resource use, identify bottlenecks early and build more accurate estimates for future projects.

ProjectManager Is Better Than an Estimate Template

All of these resource management templates are helpful, but only to a degree. The truth is templates are limited in scope. They’re not collaborative, which is necessary when managing resources, nor do they save time. Because managers must manually update resource management templates, they’re inherently inefficient. Download these free templates and find out. Then the upgrade to project management software is going to be a no-brainer. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that captures real-time data, is collaborative and has interactive Gantt charts to plan human and nonhuman resources with more control than a static template can provide.

Manage Resources in Real Time

Resource management templates can monitor resources in real time. This makes balancing workload a game of catch-up as resource utilization is at best old news. With real-time data collection, our software has multiple ways for managers to monitor and manage resources. Once teams are onboarded, where their availability is set to help make it easier to assign them to tasks, managers can view the team page or color-coded workload chart. From there they can balance the workload to keep everyone working at capacity and avoid burnout and poor morale.

Monitor Costs, Time and More

Another thing resource management templates aren’t equipped to handle is time and cost tracking. Once resources are planned, they must be monitored to ensure they’re meeting schedule and budget demands. Templates to that by manually inputting old data, but our software is constantly collecting live data. For example, get a high-level overview of the project or projects with real-time dashboards. They display metrics such as time, cost, workload and more in easy-to-read graphs and charts. Customizable reports offer more detailed data and secure timesheets to track labor costs and streamline payroll.

Related Project Estimating Content

When planning resources, estimating costs is essential to build and maintain a project budget. Resource management templates can help and project management software can do even more. But for those not ready to upgrade and want to learn more about project estimating, here are a handful of links to recent posts that can help with estimating project costs.

• Project Cost Estimation: How to Estimate Project Cost
• Calculating Estimate at Completion (EAC)
• Parametric Estimating in Project Management
• Best Construction Estimating Software of 2024
• Construction Estimating Guide

ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they are in the office, out in the field or anywhere else in the world. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

The post 10 Free Resource Management Templates appeared first on ProjectManager.

There are over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word available to download right now on our site. They cover every phase of managing a project and can be used across industries. We’ve cherry-picked the best free goal-setting templates and goal-tracking templates and listed them below to help deliver successful projects.

1. SMART Goals Template

Not all goals are created equal. If you set unrealistic goals for yourself or a project, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Instead, be smart. Using a free SMART goals template for Word is the first step to achieving your goals because this goal-setting template ensures that the goals are grounded in reality. Once the goals are set, use this goal-tracking template to ensure you’re meeting your goals.

This is achieved through the simple process of vetting goals. That’s where the SMART part comes into play. This acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. The goal-setting template is divided into three columns. The first column is for what each letter in SMART stands for. The second column asks a series of questions to help define that goal as related to a specific SMART goal. Finally, there’s a space for answers. When this process is complete, the goals collected will be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.

2. Strategic Roadmap Template

Setting goals is only the start. Now, those goals must be communicated to the team responsible for executing the individual tasks that will lead to achieving those goals. Using this free strategic roadmap template for Excel is a great visual aid for achieving the goal of disseminating the goal across the organization. This goal-setting template is a powerful tool to deliver long-term strategy, key goals, objectives and outcomes.

Using this free goal-setting template helps lay out all the strategy elements to prepare an organization for moving from where it currently stands to where it wants to be at a future date. Having a strategy and executing it are two points that are very distant from one another. The strategic roadmap template helps fill that gap.

The trouble with this goal-setting template is that it’s not very collaborative. Project management software is more conducive to sharing strategic plans. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has robust roadmaps that can be shared with teams. More than that, we have resource management, time tracking and task management features that help teams reach those goals. Our robust roadmaps view all projects related to the strategic goal in one place where projects can be filtered to view which are open. The roadmap highlights key metrics for stakeholders, links dependencies, filters for the critical path and sets a baseline to track variance to stay on schedule. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

3. SWOT Analysis Template

You can’t set goals blindly. Before setting goals, it’s important to understand where an organization stands. Knowing the competitive landscape and how the company fits into it is essential to developing a strategic plan. That’s where a free SWOT analysis template for Word comes in. It’s another acronym, this one standing for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Filling out the goal-setting template helps to gather the data necessary to make the next, right move.

This goal-setting template is divided into four quadrants, one for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The left-hand vertical axis is divided into two parts, one for external and the other for internal. Across the top axis is a column for positive and another for negative. Then it’s just a matter of placing the information about the company and its competitors into the proper quadrants. This will guide the development of a more impactful strategic plan.

4. Gap Analysis Template

A gap analysis is a tool to gather information that will help build an action plan. The free gap analysis template for Excel is designed to show how an organization can move from its current state to the desired future state. Use this goal-setting template to understand how to hit a strategic or business goal by determining the actions that must take place. Use it for project management, business process improvement and product management.

To use this goal-setting template, first list the focus areas, such as business processes to improve or an HR skill gap. Next, determine the current and future state of that focus area. Then, estimate the gap percentage and list the action items to close that gap (including priority, start and end dates as well as required resources). These action items will be assigned to someone and a status column helps track their progress.

5. To-Do List Template

Once goals are set, then comes the real work. Using this free to-do list for Excel is a task management tool that organizes and prioritizes work to make executing that work more efficient and effective. This goal-setting template collects all the tasks a team member is responsible for and keeps them in one place, which makes it easier to manage. It’s also a goal-tracking template in that it provides a sense of progress as each task on the list is completed.

It’s easy to get started with this goal-setting template. Just list all the tasks assigned to a team member and estimate the duration of each task, which includes the start date and due date. As tasks are being worked on, set the percentage complete with the drop-down menu, which goes in 25 percent increments from zero to 100. Then note the progress and add any notes that don’t fall into the previous columns.

6. Milestones Template

One of the easiest ways to track progress toward your goals is by using milestones. A milestones template maps out the key checkpoints in a project’s lifecycle; major events such as the end of a phase, delivery of a major deliverable or critical approvals. This structure makes it easy to track when important dates are approaching or overdue, coordinate handoffs or phase completions, and communicate critical deadlines with your team or stakeholders.

These milestones mark progress in a clear, visible way, helping teams and stakeholders stay aligned on what’s important and when. By focusing on major achievements instead of every small task, a milestone plan simplifies scheduling, highlights priorities and helps avoid surprises.

7. Progress Report Template

Setting goals without tracking their progress is a loser’s game. One way to make sure that the actual progress is aligned with the planned progress is with this free progress report template for Word. A progress report documents how far a project has progressed against where the project plan says it should be at this point. This goal-tracking template captures a snapshot of the project’s progress within a specific time frame to show if things are moving forward as planned.

This goal-tracking template begins with a summary to show the big picture before diving into the details that follow. Those details include all the tasks that were executed over the period covered in the progress report, any issues that came up and the money spent over that time. There’s also room to list any accomplishments and expected accomplishments that will show up in the next progress report.

8. 5-Year Plan Template

It’s never too early to start setting long-term goals. This 5-year plan template is designed to define your long-term objective and break it down year by year, noting annual end-goals, strategies or processes to get there, required resources and measurable success metrics.

It gives long-term direction, helps prioritize resources and provides a framework for decision‑making over time. With a clear 5‑year plan, everyone understands the vision and can align their efforts to support sustainable growth, avoid chaos, and measure progress against shared objectives.

9. Status Report Template

Another goal-setting template is the free status report template for Excel. A status report is different from a progress report. The former is a broad overview of a project’s current state, while the latter focuses on the project’s progress over time. Regardless, both are important goal-tracking tools.

This goal-setting template opens with a summary of the project, such as its name, date, project manager as well as the reporting period. There follows a summary of key accomplishments, completed work, planned work, milestones, deliverables and action items. Then there’s a rundown of the project’s health, such as the budget, schedule, quality and scope. There is also a risk management overview and recommendations for going forward.

10. Project Deliverables Template

A project deliverables list defines the concrete outputs a project is expected to produce, including the reports, features, products, or services that must be delivered when the project ends. With this project deliverables template, you capture each deliverable’s name, description, who’s responsible, and its due date, all in one organized sheet. You can monitor status (e.g., not started, in progress, complete), add notes or comments and adjust deadlines or ownership as needed.

By specifying deliverables early, it ensures everyone understands what “done” means, aligns expectations among stakeholders and reduces the risk of scope creep or missing outcomes. This clarity helps guide planning, coordinate work, and validate project success.

11. Requirements Gathering Template

Knowing the requirements necessary to execute a plan is a key part of achieving one’s goals. Using this free requirements gathering template for Word collects what’s required and communicates that information between the user and developer. The user will show what they require and the developer ensures that it’s all accounted for in the requirements-gathering process.

The free goal-setting template has a cover page that not only names the project but also has a box that tracks the versions and why changes were made to the requirements gathering template. Next, there’s a section for the project plan, its purpose, scope and timeframe, with milestones, goals and dependencies. Constraints and restrictions are outlined. Then the requirements are broken down into seven subsections to capture everything from user requirements to risk management.

12. Project Overview Template

A project overview is a high-level description of the project and one of the documents used to get a new project started. Use this free project overview template for Word to convince senior management of the project’s viability and to get the project team on the same page in terms of the goals and objectives of the project.

This goal-setting template captures everything from the business case, which summarizes the project and its value, to the project deliverables. There’s also a section to capture opportunities and problems, goals and objectives and what’s in and out of scope for the project.

13. Annual Work Plan Template

An annual work plan is a strategic document that lays out what a team or organization aims to accomplish over the course of a year. Use our free annual work plan template to turn broad goals into concrete objectives, define the initiatives needed and assign responsibilities, timelines and resources.

The template offers a central place to organize objectives, giving your team a shared roadmap and helping everyone stay focused on what matters most during the year.

14. Project Summary Template

A project summary is part of a project proposal, which is used to convince stakeholders or clients that the potential project is worth funding. To achieve this goal use our free project summary template for Word. This project goal-setting template can also be a standalone document or part of a project proposal. Either way, it’s a comprehensive overview of the project, briefly stated, but including key details.

This goal-setting template captures important information, such as the project schedule, including durations, milestones and deliverables. There’s space for the project budget, which includes financial projections to show costs and return on investment (ROI). The resource plan is outlined and there’s a risk management overview to show how roadblocks and other challenges will be dealt with.

15. Eisenhower Matrix Template

The Eisenhower matrix is a simple yet powerful prioritization method that helps you decide which tasks to tackle first by evaluating two criteria: urgency and importance. Use our free Eisenhower matrix template to divide tasks into four categories: “urgent & important,” “important but not urgent,” “urgent but not important” and “neither urgent nor important.”

You can quickly see which tasks deserve your immediate attention, which should be scheduled later, which can be delegated and which can be dropped. By doing so, the template helps you convert a chaotic to‑do list into a prioritized, actionable plan

16. Vision Statement Template

Goal setting requires more than a list of objectives; it needs a clear picture of where the organization is ultimately headed. A vision statement template gives leadership teams a structured format for articulating that future state in concrete, memorable terms. A strong vision statement acts as a north star that aligns every goal, milestone and decision that follows it, making it one of the most foundational documents in any goal-setting process.

The vision statement template guides you through defining the organization’s core purpose, the future state it is working toward and the values that will guide the journey. Working through each prompt as a team surfaces disagreements about direction early, before they show up as misaligned goals later. The finished statement becomes a reference point for evaluating whether individual goals are actually pointing in the right direction.

Use this template at the start of any strategic planning or annual goal-setting cycle. A well-crafted vision statement makes every subsequent goal-setting conversation more focused and more grounded in what the organization is actually trying to become.

17. KPI Dashboard Template

Setting goals is only half the work; knowing whether you are on track to hit them requires consistent measurement. A KPI dashboard template gives teams a centralized view of the key performance indicators tied to their goals, making it easy to spot which areas are progressing and which need attention. Without this visibility, goal reviews become backward-looking and reactive rather than forward-looking and corrective.

