Project Planner Template

Free Project Planner Template

Project Planner Template is a tool in the hands of Project Managers which helps them in tracking the progress of a project, making amendments and also helps in managing any change. So, this template can also be termed as project tracker which helps the Project manager to keep the