The KPI dashboard template includes a structured layout for listing each key metric alongside its target, current value, trend direction and owner. Color-coded status indicators make it easy to read performance at a glance without digging through raw data. Teams typically update the dashboard on a weekly or monthly cadence and use it as the agenda for goal review meetings.

This template is especially useful for teams managing multiple goals across different functions, where a single shared view of performance prevents siloed tracking and keeps everyone accountable to the same picture.

18. Action Plan Template

A goal without a plan is just a wish. An action plan template bridges the gap between the goals you set and the day-to-day work required to achieve them, laying out every task, owner and deadline in a format the whole team can follow. It is the document that turns strategic intent into operational reality, making it an essential companion to any goal-setting process.

The action plan template includes columns for each action item, the goal it supports, the assigned owner, the due date and the current status. Breaking goals down into discrete tasks makes them less abstract and easier to delegate. Regular reviews of the action plan reveal whether the team is executing at the pace needed to hit the goal on time.

Use this template alongside the SMART goals template to connect clearly defined goals to the specific actions that will deliver them. Together they create a complete picture from goal definition through to execution and follow-through.

ProjectManager Helps With Goal-Setting and Tracking

Using these goal-setting templates is helpful, but only to a point. That’s because all templates, whether for Excel or Word, are static documents. That means that each must be manually updated, taking teams away from their tasks and giving managers data that is already outdated once added to the template. To leverage an advantage that templates can’t provide, use project management software. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that delivers real-time data and has workflow automation with approval settings to ensure quality deliverables while streamlining processes.

Monitor Goals With Real-Time Dashboards

There are goal-setting templates that can monitor progress and help make sure the actual effort is aligned with the planned effort. But those templates are always a day late and a dollar short. Get a high-level overview of the project’s key performance indicators (KPIs) with our real-time dashboards for individual projects, a program or a portfolio of projects. Easy-to-read graphs and charts capture time, cost, workload and more, automatically updating as teams log their statuses. Best of all, there’s no lengthy and complicated setup needed as with lightweight alternatives.

Get More Details With Customizable Reports

When more detail is required, toggle over to the reporting feature. Reports can be generated in minutes and show project or portfolio status, variance, timesheets, workload and more. Filter the reports to go deep into detail for managers and their teams or create a more general overview that can then be shared with stakeholders to keep them up to date.

Related Template Content

Looking for more free templates. Other template roundups collect free templates around a theme, whether that’s change management, construction or project management. Below are links to those posts.

• 15 Goal-Setting Strategies for Individuals and Teams
• How to Create SMART Goals (Example Included)
• How to Set CLEAR Goals: CLEAR Goal Examples
• How to Set FAST Goals: FAST Goal Examples
• How to Set a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)
• 14 Free Change Management Templates for Excel and Word
• 18 Free Excel Construction Templates
• 25 Must-Have Project Management Excel Templates and Spreadsheets
• Plantillas de seguimiento de objetivos para Excel y Word (gratis)

ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere else. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

The post 18 Free Goal-Setting and Tracking Templates for Excel and Word appeared first on ProjectManager.

A good invoice template removes that friction. It gives you a consistent structure with all the required fields already in place so billing becomes something you complete in a few minutes rather than something you assemble from memory. It also makes your billing look like it came from an organized business, which matters more than most people realize when a client is deciding whose invoice to process first.

We collected six free invoice templates for Excel and Word covering the full billing cycle, from sending a quote before the work begins to tracking payments after the invoice is sent. Each one is free to download and ready to customize for your business.

1. Freelance Invoice Template for Excel

A freelance invoice is the formal record of work completed and payment due. For independent contractors and freelancers, it is also the document that determines how quickly a client pays. An invoice that looks professional, includes all the necessary fields and is easy for the client’s finance team to process gets paid faster than one that requires follow-up questions to approve.

This Excel template includes all the standard fields a client expects: your contact information, the client’s details, an invoice number, the date, an itemized list of services with rates and quantities, a subtotal, tax fields and the total due. It is clean enough to send to a corporate accounts payable department and simple enough to complete in a few minutes once the work is done.

The right starting point for any freelancer or independent contractor who bills clients for services and wants a professional invoice format they can reuse without rebuilding it every time.

2. Service Invoice Template for Word

A service invoice documents the services delivered to a client during a billing period and the amount owed for each. Where a product invoice is straightforward, a service invoice needs to communicate what was delivered clearly enough that a client who was not involved in the day-to-day work can understand what they are paying for and approve it without hesitation.

This Word template provides a clean service invoice structure with fields for service descriptions, hours or units, rate and total per line item. It is formatted as a polished client-facing document rather than a spreadsheet, which makes it easier to brand and suitable for industries where presentation matters: consulting, marketing, legal services and similar professional fields.

Works for any service provider that bills clients for defined deliverables rather than physical goods, and wants an invoice that looks consistent and professional every time it goes out.

Manage Billing and Project Costs in ProjectManager

Templates handle the invoice. ProjectManager handles what goes into it. Track labor hours, monitor costs against your project budget and generate reports you can pull data from when it is time to bill. Everything your invoice needs is already in the project. Try it free for 30 days.

3. Construction Invoice Template for Excel

A construction invoice needs to do more than request payment. It needs to document labor, materials and equipment costs clearly enough that a general contractor, project owner or lender can review the work billed against the contract and approve it quickly. Ambiguity in a construction invoice creates disputes that delay payment and damage client relationships.

This Excel template breaks down the invoice into separate line items for labor, materials and equipment with columns for description, quantity, unit cost and total. It includes fields for the project name, contract number and billing period so the invoice ties directly back to the contract and the work performed during that period.

Particularly useful for subcontractors, general contractors and construction firms that bill against a contract on a progress billing or milestone basis and need an invoice format that holds up to scrutiny from an owner or project accountant.

4. Service Quote Template for Excel

A quote is what gets signed before the invoice is sent. For service businesses, it is the document that sets expectations: what will be delivered, at what cost and under what terms. A well-structured quote reduces the back-and-forth before a project starts and makes the eventual invoice easy to review because the client already approved the numbers once before.

This Excel template covers the standard quote structure: your business details, the client’s information, a line-item breakdown of services with descriptions and pricing, a validity date and terms. It is formatted to match the kind of professional quote a client can sign off on and file alongside the eventual invoice when the work is complete.

Best used any time a client asks for pricing before committing to a project, or when your services vary enough by engagement that you need a clear document establishing what is and is not included before work begins.

5. Purchase Order Template for Excel

A purchase order is the buyer’s counterpart to an invoice. Where an invoice is sent by the vendor requesting payment, a purchase order is issued by the buyer to authorize a purchase before the work or goods are delivered. For businesses that buy from contractors or vendors, a purchase order creates a paper trail that connects the approved spend to the eventual invoice, which is what makes accounts payable reconciliation possible.

This Excel template includes the standard purchase order fields: PO number, issue date, vendor details, a line-item breakdown of goods or services ordered with quantities and unit prices and the authorized total. It gives both the buyer and the vendor a shared reference document so there are no disputes over what was ordered or at what price when the invoice arrives.

Essential for any organization that buys services or materials from outside vendors and wants a formal authorization process that keeps spending controlled and invoices easy to match against approved orders.

6. Payment Tracker Template for Excel

Sending an invoice is not the same as getting paid. For businesses that bill multiple clients or send recurring invoices, keeping track of what has been paid, what is outstanding and what is overdue requires more than memory. A payment tracker gives you a single view of your accounts receivable so you can follow up on late payments before they become a cash flow problem.

This Excel template logs each invoice with columns for client name, invoice number, amount, issue date, due date, payment status and date received. It gives you a running record of all outstanding invoices at a glance so you can see immediately who is overdue, how much is owed and which clients are consistently late.

The right tool for any freelancer, agency or small business that sends more invoices than they can track from memory and needs a simple system to stay on top of what has and has not been paid.

Manage Project Billing With ProjectManager

An invoice template captures the final number. Getting to that number accurately requires tracking what was spent during the project: labor hours, costs and progress against the original budget. ProjectManager connects those inputs so when it is time to bill a client, the data is already there and the invoice reflects what was actually delivered.

From budget tracking to client reporting, ProjectManager gives project teams the visibility they need to bill confidently and give clients the documentation to approve invoices without delay.

Track Project Costs Against Your Budget in Real Time

ProjectManager’s budget tracking tools let you set a project budget, log costs as they occur and compare actual spending to your plan at any point during the project. Labor costs pull directly from logged timesheets and task hours, so the cost data is always current. When a project approaches its budget limit, you see it in time to act rather than discovering the overage after the work is done and the invoice is already late.

Generate Reports Your Clients Can Review

A professional invoice is stronger when it is backed by supporting documentation. ProjectManager’s reporting tools let you generate project status reports, cost summaries and timesheet exports that give clients a clear picture of what was delivered and what it cost. For clients who require documentation before approving an invoice, having the report ready alongside the bill removes the delay between sending and getting paid.

Related Content

• 6 Free Time Tracking Templates for Excel
• 25 Free Project Management Templates for Excel
• 10 Free Status Report Templates for Word and Excel
• 10 Free Small Business Plan Templates for Excel and Word
• 8 Free Work Schedule Templates for Excel

The post 6 Free Invoice Templates for Excel and Word appeared first on ProjectManager.

A time tracking template gives you a consistent structure for capturing hours before they disappear into memory. Whether you are logging daily tasks, blocking out the week ahead or building an invoice from hours worked, a template keeps the format the same every time so the data is comparable and easy to review. It also makes the habit easier to maintain: a blank structure that takes two minutes to fill out gets used. A blank spreadsheet does not.

We put together six free time tracking templates covering everything from basic timesheets to invoicing tools that turn logged hours into client bills. Each one is free to download and ready to adapt for your team or your own workflow.

1. Timesheet Template for Excel

A timesheet is the foundation of any time tracking system. It records who worked, what they worked on and for how long over a given period. Without it, billing is based on recollection and project cost tracking is guesswork. With it, you have an accurate record that supports payroll, client billing and resource planning.

This Excel timesheet template breaks hours down by day and task, with columns for the project name, task description and hours logged each day of the week. Totals calculate automatically so you get an accurate weekly summary without any manual math. It covers the standard format that payroll and billing processes expect, so the data is ready to use as soon as it is filled in.

The right starting point for any team or individual that needs to start tracking time consistently, or anyone who has been using a timesheet that takes too long to fill out each week.

2. Time Blocking Template for Excel

Time blocking is the practice of scheduling specific work into dedicated time slots rather than working from an open-ended task list. The difference is significant: a task list tells you what to do, but not when you will do it, which makes it easy to defer the hard work in favor of whatever feels most urgent. A time block commits you to a specific window for a specific type of work.

This Excel template gives you a weekly grid of time blocks across each day, with rows for different types of work: focused tasks, meetings, administrative work and breaks. You fill in the blocks in advance, which forces you to see how much time is actually available versus how much work you are planning to do. Gaps between reality and the plan show up immediately.

Particularly useful for anyone who finds the day constantly hijacked by reactive work, or for managers who want to protect time for strategic thinking without letting the calendar fill up with meetings by default.

Track Your Team’s Time Automatically With ProjectManager

A timesheet template works. ProjectManager works better. Team members log hours directly on their tasks, and managers see real-time labor costs without chasing anyone for a filled-in spreadsheet. Timesheets submit with one click and can be locked once approved. Try it free for 30 days.

3. Work Log Template for Excel

A work log is a running record of what was done, when it was done and how long it took. Where a timesheet is typically submitted weekly and attached to payroll or billing cycles, a work log is updated continuously and serves as a reference for anyone who needs to know what happened on a project and when. It is particularly useful when scope questions come up or when a project needs to be handed off mid-stream.

This Excel template records tasks in chronological order with columns for date, team member, task description, hours spent and status. It is simple enough to update daily in a few minutes and detailed enough to give any stakeholder a clear picture of how the project’s time has been spent to date.

Useful for project managers who need a running audit trail, consultants who log deliverables by client or any team where accountability over how time is spent matters as much as the outcome itself.

4. Weekly Billing Format for Word

A weekly billing format structures the hours worked during a week into a format ready to send to a client. It bridges the gap between internal time tracking and external invoicing: you have the hours in your timesheet, and you need to present them in a way a client can review, approve and pay. A consistent format also makes your billing look professional rather than improvised.

This Word template lays out the week’s billable hours by service or task, with columns for description, rate, hours and total. It is formatted as a client-facing document rather than an internal spreadsheet, so you can fill in the hours from your timesheet and send it directly without reformatting anything.

Best for freelancers, consultants and agencies that bill on a weekly retainer or track billable hours against a client budget and need a clean, consistent document to send alongside or in place of a formal invoice.

5. Freelance Invoice Template for Excel

Once the hours are tracked, the next step is getting paid for them. A freelance invoice takes the hours logged during a project or billing period and turns them into a formal payment request. Without a consistent invoice format, you risk looking unprofessional, leaving out information that delays payment or recreating the same document from scratch every time you bill a client.

This Excel invoice template includes all the standard fields a client expects: your business details, the client’s information, an itemized list of services with hours and rates, a subtotal, tax fields and a total due. It is clean enough to send to a corporate client and simple enough to complete in five minutes once the work is done.

The right tool for any freelancer or independent contractor who bills by the hour and wants a professional invoice they can fill out quickly and send without building one from scratch each time.

6. Service Invoice Template for Word

A service invoice documents the work delivered to a client and the amount owed for it. For service businesses where the product is time and expertise rather than a physical item, the invoice is the only formal record of what was delivered. A clear, professional invoice reduces back-and-forth with clients and gets you paid faster than a vague one does.

This Word invoice template covers the standard structure for a service business: invoice number, date, client details, a line-item breakdown of services rendered, payment terms and total due. It is formatted in Word so you can customize the language and branding without adjusting a spreadsheet formula.

Works for any service provider: marketing agencies, IT consultants, coaches, accountants or anyone billing a client for work performed during a defined period.

Track Time and Bill Clients With ProjectManager

Templates get the hours on paper. The limitation is that every update is manual: someone fills out the sheet, submits it, and a manager reconciles it against the project plan. ProjectManager connects time tracking directly to the work so hours log automatically as tasks are completed, labor costs update in real time and the data you need for billing or reporting is always current.

For teams that bill clients or track project costs against a budget, that connection between hours worked and project data is the difference between time tracking that informs decisions and time tracking that just creates paperwork.

Submit and Approve Timesheets in One Click

ProjectManager’s online timesheets let team members log hours directly on their tasks without filling out a separate document. Hours populate automatically from task assignments, so there is less for each person to fill in and less chance of data getting lost between the task and the sheet. Managers can review, comment on and lock timesheets once approved, giving you an accurate labor cost record for every project period without the back-and-forth of chasing spreadsheet submissions.

See Labor Costs Against Your Budget in Real Time

Knowing how many hours were worked is only useful if you can see what those hours cost relative to what was planned. ProjectManager’s dashboard pulls live timesheet data into project-level budget tracking, so you can see planned versus actual labor costs at any point during the project. When a team is running over on hours, you see it in time to act, not after the invoice is already sent.

Related Content

• 8 Free Work Schedule Templates for Excel
• 25 Free Project Management Templates for Excel
• 10 Free Status Report Templates for Word and Excel
• 7 Free Project Diagram Templates for Excel and Word
• 10 Free Small Business Plan Templates for Excel and Word

The post 6 Free Time Tracking Templates for Excel appeared first on ProjectManager.

Dashboard templates are designed to track a variety of different metrics that provide vital data for project managers and their teams. We have free dashboard templates that will help track budget, workload, progress and more. Monitoring this allows project managers to determine if the project is on schedule and not overspending. If it is, adjustments can be made to get back on track before it impacts the success of the project.

Download these Excel dashboard templates for free or sign up for a free 30-day trial of our software and see what real-time dashboards can do when managing a project, program or portfolio. We’ll talk more about that later, but first, let’s get to the Excel dashboard templates for free download.

1. Project Dashboard Template for Excel

Excel dashboard templates are important for a high-level overview of the project. This free project dashboard template for Excel is an excellent choice. It allows project managers and their teams to monitor project progress on several different bar charts and pie charts. Four dashboards together paint a clear picture of the project and where it stands concerning where it should be in terms of the project plan.

There’s a pie chart that captures the project tasks. It makes it easy to see at a glance what percentage of the team’s tasks have been completed, are in progress, aren’t yet started or are overdue, as well as the total. A workload bar chart shows the resource allocation for the project team. It’s color-coded to show work in progress, not started and overdue. A task length chart shows duration and a cost chart helps track the actual cost against the budget for that period.

All of this information is crucial to managing a project, but so is working efficiently. Excel dashboard templates are just not going to provide the efficiency that is built into project management software. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with real-time dashboards for either a project and multiple projects. Because our dashboard is online, it collects live data automatically, there’s no need to manually update a template. Our live dashboards provide a current overview of the project’s performance and progress, which allows project managers to quickly make adjustments if necessary to get the work back on track. Templates can’t do that. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

2. KPI Dashboard Template for Excel

But, again, not everyone is ready to upgrade to project management software with real-time data visualization. For those looking for Excel dashboard templates to help as a task tracker, download this free KPI dashboard template for Excel. This is a great tool for providing critical information as it monitors, analyzes and displays KPIs to better manage organizations and projects.

This Excel dashboard has even more charts and graphs to help track the project timeline, budget and more. There’s even a yearly profit and loss overview with two charts, one showing revenue over time and the other expenses. This will help keep organizations aware of whether they’re in the red or the black. That data is even broken further down to monthly revenue, quarterly revenue, monthly expenses and quarterly expenses. There’s also a chart capturing workload analysis and one for resource planning, among others.

3. Budget Dashboard Template for Excel

One of the most important KPIs to track is cost. This free budget dashboard template for Excel is a robust breakdown of project costs essential for keeping track of the budget and delivering projects without suffering cost overruns. There’s also space to add the job number, customer name, job description and start and completion dates. This is certainly one of the Excel dashboard templates needed to keep track of budgets.

Beneath that are colorful pie charts that make this Excel spreadsheet easy to read and understand. For example, there’s one to show the planned costs against the actual costs, which helps project managers see if their current spending aligns with where the budget said they should be at this time. There are also pie charts for direct material costs, direct labor costs, direct equipment costs and overhead costs. A bar chart collects the total costs for an overview of the budget, which is another reason this Excel dashboard comes in handy when managing the budget.

4. Workload Dashboard Template for Excel

We’ve mentioned workload a few times already, but for those who aren’t familiar with the term, workload refers to the total amount of work assigned to a team member or group within a project. It’s usually measured in hours or tasks. Keeping track of workload ensures that team members are working at capacity, but not overallocated to the point of suffering from burnout, which erodes morale. Therefore, this is one of the Excel dashboard templates that everyone needs.

The free workload dashboard template for Excel is made up of four bar charts. On the left side are color-coded monthly resource allocation charts that show each team member’s resource availability (hours per month) in black and current workload allocation (again in hours per month) in yellow. This provides a monthly overview of the team’s resource allocation and can help project managers to balance their workload. Workload can also help with tracking labor costs. The right side of the Excel dashboard shows labor costs by employee in a chart for each month they’re working on the project.

5. Task Tracker Dashboard Template for Excel

Project managers use a task tracker to organize, prioritize and monitor the progress of individual tasks within a project. This free task tracker dashboard template for Excel is a centralized location to manage all project details and improve collaboration between team members while helping project managers know what needs to be done, who is responsible and when each task is due.

As Excel dashboard templates go, this one is another must-have. It is made up of a couple of charts and pie charts that are color-coded to make it easy to digest them easily and fast. There’s one for task priority levels, which has the status on the left column, which goes from very low to critical. There are also columns for count and percentage. There’s another, set up the same, only this tracks task status, from on hold to not started. This information is then translated to pie charts that visually show the percentage and color codes for those who prefer to get their information that way.

6. Asset Management Dashboard Template

Keeping track of equipment, tools and other business assets becomes much easier with this asset management dashboard template. Designed to consolidate inventory information into a single reporting view, it helps users monitor asset quantities, values and distribution across locations. This dashboard supports better resource planning, maintenance decisions and long-term asset management by presenting critical information in an organized format.

Several tables and charts work together to provide a comprehensive overview of asset data. A donut chart visualizes how assets are distributed across categories, while bar charts compare asset values and quantities. Supporting tables break down inventory by location, allowing users to quickly understand where assets are assigned.

7. Sales Dashboard Template

For teams that need a quick snapshot of sales performance, this dashboard template brings key metrics together in one place. It tracks revenue, orders, customer growth and sales activity while measuring results against predefined targets. By summarizing performance across products and regions, the template helps users identify opportunities, evaluate outcomes and make informed business decisions.

A combination of KPI tables, comparison charts and performance reports provides multiple perspectives on sales data. Revenue, units sold and closed deals are displayed through bar charts and visual summaries, while detailed tables organize results by product and region. Progress toward targets is also highlighted throughout the dashboard.

8. CRM Dashboard Template

Customer information, sales opportunities and account activity are centralized within this CRM dashboard template. It gives businesses a practical way to monitor customer relationships, schedule follow-ups and track potential revenue from active opportunities. With customer records and engagement data stored in a structured format, the dashboard supports stronger relationship management and improved sales visibility.

At the heart of the dashboard is a customer table containing contact information, account status, follow-up schedules and revenue details. Additional visual reports summarize customer types and highlight top-performing accounts. Together, the charts and tables provide a clear overview of customer engagement and revenue contribution.

Benefits of Using Excel Dashboard Templates

We’ve been talking about the importance of Excel dashboard templates and why they’re beneficial to project managers and their teams. To reiterate and provide more detail, we’ve listed the benefits of using an Excel dashboard in project management below.

• Dashboards bring together various project data in a centralized location, which makes it easier to track and monitor progress across different aspects.
• Excel dashboards can be updated regularly to reflect close-to-real-time data, giving project managers an updated view of how the project is progressing.
• With data presented in an easily digestible format, project managers can quickly identify problems or areas that need attention and make informed decisions faster.
• Graphs and charts help simplify complex data, making it easier for stakeholders to understand and access the project status without needing to dive into raw data.

Disadvantages of Using Excel Dashboard Templates

While Excel dashboard templates can be useful, they’re not a perfect project management tool. We’ve already noted some ways they are inferior to project management software. Here are some general disadvantages.

• Many pre-designed templates have fixed structures, which might not suit every project’s unique needs. Customizing templates is time-consuming and challenging.
• As the project grows or becomes more complex, the template might not scale effectively, creating issues with handling large amounts of data, slow performance or clutterness.
• Excel dashboards rely heavily on manual data entry or data imports. If the data isn’t consistently updated or entered correctly, it can lead to inaccurate results, which could impact decision-making.
• Unless specifically designed with automation or integration features, Excel templates don’t typically pull real-time data from other sources, which could result in outdated information unless manually refreshed.

ProjectManager Is a Better Project Tracking Tool Than Excel Dashboard Templates

While Excel dashboard templates have a place in project management, it’s mostly a stepping stone to more sophisticated tools. Sure, try out these free dashboard templates and get a handle on how useful they are in monitoring project metrics to meet deadlines and stay on budget. But chances are frustration will settle in soon enough. After all, these are only static documents that must be manually updated and are poor collaboration tools. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with real-time project and portfolio management dashboards. But that’s only one feature of many to deliver successful projects.

Multiple Project Planning and Scheduling Views

Before one can track data, projects must be planned and tasks, resources and costs scheduled. Our software has multiple project views to do that and execute the work. Project managers prefer the robust Gantt charts that schedule tasks, resources and costs, but also link all four types of task dependencies to avoid delays and cost overruns. They can filter for the critical path rather than go through timely and complicated calculations. Then, once a baseline is set, progress and performance are tracked in real time. Plans are shared across the visual workflow of kanban boards and powerful task lists for teams to execute their work, while stakeholders can stay updated with the calendar view.

Robust Resource Management Features

Many of the dashboards include workload, as does ours, but real project management software will have resource management tools, as well. As noted above, both human and nonhuman resources can be scheduled on the Gantt. When onboarding teams, project managers can set their availability according to PTO, vacation and global holidays, as well as skill sets, which makes assigning tasks easier. There’s a color-coded workload page to view resource allocation and balance team workload to keep everyone working at capacity. Our team page summarizes team activities, which can be filtered by priority, progress and more. Even our secure timesheets, which streamline payroll, also measure how far each team member has gotten in completing tasks.

Of course, there’s more. Automated workflows with task approvals for quality control, version control, global search and unlimited file storage, email and in-app notifications and risk management tools. But first, try the free Excel dashboard templates, then take a free trial and join the successful teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

The post 8 Free Excel Dashboard Templates appeared first on ProjectManager.

Using Excel as a Project Progress Tracker

Excel spreadsheets have long been a popular method for maintaining a project progress tracker. They allow users to list tasks, assign responsibilities, set deadlines and update progress manually. Conditional formatting, formulas and charts provide visual cues for project status. Excel is flexible and accessible, but requires manual updating, which can increase the risk of errors. While simple for small projects, it becomes cumbersome for larger initiatives, making dedicated project progress tracker tools more efficient.

Best Free Project Progress Tracker Templates & Spreadsheets

There are many free project progress tracker templates and spreadsheets available for managers seeking a quick start. Templates often include built-in formulas, Gantt chart visuals and pre-formatted tables for task tracking. They allow users to monitor task completion, resource allocation and deadlines at a glance. These free spreadsheets are ideal for small teams or individual projects but may lack automation, real-time updates and collaboration features that larger organizations require for effective project tracking.

1. Project Progress Tracker Template

This project progress tracker template provides a clear layout for tracking tasks, deadlines and completion status. Each task can be assigned to team members with start and end dates, priority levels and percentage completed.

Conditional formatting highlights overdue tasks or milestones that require attention, while summary charts give managers a visual overview of overall progress. This template is ideal for single projects, helping teams stay organized and accountable while ensuring every deliverable is completed on time.

However, templates have their limitations. To avoid those pitfalls, use ProjectManager, award-winning project and portfolio management software with real-time dashboards that collect live data and display it on easy-to-read graphs and charts. Even better, with AI-powered analytics and recommendations, users can get instant summaries and expert advice. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

2. To-Do List Progress Tracker Template

The to-do list progress tracker template simplifies task management by focusing on individual assignments. Team members can check off completed items, update progress percentages and note any blockers.

This template is particularly useful for small teams or personal projects, providing a quick and easy way to monitor daily or weekly tasks. Managers can see which tasks are behind schedule at a glance, ensuring work is prioritized effectively and the project stays on track.

3. Multiple Project Progress Tracker Template

The multiple project progress tracker template is designed for organizations managing several projects simultaneously. It allows managers to view tasks, milestones and deadlines across multiple initiatives in one consolidated spreadsheet.

Each project can have its own tab, while summary dashboards provide overall progress insights. This template supports resource allocation, identifies potential bottlenecks and enables better decision-making, making it ideal for teams handling complex workloads and needing a comprehensive view of progress across all projects.

4. Action Plan Progress Tracker Template

The action plan progress tracker template helps teams break down strategic objectives into actionable steps. Each action item is assigned to a team member with start and end dates, priority and completion status.

Conditional formatting highlights overdue or delayed tasks, while summary charts provide a visual overview of overall progress. This template ensures accountability, keeps teams focused on key objectives and allows managers to monitor execution against the plan efficiently, making it ideal for structured project management and strategic initiatives.

5. Task Progress Tracker Template

The task progress tracker template is designed to monitor individual tasks within a project. It includes columns for task name, owner, start and end dates, priority, status and percentage complete.

Visual cues such as color coding or progress bars quickly highlight completed or delayed tasks. This template is suitable for both small and medium projects, providing an easy way to track workload, identify potential bottlenecks and ensure tasks are completed on schedule, keeping the project aligned with its objectives.

Related: Best Task Management Software: Free & Paid Options (2025)

6. Timeline Progress Tracker Template

The timeline progress tracker template provides a visual Gantt-style layout of project tasks along a timeline. Each task is represented with start and end dates, dependencies and progress percentage.

This allows managers to see overlaps, critical paths and project milestones at a glance. Ideal for projects with multiple phases, the timeline template ensures that deadlines are visible, resources are managed effectively and teams remain on track. It simplifies complex schedules and helps prevent delays by highlighting potential conflicts early.

7. Project Dashboard Tracker Template

The project dashboard tracker template consolidates project data into one visual report for quick analysis. It displays task progress, resource allocation, budget status and timeline metrics using charts and graphs.

Managers can instantly identify delays or risks and make informed decisions. This project progress tracker is ideal for teams managing multiple deliverables since it provides a high-level overview without digging through spreadsheets. It helps improve communication, supports executive reporting and keeps every stakeholder aligned on performance and project health.

8. Budget Tracker Template

The budget tracker template helps monitor project expenses, compare actual costs against forecasts and manage financial performance throughout the project lifecycle. Each line item lists planned and actual costs, remaining budget and variance.

Charts or conditional formatting highlight overspending and help maintain cost control. As part of a project progress tracker system, it ensures teams stay financially accountable and enables project managers to make data-driven adjustments before cost overruns occur, promoting better transparency and long-term financial planning.

Related: 13 Budget Templates for Business & Project Budgeting

9. KPI Tracker Dashboard Template

The KPI tracker dashboard template allows project managers to measure performance against key success indicators such as cost variance, schedule adherence, resource utilization and milestone completion.

Data is displayed in charts, gauges and summary cards to provide a real-time view of progress. This project progress tracker simplifies complex reporting by centralizing metrics in one place, ensuring stakeholders can quickly assess performance. It supports continuous improvement by revealing trends, identifying inefficiencies and driving actionable insights for better decision-making.

10. Project Status Tracker Template

The project status tracker template provides a structured way to summarize overall project performance across schedule, budget and deliverables. It highlights progress through color-coded indicators such as “on track,” “at risk” or “delayed.”

This project progress tracker helps project managers report status updates clearly to stakeholders while maintaining visibility across multiple phases. By using this template, teams can align on project priorities, ensure accountability and quickly address areas needing attention before they escalate into larger issues that affect timelines or budgets.

11. Project Risk Tracker Spreadsheet

The project risk tracker spreadsheet helps identify, assess and monitor potential risks that could impact project success. It includes fields for risk descriptions, probability, impact level, mitigation strategies and contingency plans.

Using this as part of a broader project progress tracker allows teams to manage uncertainty proactively and maintain control over project outcomes. Project managers can track evolving risks, assign ownership and regularly update statuses to ensure preventive actions are taken before risks turn into costly delays or disruptions.

12. Project Change Tracker Spreadsheet

The project change tracker spreadsheet records and evaluates all approved or pending changes to project scope, schedule or budget. It lists change requests, justifications, impacts and approval statuses in one organized view.

Incorporating this into a project progress tracker ensures transparency and helps manage scope creep effectively. Teams can document decision history, evaluate trade-offs and maintain alignment with stakeholders when adjustments are needed. This structured approach improves governance and prevents miscommunication across departments and project teams.

13. Milestone Chart Template

Executives and stakeholders often care more about major achievements than individual tasks. That’s where this milestone chart template for Excel comes in. Instead of displaying every activity in a project schedule, it highlights the most important dates and deliverables on a visual timeline.

Project managers use it to communicate progress quickly and identify whether key targets are being met. The template combines milestone names, target dates, priorities and completion status into a format that simplifies schedule reporting and decision-making.

14. Issue Tracking Template

Every project encounters unexpected problems, but unresolved issues can quickly affect budgets, schedules and deliverables. This issue tracking template provides a structured process for documenting, prioritizing and resolving those challenges before they escalate.

It is commonly used by project teams, IT departments and operations managers who need visibility into open issues. Key sections capture ownership, priority levels, status updates, impacts and resolution details, creating a centralized record that supports accountability and faster problem resolution.

15. Project Update Template

Rather than pulling information from multiple reports, managers can use this project update template for Excel to create a comprehensive status report in one place. The template is designed for recurring stakeholder communications and helps summarize what happened during the reporting period, what is planned next and where attention is needed.

Information is organized into sections covering accomplishments, completed work, upcoming activities, milestones, deliverables, project health, risks and change requests, making project performance easier to evaluate.

16. Workload Analysis Template

Before assigning additional work to a team member, managers need a clear picture of available capacity. This workload analysis template makes that process easier by comparing resource availability with scheduled work hours throughout the month. Resource managers, project managers and department leaders use it to balance workloads and control labor costs.

Built-in utilization calculations help reveal overallocated and underutilized employees, while fields for hourly rates, availability and assignments provide the information needed to make informed staffing decisions.

ProjectManager Is a Better Project Progress Tracker Than Excel Templates

While Excel templates offer a static way to record project data, ProjectManager transforms tracking into a dynamic, real-time experience. This online project progress tracker connects tasks, resources and budgets across multiple projects, so updates automatically sync across dashboards and reports. Managers can import Excel data instantly, visualize dependencies and monitor performance through interactive dashboards that update in real time. Use Gantt, kanban, list, calendar and sheet views that update instantly as tasks move forward.

This flexibility lets project managers plan at a high level or zoom in on details, depending on the stage of work. Gantt charts show dependencies and critical paths, while kanban boards enable agile workflows. Calendar and list views make daily prioritization easier, ensuring no milestone is missed.

Robust Resource Planning and Cost Tracking Tools

Plan and balance workloads with ProjectManager’s built-in resource management tools. The team page provides a centralized view of every team member’s assignments and availability, while workload charts display utilization across projects to prevent burnout or bottlenecks. Managers can allocate hours, adjust schedules and rebalance workloads with a few clicks.

Cost tracking features connect directly to tasks, letting you monitor labor rates, expenses and budgets in real time. This live resource data eliminates the guesswork common in Excel-based project progress trackers and ensures financial accuracy from start to finish.

Real-time Project Management Dashboards and Reports

Track performance instantly with live dashboards that pull data directly from active projects. ProjectManager’s dashboards display metrics such as task completion rates, time logged, budget variance and workload distribution. Teams can create AI-powered reports that analyze project health, flag risks and recommend adjustments automatically.

Secure online timesheets integrate with these dashboards, providing up-to-date insight into labor costs and productivity without manual input. Compared to Excel templates, which require constant data entry and static reporting, ProjectManager delivers continuous visibility and actionable intelligence that drive better project outcomes.

Related Project Progress Tracking Content

Looking for more information on project progress tracking? You’ve come to the right place. Below are a number of links to articles on time tracking, cost tracking and other related subjects.

• Project Time Tracking: Tools, Features and Software Reviews
• Project Cost Tracking: Process, Tools and Best Practices
• Tracking Budget Variance in Project Management
• Project Expense Tracking: 6 Ways to Track Project Costs

ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams, whether they’re in the office or out in the field. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

The post 16 Free Project Progress Tracker Templates for Excel & Word appeared first on ProjectManager.

Using Excel to Track Tasks

Managers have more control over their projects and operations with Excel tracking templates. Because of their quantitative nature, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet templates are a great tool to track data-rich metrics. Whether it’s a KPI dashboard for an overview of progress or a timeline template to visually organize tasks in one place, Excel task trackers can help you deliver on time and on budget.  Without such tools, you risk joining the 78% of projects that reportedly go over budget.

Related: Project Management Excel Templates and Spreadsheets

Best Free Excel Tracker Templates & Spreadsheets

We’ve collected ProjectManager’s 32 best Excel spreadsheet templates for tracking that you can download and use for free. Want more than task trackers for Excel? Visit our project management templates page where we’ve created over 100 free templates for Excel and Word.

1. Dashboard Template

A dashboard is how you keep track of your work, including the time spent on tasks, what you’re spending and if you’re making progress as planned. ProjectManager’s free dashboard template for Excel gives you an overview of how you’re doing on your work. This information is vital to know if you’re overspending or running behind on your schedule.

ProjectManager’s free dashboard template has several widgets that monitor metrics in your work. For example, there’s a color-coded task graph that shows if your tasks are complete, in progress, not started or overdue. There’s also a workload chart for managing teams and making sure their workload is balanced.

There’s another task graph that measures the duration of the tasks, which is helpful in seeing what’s getting done on time and what’s taking too long. Finally, there’s a cost bar chart to help you stay on budget.

This Excel dashboard template can manage your work, but it’s a static document that must be updated manually. Project management software automates that process. ProjectManager is better than Excel spreadsheet templates as it helps to accumulate real-time data, crunch the numbers and display it. Plus it’s packed with planning and collaboration features like Gantt charts, task lists, reports and more. Get started with ProjectManager for free today.

Not all project management software offers the same project dashboards. ProjectManager’s project dashboard comes equipped with the right project management features to help you keep track of time, tasks, costs and more.

2. Task Tracking Spreadsheet

ProjectManager’s free task tracker for Excel template can organize and keep track of your work. It’s similar to a to-do list, where you just need to add the work and manage it. Having a task list is the first step to controlling your work.

This task tracker spreadsheet captures the details of your work plan. Add the name of the task and include dependent tasks. You can assign it to yourself or someone on your team.

Next, set the priority and when you expect to finish. Finally, there’s a column to mark its status, which is essential to track your work. It has everything you need to track your tasks at a basic level with an Excel spreadsheet.

3. Budget Spreadsheet for Cost Tracking

Managing costs in your work is as important as meeting deadlines. ProjectManager’s free budget template for Excel helps you keep to your budget by tracking your financial details on one spreadsheet.

Tasks cost money, and the budget defines the costs of the resources you’ll employ to deliver those tasks to completion. First, the spreadsheet template has a numbered list that corresponds to your work breakdown structure (WBS). Then, there are labor costs including planned vs. actual hours plus the cost per hour. Materials are broken down by units and cost per unit.

There’s also room for other line items on your budget, which include travel, equipment, fixed and miscellaneous costs. Finally, there are columns to collect the budgeted and actual cost for each line item, then a balance showing if the line item is above or under budget.

Related: How to Track Project Expenses

4. Timeline Template for Task Tracking

ProjectManager’s free timeline template in Excel is perfect for scheduling your project from start to finish in Excel. It’s a way to view all your tasks and keep on schedule. You can even add milestones!

To get started with this free timeline template, you first need to list your tasks and give them a name. Each task must have a start date and an end date, plus the time you think it’ll take to complete.

You add all that data to the left side of the template, which is a normal tracking spreadsheet. Then, on the right, you’ll see the timeline that lays out your tasks as horizontal bars across a timeline. It’s easy to see how long it’ll take to complete each task.

Excel spreadsheet templates are good for beginners, but if you want to take your planning even further, upgrade to online software that lets you build timelines in minutes. ProjectManager has online project timelines that update instantly as the team collaborates on tasks. Track costs, workload, planned vs actual progress and more. Get started for free.

5. Task Tracking Dashboard Template

When tasks move across teams, having a unified dashboard helps everyone stay aligned and focused on priorities. Instead of juggling multiple task lists or updates spread across apps, a dashboard brings key progress metrics into one view. Managers can instantly see what’s on schedule, what’s falling behind and who may need additional support. With real-time tracking, teams respond faster to changes, reduce bottlenecks and keep momentum strong from planning through completion.

Our task tracker dashboard template for Excel displays assignments, due dates, priorities and status indicators in a structured, easy-to-scan layout. Color-coded breakdowns show how much work is done, in progress or overdue, helping users quickly assess workload distribution. Notes fields allow for context on delays or follow-ups, while tracking actual versus planned dates improves schedule accuracy over time. On top of that, it’s also equipped with charts that make it even easier to track tasks at scale and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

6. Budget Tracking Dashboard Template

Tracking a budget is easier when the numbers instantly make sense. A budget tracking dashboard gives teams visual control over spending by highlighting where money is going and how it compares to the original plan. Instead of combing through long spreadsheets, users can quickly spot overruns, evaluate cost efficiency and make informed adjustments before issues escalate. This centralized view supports better financial decision-making, stronger accountability and more predictable outcomes for any type of project or operation.

This budget dashboard template for Excel organizes expenses into clear categories such as materials, labor, equipment and overhead, while comparing planned versus actual totals to show whether spending is staying on target. Donut charts visually break down budget available, budget spent and remaining balance so users can track financial health at a glance. With automatic totals and clear variance indicators, the dashboard simplifies reporting and helps teams maintain full visibility into budget performance from start to finish.

7. Daily Task Tracking Spreadsheet

Managing tasks day by day keeps priorities clear and prevents work from slipping through the cracks. A daily tracker helps individuals and teams stay focused on what matters right now, while also maintaining visibility of progress over time. It encourages accountability, supports better workload planning and highlights both achievements and emerging roadblocks early. With structured daily tracking, projects move forward more smoothly because decisions are based on current, accurate information rather than assumptions.

Our daily task tracker template for Excel breaks each day into hourly slots so responsibilities, deliverables and progress updates can be captured in real time. Clear status indicators show what’s completed, scheduled or still pending, helping users adjust their workflow quickly.

8. KPI Tracking Dashboard

An Excel tracker template will ideally provide an overview of key metrics across an organzation. This free KPI dashboard template for Excel is designed to display a high-level view of progress to track the key performance indicators. This allows managers to make sure campaigns and operations are performing as planned.

This Excel task tracker displays project data imputed by the team. This data is then automatically translated from data to easy-to-read graphs and charts that make it simple to see the status of the KPIs at a glance.

This task tracker for Excel keeps tabs on everything from timelines to the budget and even provides a cost summary. There are graphs and charts that analyze workload to keep teams productive, task status and much more.

9. Action Plan Spreadsheet

Managing work means outlining the steps you must complete to achieve your goals. Use ProjectManager’s free action plan spreadsheet for Excel to track tasks and detail the strategy you’ll use to complete your work on time and within budget.

We’ve broken up this action plan template into three sections. The first is the action steps, which note the priority and list tasks, phases and assignments. There’s also space to note the status of your tasks and track their progress.

Section two of this Excel spreadsheet template is a timeline, with start and due dates, including planned hours. Finally, section three focuses on resources; for example, which department is responsible for which task, what materials are needed and what are the resource costs?

10. Status Report Spreadsheet

Knowing where you are at any particular point in the project life cycle is how you manage time and costs. Our free status report template is a great tool to track your progress and stay on schedule.

This free status report template is made up of five sections: project information, project status summary, project health, risk management overview and a conclusion that includes recommendations for the future.

A status report is a cornerstone of tracking your work. It’s used in project management and work management alike because it gives managers a picture of their planned vs actual progress. It’s also a powerful tool when presenting to stakeholders.

11. Risk Tracking Spreadsheet

No matter how well-planned your work is, there are unknowns that can impact your progress. Use ProjectManager’s free risk register spreadsheet to help you plan for risks in your work.

This free risk register for Excel has columns to ID the risk to make it easier to track. There’s a column to describe the risk and explain how it’ll impact the work you’re doing if it goes from a risk to an actual issue.

For each risk you identify on the template, you can add a risk response, which is the response you’ll take if the risk actualizes. You can also note the risk level. Then, if you’re working in a team, you can assign the risk so that the team member is responsible for identifying and rectifying it.

12. Change Tracking Spreadsheet

Download ProjectManager’s free change tracking spreadsheet for Microsoft Excel to manage change when it impacts your work management. It’ll help you control change so it doesn’t make you spend too much overtime or incur additional costs.

A change log Excel spreadsheet is one of the most important Microsoft Excel templates we offer. It’s a spreadsheet template that captures change when it happens. You can number changes for better tracking and note when the change first came up and who discovered or requested it.

You can then prioritize the change, and you or a team member can take ownership to see it through to completion. The Excel spreadsheet tracks the change from discovery to recovery and ensures that no change order is lost in the cracks.

13. Time Tracking Spreadsheet

There’s no better template to track the time you spend on your tasks than with ProjectManager’s free time tracking spreadsheet. This timesheet is great for you or team members to record the amount of time spent on work.

This timesheet Excel spreadsheet template has space for your name or the name of the employee, their department, supervisor and hourly rate. The template collects their hours, such as their start time and end time for their workday. There’s even a place to add overtime and lunch.

Then, the total for the week is added and multiplied by the pay rate to show the total amount the employee is owed. Finally, there’s a line for the employee to sign and the supervisor to look it over and sign it, if accurate.

14. Bug Tracker Template

The QA process is ideal for an Excel tracking template. When a problem is identified in a software product, a bug report is generated and sent to developers. They follow the instructions therein to fix the problem. This process is tracked by the free bug report template for Excel. It tracks one bug at a time to avoid confusion and make sure that the issue is resolved before the product is delivered to the public.

This Excel task tracker does so by collecting all the pertinent information a developer will need to replicate and remove the bug. There’s space to add a summary, screenshot and define the environment in which the bug occurred. There’s also bug tracking to define the severity and priority of the problem.

15. Project Update Spreadsheet

Regular project update meetings keep everyone aligned on progress, risks and upcoming priorities. They provide a space to celebrate recent wins, surface challenges early and ensure stakeholders are able to keep track of how timelines and scope are evolving. These touchpoints improve accountability because every owner knows what is expected next. By sharing updates consistently, teams reduce confusion, strengthen decision-making and maintain momentum all the way to project completion.

This project update template for Excel captures status insights in a clean, structured way. It includes sections for key accomplishments, completed work, upcoming tasks and milestone tracking so updates remain clear and focused. RAG indicators help quickly show what’s on track and where attention is needed. Budget, schedule, scope and quality summaries provide executive-level visibility at a glance. With space for risks, change requests and comments, this template ensures every update is thorough, actionable and easy to reference later.

16. Multiple Project Tracking Spreadsheet

When you’re managing a portfolio or program, you have to monitor all your projects in one place to make insightful decisions as to how to allocate resources. Using our free multiple-project tracking template for Excel gives you a high-level overview of every project for which you’re responsible.

Once you download the free Excel template, you’ll find it’s formatted with three projects, one stacked on top of the other. You can copy and paste to add as many projects as needed. You can also add columns if you need to track something not already on the template.

Each project spreadsheet allows you to list all the project tasks by name and description, as well as if they’re dependent on another task. There’s space to add who’s assigned to each task. Each task has a start and planned end date, and planned cost, with an actual end date and actual cost to help you track the project.

17. Issue Tracking Spreadsheet

Issues are problems that arise while executing your project. These issues must be quickly identified and resolved to keep the project on schedule and within its budget. With our free issue-tracking template for Excel, you have the tools to monitor the progress of resolving those issues.

The free template is ideal to capture risks, which become issues if they in fact show up in your project. When they do, you already have them described in the template and what their potential impact is. Next, you can define its priority, from low to critical, which helps you determine which risks need your immediate attention.

There’s also a place to note the date the issue first was discovered and when it was closed, as well as the team member who’s responsible for resolving it. Finally, the free template states the department that’s handling the issue and there’s a column to note its status when tracking the issue.

18. Operating Budget Tracking Spreadsheet

Tracking costs is critical to keeping a business operating. An operating budget is used to forecast revenue and expenses over a period of time. Download the free operating budget template for Excel to create an accurate operating budget.

Managers can use this Excel tracker template at the end of each month to see if the actual results match the figures forecast in the operating budget. It can also help to go back over the month or quarter and see if sales were correctly predicted. Managers can analyze financial results and adapt to changing business conditions.

The free template tracks income and expenses, identifies cost drivers and helps to show where there is room for cost efficiency and greater profitability.

19. To-Do List Template

Everyone has work to do, and getting that work done efficiently requires task management. At its most basic, that means having a list of your tasks. It’s the first step to getting organized. That’s where our free to-do list for Excel comes in handy.

A to-do list is a simple but highly effective tool. Simply list the tasks you’ve been assigned or you can even use it for household chores. Next, you’ll want to give each task a start and due date. This is the duration or timeframe in which you want the work completed.

Now, you’ll want to track your progress. The free to-do list template shows the percentage complete for each task. It’s a satisfying feeling to see the cell move from 25 percent to 100 percent. Then there’s a column to note the progress. Before you know it, your work is done.

20. Action Log Spreadsheet

An action log is a simple but powerful tool for keeping track of follow-up items that emerge during meetings and project reviews. It records what needs to be done, who is responsible, and when each action must be completed. By prioritizing tasks and monitoring progress, teams avoid delays, miscommunication and forgotten commitments. This level of visibility promotes accountability across departments and ensures that essential work keeps moving forward toward project goals.

This action log template for Excel organizes every action into a clear structure, including ownership, priority level, expected duration and planned start and finish dates. Status updates show whether an item is not started, in progress or completed, making it easy to track progress during check-ins. With all key details in one place, project managers can identify overdue actions early, shift resources when needed and maintain momentum between meetings—even on fast-moving initiatives.

21. Inventory Tracking Template

If you’re a manufacturer or have a company with which you carry stock that you need to run your business, then you need our free inventory template for Excel. Use it to prevent production delays by keeping track of what you’re warehousing.

Use this free template to record the level of your inventory and track its turnover. First, each line is numbered to make it easier to find the item you want. Then the item is listed and described, with the unit price noted and the quantity you have in stock.

Now you can calculate the inventory price, which is the unit price multiplied by the number in stock. This Excel spreadsheet template does this automatically. There’s a column to note whether you need to reorder, what level to reorder, how long it takes to restock and what that reorder quantity should be.

22. Progress Report Template

Project reports are essential for a number of reasons. One, they help you monitor your progress and performance, and two, they’re a great tool for keeping stakeholders updated. Our free progress report template for Word captures an overview of the activities and tasks that occurred over a specific period.

The free progress report is broken up into a number of different sections. There’s a summary, which provides a quick overview of what’s to follow, including pertinent data, such as the project scope, schedule, cost and risk for the time period being reported on.

Then there’s a section in this Excel spreadsheet template that goes over the tasks that have been executed over a period of time covered in the report. There’s space to note the status of tasks that aren’t yet completed and a section to list issues, talk about the budget and more. It’s a great way to capture a snapshot of the project in time.

23. Punch List Template

Construction project management can’t deliver a project until everything is completed properly. To ensure that the work is done as planned, the crew does a walkthrough and adds any incomplete or incorrect work to a punch list.

To keep track of that last-minute work, download this free punch list template for Excel. Property owners are often contractually allowed to withhold the final payment until the punch list is completed. Using this task tracker for Excel ensures the general contractor gets paid and the client is happy with their work.

The punch list template will avoid miscommunication between contractors, subcontractors, architects, builders, et al. This document is collaborative and that means better productivity. All the information necessary for the work is collected on the template, from a description and who’s assigned to task dates and status.

24. Work Schedule Template

Need help managing your human resources or operations planning? Check out our free work schedule template for Excel. This free template lists all your employees and their working hours, including responsibilities, over a day, week or month.

Use the work schedule template to keep your employees productive and help with tracking your resource utilization and scheduling. You can also use it to prioritize tasks and balance your team’s workload, which leads to greater productivity and happier employees.

Our free spreadsheet template has a weekly and monthly work schedule. Both list your employees, their tasks, which project they’re working on and then their hours, either day-by-day or over the course of a month. This will help most organizations and even long-term projects.

25. Workload Analysis Template

Beyond tasks, costs and time, one of the essential metrics to track is workload. Workload tracks resource allocation. Using an Excel tracker template to calculate workload is going to help teams work more efficiently and avoid burnout. Download this free workload analysis template for Excel to manage the project workforce. It identifies the amount of work that must be done and determines how to balance that workload evenly across the project team.

Using this Excel task tracker ensures that the team is working at capacity and no one is overallocated or underutilized. This delivers the best possible performance and highest-quality deliverables.

26. Payment Tracking Spreadsheet

Keeping track of payments received is essential for maintaining healthy cash flow and avoiding missed revenue. Businesses that organize invoices and payment activity can quickly identify overdue balances, monitor customer payment behavior, improve financial visibility and reduce accounting errors that affect daily operations.

Designed to centralize payment activity in one place, this payment tracking spreadsheet records invoice details, customer information and payment amounts while calculating remaining balances automatically. Teams can monitor paid, partial and outstanding transactions, compare payment methods and maintain a clear record of incoming revenue without sorting through multiple invoices.

27. Job Tracking Spreadsheet

Tracking jobs is critical for job-based businesses because work often moves through multiple stages, teams and deadlines simultaneously. Construction contractors, maintenance providers and manufacturers use job tracking to monitor progress, assign responsibilities, control costs and prevent work from slipping behind schedule.

Built to improve visibility across active work, this job tracking spreadsheet captures job descriptions, assigned personnel, schedules, priorities and completion status alongside labor and material costs. Managers can follow work from request through completion, compare planned dates against actual performance and identify jobs requiring attention.

28. Cash Flow Tracking Spreadsheet

Monitoring cash flow is essential because businesses need enough available cash to cover expenses, pay employees and support daily operations. Consistent tracking helps organizations understand where money is coming from, where it is being spent and whether future financial obligations can be met.

Created to organize financial activity across a timeline, this cash flow tracking spreadsheet records monthly inflows and outflows while calculating beginning balances, net cash movement and ending cash positions automatically. Teams can compare revenue sources against operating expenses, evaluate trends and forecast future cash availability.

29. Asset Tracking Spreadsheet

Tracking assets is essential because businesses rely on equipment, vehicles, tools and technology to operate efficiently. Equipment-heavy industries such as construction, manufacturing and logistics use asset tracking to monitor utilization, control costs, reduce losses and make informed maintenance and replacement decisions.

Created to organize both operational and financial information, this asset tracking spreadsheet records asset details, locations, ownership and status alongside purchase data and depreciation values. Teams can monitor equipment throughout its lifecycle, maintain visibility into asset performance and keep important records accessible in a single place.

30. Corrective and Preventive Actions Tracking Spreadsheet

Documenting and tracking corrective and preventive actions is important because unresolved issues often create repeated errors, quality problems and operational disruptions. Organizations use structured tracking to identify root causes, assign responsibility, implement solutions and prevent the same issue from occurring again.

Built to manage issues from identification through resolution, this corrective and preventive actions tracking spreadsheet captures issue details, root causes, corrective measures and preventive actions while monitoring ownership and progress. Teams can document verification results, track approvals and maintain a historical record of improvement efforts.

31. Project Documentation Tracking Spreadsheet

Creating and tracking project documentation is important because projects generate information that guides decisions, responsibilities and execution activities. Teams rely on organized records to maintain visibility, support collaboration, reduce confusion and ensure important documents remain accessible throughout the project lifecycle.

Built to centralize project records in one location, this project documentation tracking spreadsheet organizes documents by project phase while tracking ownership, status and update history. Teams can maintain visibility into document progress, locate files quickly and monitor whether important project records are complete and current.

32. Milestone Tracking Spreadsheet

Milestones are significant points in a project timeline used to measure progress toward major objectives or deliverables. Tracking milestones is important because project teams use them to monitor performance, verify completion targets, identify delays and keep execution activities aligned with planned schedules.

Created to provide a visual view of project progress, this milestone tracking spreadsheet combines milestone details with a timeline chart that displays key project events over time. Teams can record target dates, assign priorities, track completion percentages and quickly identify upcoming milestones and schedule changes.

Use ProjectManager to Track Time, Costs and Tasks Better Than Excel

Templates and Excel spreadsheets for tracking are great, but as noted, they can only do so much. ProjectManager is online work management software that connects everyone, no matter where they work, what time, department or skill level. It does so in real-time to ensure that everyone is collaborating and working on the most recent data.

Automatically Fill Out Timesheets

Take timesheets, for example. Instead of having your employee fill out the timesheet, ProjectManager’s timesheets autofill their tasks and update the time they’ve spent. This streamlines payroll but also offers a window into tracking the time they spend on their tasks. That way, you know if they’re meeting their quota. Once submitted, timesheets are locked and secure.

Work the Way That Suits You

Multiple project views allow everyone on the team to work how they want. Managers can plan ahead on Gantt charts that show all their tasks on a timeline. The duration bar that connects each task’s start and end dates automatically shows progress based on how much of it is shaded. Teams can use task lists, kanban boards or calendars if they prefer, all of which are updated and show progress. No tool is more flexible for planning and tracking work.

Generate One-Click Reports in Seconds

Tracking time, costs and more is easy with ProjectManager’s one-click reports. Get status reports, reports on tasks, timesheets, expenses and more. These reports take complicated data and turn it into insightful and easy-to-read reports to monitor progress and more. Reports can also be filtered to see only the data you want and then shared to keep stakeholders updated.

Related Excel Project Management Content

While Excel is not a project management software, it can still be a very helpful for managing various aspects of your projects. That’s why we’ve created dozens of blogs, templates and guides to help you use Excel for project management.

• Essential Excel Report Templates
• Free Manufacturing Excel Templates
• Free Excel Construction Templates
• Free Word & Excel Templates for Business
• How to Create a Project Timeline in Excel (Free Template Included)
• How to Make a Gantt Chart In Excel Step-By-Step (Template Included)
• Project Management Templates for Google Sheets
• 14 Plantillas de Seguimiento de Tareas, Costos y Tiempo para Excel
• 14 modèles de suivi des tâches, des coûts et du temps pour Excel

ProjectManager is award-winning project management software for teams. Our real-time tool tracks time, costs and more to ensure you’re always on schedule and never spending over your budget. Join the 35,000+ people using our software to track tasks, cost and time. Get started with ProjectManager free today.

The post 32 Excel Spreadsheet Templates for Tracking Tasks, Costs and Time appeared first on ProjectManager.

What Is the Scope of a Project?

The scope of a project defines all the work required to complete it, including deliverables, tasks, boundaries and objectives. It clarifies what is included and excluded, sets expectations for stakeholders and guides planning and execution. A well-defined project scope helps control costs, manage resources and prevent misunderstandings throughout the project lifecycle.

You can use a work breakdown structure (WBS) to help you identify the individual project tasks, activities and deliverables. Then you’ll need a scope statement, which is a project planning document where you define the scope of your project.

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Project Scope Template

Use this free Project Scope Template for Word to manage your projects better.

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What Is Scope Creep? Meaning and Definition

Scope creep is a project management risk that refers to the uncontrolled expansion of a project’s scope after work has begun, usually due to changes made to the initial plan without the oversight of the project management team. This results in work being added without proper approval or adjustments to time, cost or resources.

Such changes affect the project schedule, budget and resource allocation and can compromise the completion of milestones and goals. In many cases, scope creep causes the project to fail due to insufficient resources, time constraints and budget depletion.

While unmanaged changes are the primary driver, scope creep can also result from unclear or incomplete requirements, poor initial scope definition or a lack of governance and change control processes. Because of these and other causes, scope creep is one of the most common project management risks, affecting projects across industries, sizes and levels of complexity.

ProjectManager is award-winning software with robust Gantt charts that help managers avoid scope creep. Our Gantt chart is easy to use and shows the whole project, from start to finish, on a timeline. You can link all four task dependencies to avoid bottlenecks. Then set a baseline and capture your planned schedule to compare it to your actual progress in real time. When there’s an issue, simply reallocate your resources to stay on track. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

10 Main Causes of Scope Creep

Scope creep is a risk that’s inherent to any project and it can occur for many different causes. Here are some of the most frequent reasons why projects are affected by scope creep.

1. Poorly Defined Project Scope

A poorly defined scope for a project can make it difficult to determine the project’s scope or keep it focused. This can happen when a project’s statement of work is vague or incomplete and lack timelines, objectives and terms of reference.

2. Unsupervised Changes to the Project Plan

Making changes to the project plan without using change control methods will lead to scope creep. A change request can also lead to scope creep, too. That’s because changes impact the project timeline, budget, costs and resource allocation.

3. Unrealistic Project Schedule

Not taking the time to understand how much time a project will take is going to create scope creep. Projects always take longer than anticipated because of stakeholders adding more deliverables or other issues pushing back deadlines. The most control occurs when a realistic project schedule has been made by knowing the tasks needed to complete the project and their duration, the project schedule is aligned with resource capacity and task dependencies are identified.

4. Subpar Project Execution

Project teams can either take too long to execute tasks, in which case they might produce deliverables that don’t meet the acceptance criteria. Badly executed tasks might generate additional work. Poor task prioritization, lack of communication and uncontrolled changes can all play a part in why a project is poorly executed.

5. Absence of Project Controls

In most cases, the absence of project control measures results in teams drifting away from the project scope baseline for a variety of reasons. Project managers must establish procedures or use tools like project management software to keep a close eye on the team’s progress and project KPIs.

6. Lack of Stakeholder Alignment

When stakeholders are not aligned on project objectives, priorities or deliverables, conflicting expectations can emerge during execution. This often leads to new requests being introduced to satisfy different stakeholders, expanding the scope. Clear communication and early agreement on goals are essential to prevent misalignment from driving unnecessary changes.

7. Inadequate Requirements Gathering

Incomplete or poorly documented requirements make it difficult to define what the project should deliver. As gaps are discovered during execution, teams are forced to add new tasks or features to meet expectations. A structured requirements gathering process helps ensure that all needs are captured before work begins.

8. Weak Change Control Processes

Without a formal process to evaluate and approve changes, project teams may implement new requests without assessing their impact. This leads to uncontrolled additions to the scope. Establishing a clear change control process ensures that all changes are reviewed, approved and properly integrated into the project plan.

9. Overly Optimistic Budget Estimates

Underestimating project costs can create pressure to adjust deliverables or add workarounds during execution. As teams attempt to meet expectations within limited resources, additional tasks may be introduced, expanding the scope. Accurate cost estimation helps align the project scope with available resources from the start.

10. Poor Communication Across Teams

Breakdowns in communication between team members, departments or stakeholders can result in misunderstandings about project requirements. These gaps often lead to rework or the addition of new tasks to correct mistakes. Consistent and clear communication helps maintain alignment and prevents unnecessary scope expansion.

Scope Creep Examples

Once one understands what scope creep is and how it can affect a project, as well as the reasons it happens, it can still be helpful to illustrate what scope creep looks like in a few industries. Here are some scope creep examples in construction project management, manufacturing and IT.

Construction Project Scope Creep Example

Acme Builders was contracted to construct a three-story multi-family residential building with a fixed budget and a 10-month schedule. The scope included structural work, plumbing, electrical systems and interior finishes. Work had already begun when the client informally requested the addition of a fourth floor without revising the contract, budget or timeline.

Despite the project manager’s concerns, the change was implemented directly through the site team without formal approval. This introduced new structural requirements, additional materials and extended labor, disrupting the original plan and creating immediate cost and scheduling pressures.

Original Scope and Budget

Expanded Scope After Scope Creep

Manufacturing Project Scope Creep Example

A to B Manufacturers planned to produce a standard phone case with a streamlined design and low production cost. The scope included material sourcing, mold design and a three-week production cycle. Just before production began, the executive team instructed the engineering team to add a belt clip feature without adjusting the production schedule or budget.

The change bypassed formal review and required redesigning the mold, sourcing new materials and modifying assembly processes. Because the change was implemented immediately, it disrupted procurement timelines and increased production complexity.

Original Scope and Budget

Expanded Scope After Scope Creep

IT Project Scope Creep Example

A software development team was assigned to deliver a web-based application within three months. The original scope included user authentication, a dashboard and reporting features. During development, the project sponsor began introducing new features such as real-time notifications and third-party integrations without adjusting the schedule or prioritizing requirements.

Although some changes were documented, many were implemented informally through direct communication with developers. This led to scope expansion without proper re-baselining, increasing workload while keeping the same delivery deadline.

Original Scope and Budget

Expanded Scope After Scope Creep

How to Avoid Scope Creep

Don’t let the scope creeper cripple your project. Here are seven actions that will help avoid scope creep, or at least prevent it.

1. Document the Project Requirements

The most important thing to avoid scope creep is to document your project requirements. A clear definition of the project requirements allows you to define the scope of your project. Talk to all the project stakeholders and users to work out exactly what they want from the project. Write it down. Manage conflicts. Say one stakeholder wants their new website to be blue and a client wants it to be green, find someone to arbitrate and make a final decision. Prioritize requirements, as it may not be possible to do them all.

It can be time-consuming to record everything the stakeholders say, but once you have done so, capture all the requirements in a document. This document is known as a requirements management plan, and it should contain all the information needed to manage the project requirements such as how they will be tracked and the process to change them. Share that document online so everyone can easily see it.

2. Make a Project Scope Statement and Establish a Scope Baseline

A project scope statement is a document that defines a project’s boundaries and summarizes the work that will be done. This internal document guides participants in the project and provides clarity to the work. It includes objectives, deliverables, deadlines, constraints, assumptions and exclusions.

At this point, establish a scope baseline by creating a work breakdown structure (WBS) to visualize deliverables for the project. Use the scope statement to break down tasks and subtasks. Create a scope management plan to monitor the project. Create a change management plan to control change. Then create a schedule, scope and cost baseline to capture that data and compare it to the actual effort when executing the project to stay on track.

3. Make a Scope Management Plan

The scope management plan is a component of your project plan that describes how the scope of your project will be established and controlled. This document includes your work breakdown structure, scope statement and the process by which the scope will be approved by stakeholders as a baseline for your project.

The scope management plan helps project managers make sure that stakeholders understand the project scope baseline, and how changes to it will affect the overall project management plan.

4. Create a Change Management Plan & Set Up Change Control Processes

The requirements document is only a starting point. What happens when someone wants to change something?

It is unrealistic to think that nothing will change. What you need to prevent scope creep is managed, controlled change on your project. For that, you’ll need a change management plan that defines the procedures of the change control process that must be followed when the project plan needs to be changed. In most cases, project managers need to adjust the schedule, budget and scope.

At a minimum, you should use a change request form to control changes made to your project scope. A change control process is very straightforward. Essentially, someone suggests a change via a change request, it is reviewed, approved or rejected and if it is approved, then incorporated into the project plan. Use a change log to keep track of all these changes.

5. Create a Realistic Project Schedule

Use your stakeholders’ requirements to determine your project scope. Then you can use a work breakdown structure (WBS) to create a detailed task list. The project schedule is the result of knowing what your project will deliver; it should show all the requirements and how they will be achieved, in the form of tasks, activities and milestones. This is commonly made on a Gantt chart.

You can cross-reference your project schedule against your requirements management plan document to ensure you have not forgotten anything. Once you have outlined the schedule, make sure you have planned for some contingency. As noted above, change does happen. Project scope creep only occurs if changes were not handled as defined in your change management plan.

6. Verify the Project Scope with the Stakeholders

It’s important to check that you have properly understood the stakeholder requirements. What you think the project sponsor means about the project deliverables might not be what he or she meant. Often people talk at cross purposes without realizing it. Take the time to go back to your stakeholders such as clients, investors or project sponsors and share the requirements documentation with them. You can also show them your project schedule and ensure that all the elements they expected to see are represented in the task list.

You may find that they’ve changed their mind about things like product features, or delivery times. It’s important to make sure that you adjust your project plan early during the planning process to mitigate the risk of scope creep, rather than finding out later once the project has started.

You can also use these discussions to talk to your sponsor and stakeholders about the change control process. Explain how you will manage changes to the project plan and what approval you will need from them to proceed. This is a useful moment to remind them that they can have pretty much whatever they want – if they are prepared to pay for it and for the project to take longer if they include new requirements!

If the stakeholders are “too busy” to want to get detailed with the schedule at this stage, gently remind them what stage you’re in. Sometimes, poor communication means key stakeholders were not informed of what the requirements-gathering process ended!

7. Engage the Project Team Members

When your project stakeholders are happy, don’t neglect to make sure your project team members are happy as well. They need to know about the change control process, and how it will affect them. They need to be guardians and protectors of the project scope, not agents of change.

Sometimes project team members want to be helpful and will agree to change something without applying the formal change management process. Explain that they cannot say yes to changes without the change being approved because that would affect the project plan and could cause scope creep. If they want to help a stakeholder, the best thing to do is to explain the change control process and offer to help with documenting the change.

Scope creep is a real problem on projects, especially when the project manager, the team and the stakeholders don’t understand the impact that changes can have on the resources, the budget and the schedule. Fortunately, it does not need to be a major issue if you are clear about the initial project scope and you carefully manage changes to your project plan during the lifecycle of your project.

How to Manage Scope Creep

If scope creep is already occurring, it’s important to act quickly before it affects the project budget or schedule beyond repair. If that’s the case, here are some general steps that can be taken to assess the impact of scope creep and get projects back on track.

Measure the Impact of Scope Creep in the Project Schedule and Budget

Refer to the original project scope, schedule and cost baselines. These will show the expected duration, cost and tasks to be completed if everything went according to plan. Then measure the time and costs spent on the unnecessary tasks caused by scope creep and, based on that, determine the impact of scope creep.

Communicate with Stakeholders Early and Re-Baseline the Project

Early communication with stakeholders helps to manage scope creep by making sure that they understand the project’s scope and purpose. This keeps teams focused on the project’s intended outcomes and reduces the changes of scope creep. Therefore, communicating with stakeholders should be done early and throughout the project.

As for re-baselining the project, it reminds stakeholders of the project’s scope and what was included in it. This helps the project team realign on the project’s requirements.

Use the Project Schedule Compression Technique

Scope creep is a problem that will build up until it wipes out the project like an avalanche. It’s important that the project manager quickly informs project stakeholders of the additional costs and delays that will be expected to get approval on a new project scope, schedule and cost baseline.

Project Fast Tracking

Fast-tracking involves changing a project’s schedule so that tasks are completed at the same time or concurrently instead of one after the other. This only works if the tasks aren’t dependent. This technique allows teams to finish a project in time using the same resources by executing tasks in parallel as long as dependencies allow it.

Project Crashing

Another project schedule compression technique is project crashing. Project crashing is used to speed up a project’s timeline by adding more resources. The goal of project crashing is to complete the project on or before its scheduled deadline without changing the scope. This can involve adding more team members to a task, paying a premium for faster results, adjusting task sequences and limiting the scope to reduce time spent on tasks.

Focus on the Project Critical Path Activities

Some organizations might just allocate additional resources to speed up the completion of projects, even after scope creep. But focusing on the critical path activities is another viable option for overcoming scope creep, as it identifies the essential tasks that must be completed on time to deliver a successful project. Let’s say a construction firm is delivering a big contract for an important client. It’s better to incur some costs from bringing additional labor and machinery into the site than failing to finish by the due date and reducing its chances in future bidding processes.

Consult the Risk Management Plan

In case scoop creep occurs, it’s advisable to review the project risk management plan. The project’s risk management plan is a document that establishes the strategies, roles, responsibilities and funding for risk management. In simple words, it’s a plan that contains all the information you need to prevent and mitigate risks like scope creep.

Scope Creep Explained by a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

Project managers are always on the lookout for scope creep, yet it remains a persistent risk that can affect any project at any time. This video features a project management professional (PMP) who shares seven practical ways to mitigate scope creep before projects derail.

In the video above, Jennifer Bridges, PMP, offers this short tutorial on how to avoid scope creep in your projects. She provides planning techniques that can be applied to manage the project as planned as well as manage changes. She outlines seven ways to prevent and deal with scope creep:

• Define the scope
• Log the changes
• Re-baseline
• Request more funding and/or resources
• Watch for signs
• Set Priorities
• Avoid the traps

It’s important to note that sometimes the cause of scope creep is your resources (this article will help you determine when your team is out of control). Who is making problems in your project causing scope creep? They could range from team members to stakeholders. You can use the same planning techniques outlined above to help manage them.

Pro-Tip: Remember to keep an eye on yourself, as well! As a project manager, you want to ensure that you’re not the one extending the scope by adding additional features and requirements. Developing a collaborative team free to discuss and share impacts to the project, is the best way to support the project.

The video goes into greater detail on all these points. It’s a good primer that addresses an important obstacle on the road to the successful completion of your project.

How ProjectManager Curbs Scope Creep

Managing scope creep is a bit like managing a project. You have to control a lot of pieces and make them come together, like a puzzle. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that organizes projects and teams to keep you on schedule. With our award-winning software, a project manager can prioritize these changes and assign the work to team members, and when a change is approved, someone can get to work on it immediately.

When changes are suggested by stakeholders, you need to capture them. Our software has unlimited file storage, so detailed records can be saved in one place. Once you’ve got the requirements, you need to share them, which is just a click away with our software.

When a change comes up, adding controls is the best way to make sure that scope creep doesn’t occur. To do this, we have kanban boards that visualize the workflow. Columns are fully customizable, so you can create ones that are titled doing, testing and done. Now you can track each request and make sure it’s not negatively impacting the larger project.

If the change makes it to the done column, then it’s time to create a project schedule to implement that change into the project timeline. Just as you do on your project plan, you want to schedule the work on one of our online Gantt charts. At this point, you can set up tasks, link dependencies and assign team members to do the work.

Before you can execute that project plan, stakeholders have to see it and approve it. Luckily, it’s simple to share your Gantt charts with your stakeholders to get their thumbs-up. Then, you can share the plan with the team and prioritize your tasks so your resources match your capacity. Keep scope creep at bay with ProjectManager!

• ¿Qué es scope creep en la gestión de proyectos?

If you’re looking for project management tools like Gantt charts, Kanban boards and project calendars to manage projects from start to finish and keep scope creep under control, then try ProjectManager, online project management software. It has the tools your team needs to communicate and collaborate in real time. Get started for free. 

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What Is a Break Even Analysis?

A break even analysis is a financial technique used to identify the breakeven point at which total revenue equals total costs. It compares fixed costs and variable costs against sales, price per unit and cost per unit to determine the number of units sold required to avoid a profit loss. By using contribution margin, unit contribution margin and contribution margin ratio, the analysis shows how each sale contributes toward covering costs.

Break even analysis is a flexible financial tool that applies far beyond a single use case. Organizations use it across products, services, projects and strategic initiatives to test assumptions, compare options and manage risk. From early planning to ongoing review, it adapts to different industries, cost structures and sales models without losing relevance or clarity for leaders and teams alike.

Within project management, break even analysis plays a strategic role in evaluating feasibility and financial risk. It helps project managers assess whether expected sales volume can realistically cover fixed and variable costs, validate pricing assumptions and understand how changes in total revenue affect outcomes. This insight supports better planning, clearer stakeholder discussions and more informed go or no-go decisions.

ProjectManager has built-in tools to make a break even analysis simple and stress-free. Our integration with Acumatica provides a two-way connection between project and ERP systems to sync operational and financial data. Our Gantt chart also provides a live look into resource costs, making it easy to see how schedule changes impact your cost projections. Get started with a free 30-day trial.

Break Even Analysis Formula

The break even analysis formula translates cost and pricing data into a clear financial threshold. It shows how many units must be sold for total revenue to fully cover total costs, helping managers understand the relationship between fixed costs, variable costs, sales volume and financial viability before profits appear.

• Fixed costs: Expenses that remain constant regardless of units sold.
• Variable costs: Costs that change directly with production or sales volume.
• Price per unit: The amount charged for each unit sold.
• Cost per unit: The variable cost associated with producing one unit.
• Unit contribution margin: Revenue per unit minus variable cost per unit.

Break Even Point (Units) = Fixed Costs ÷ (Price per Unit − Cost per Unit)

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Break Even Analysis Template

Use this free Break Even Analysis Template to manage your projects better.

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Who Is Responsible for Break Even Analysis?

Break even analysis is a shared responsibility that sits between business leadership and project execution. Strategic teams focus on pricing, sales and financial targets, while project management translates those assumptions into cost structures, schedules and delivery constraints. Only by combining both perspectives can organizations produce realistic, decision-ready break even insights.

• Executive leadership: Sets profitability expectations, approves pricing strategy and uses break even results to decide whether a project aligns with broader business objectives and acceptable financial risk.
• Finance managers: Calculate fixed costs, variable costs and contribution margin figures, ensuring assumptions are accurate and consistent with accounting standards and historical financial performance.
• Strategic planning teams: Analyze sales volume scenarios, total revenue targets and margin ratio impacts to assess long-term viability and competitive positioning.
• Sales leadership: Provides realistic units sold forecasts, validates price per unit assumptions and confirms whether projected sales targets are achievable in current market conditions.
• Project managers: Translate financial assumptions into project budgets, timelines and resource plans, ensuring delivery constraints align with the breakeven point expectations.
• Cost estimators: Define cost per unit and variable cost drivers, refining estimates as scope, materials or labor assumptions change during planning.
• Program or portfolio managers: Compare break even outcomes across multiple projects to prioritize investments and balance financial exposure at an organizational level.
• Operations managers: Assess whether operational capacity, staffing and processes can support the required sales volume without inflating total costs beyond break even thresholds.

When to Conduct a Break Even Analysis

Timing matters just as much as accuracy when applying break even analysis. Organizations rely on it at moments where financial commitments increase and uncertainty narrows available options. Whether shaping strategy or refining execution, this analysis helps leaders understand how costs, pricing and sales expectations interact before decisions become difficult or expensive to reverse.

• Launching a new product or service
• Evaluating the financial viability of a new project
• Setting or adjusting pricing strategies
• Comparing alternative project delivery approaches
• Assessing the impact of increased fixed costs
• Analyzing changes in variable costs or cost per unit
• Planning sales volume targets and revenue goals
• Deciding whether to scale operations or production
• Reviewing project performance after scope or cost changes
• Supporting go/no-go investment decisions

Related: 12 Free Business Planning Templates for Excel & Word

Why Is a Break Even Analysis Important? Key Benefits

Understanding where financial balance is achieved gives organizations a powerful decision-making advantage. Break even analysis helps businesses of all sizes evaluate risk, clarify financial expectations and avoid committing resources blindly. By revealing how costs, pricing and sales interact, it supports smarter planning, more confident investment decisions and stronger alignment between strategy and execution across projects, products and operations.

• Clarifies financial viability: Shows whether projected sales can realistically cover total costs before profits are expected.
• Supports informed decision-making: Provides concrete data for go/no-go, pricing and investment choices.
• Improves cost awareness: Highlights the impact of fixed and variable costs on overall performance.
• Reduces financial risk: Identifies break points early, helping organizations avoid unprofitable commitments.
• Aligns strategy and execution: Connects business goals with project-level cost and delivery planning.
• Enhances forecasting accuracy: Strengthens revenue and sales volume projections with realistic assumptions.

How to Do a Break Even Analysis

Executing a break even analysis requires more than plugging numbers into a formula. The process combines financial inputs, realistic assumptions and project context to reveal when costs are recovered and decisions shift from risk containment toward sustainable performance over time.

1. Define the Project Scope

Start by defining the product or project scope clearly. Identify what is being sold, over what period and under which assumptions, ensuring the analysis reflects a realistic launch, delivery model and operational boundaries rather than abstract financial averages alone, theoretical.

2. Identify Fixed Costs

List all fixed costs associated with the project. Include expenses that remain unchanged regardless of sales volume, such as development, salaries, marketing commitments or infrastructure, to establish the baseline financial threshold that must be recovered before any profit can exist.

3. Determine Variable Costs per Unit

Determine variable costs on a per-unit basis. Focus on expenses that increase with each unit sold, such as materials, support or transaction fees, so cost per unit accurately reflects the true marginal cost of delivery for each additional sale made.

4. Set the Price per Unit

Set a realistic price per unit based on market conditions. Pricing should align with customer expectations, competitive positioning and value perception, as even small price changes can significantly shift contribution margin and the breakeven point across projected sales volumes.

5. Calculate the Unit Contribution Margin

Calculate the unit contribution margin using price and variable cost data. This figure shows how much each unit sold contributes toward covering fixed costs and is the foundation for determining the break even point within the defined project financial structure.

6. Calculate the Break Even Point

Apply the break even formula to calculate the required sales volume. Dividing fixed costs by the unit contribution margin reveals how many units must be sold before total revenue equals total costs under current assumptions, pricing, costs and demand conditions modeled.

7. Analyze Results and Scenarios

Review results and test alternative scenarios. Adjust pricing, costs or sales assumptions to understand sensitivity, identify risk and support informed decisions before committing resources or finalizing the project business case and aligning expectations across stakeholders, strategy, execution timelines and funding.

Related: 20 Best Resource Management Software of 2026 (Free & Paid)

Break Even Analysis Template

Conducting a break even analysis for a business idea or a project can be overwhelming, especially for beginners, which is why we’ve created a free break even analysis template for Excel, which automates the calculations required to implement the break even analysis formula. Simply enter the variables and the Excel formulas will help you calculate the profitability of your initiative.

Break Even Analysis Example

Company XYZ plans to launch a new subscription-based software feature and must evaluate its financial feasibility before moving forward. To do this, the organization conducts a break even analysis to understand how pricing, costs and sales volume interact. Fixed project costs include development, marketing and onboarding efforts, while variable costs are tied to customer support and platform usage.

By calculating the unit contribution margin and identifying the breakeven point, management can estimate how many subscriptions must be sold to cover total costs. This analysis helps decision-makers assess risk, validate assumptions and determine whether demand justifies proceeding with the product launch.

Free Related Business and Project Management Templates

We’ve created over 100 free business and project management templates for Excel, Word and Google Sheets. Here are some that can help when conducting a break even analysis.

Cost-Benefit Analysis Template

This template helps organizations compare expected benefits against associated costs, making it easier to evaluate value, prioritize initiatives and support objective decision-making before committing resources to a project.

Feasibility Study Template

Use this template to assess technical, financial and operational feasibility, ensuring proposed projects are realistic, aligned with strategic goals and capable of delivering expected outcomes within defined constraints.

Cost Breakdown Template

This template organizes project costs into clear categories, improving visibility into spending drivers, supporting accurate estimates and helping teams monitor cost performance throughout the project lifecycle.

How ProjectManager Helps Deliver Profitable Projects

Utilize a combination of ProjectManager’s built-in resource management features to gather data and construct an accurate break even model. Enter your planned expenses and update them with actuals to see how close you are to your expected breakeven point.

Integrate with Acumatica to Sync Financial Data

ProjectManager’s Acumatica integration is another key way to deliver profitable projects. As the primary use for Acumatica is for finance and accounting teams, executives, department leaders and subcontractors, it’s the ideal platform to oversee customizable budget reports. Use the integration to manage finances, oversee projects with complex schedules, understand resource allocations and more. Watch the video below to learn more.

Custom Resource-Driven Reports

Stakeholders want to be kept in the loop of how projects are playing out, and custom reports are a great way to do so. In a few clicks, you can produce reports that combine costs, resource usage and cash flow data. To take reporting to the next level, use AI Project Insights to analyze and contextualize your project data.

Related Content

• Project Cost Estimation: How to Estimate Project Cost
• Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Quick Guide with Examples
• What Is a Cost Baseline in Project Management?
• What Is a Feasibility Study? How to Conduct One
• Feasibility Report in Project Management

ProjectManager is award-winning software that helps you plan, manage and track resources in real time. We empower teams on a collaborative platform with task and resource management features to keep everyone working together more productively. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

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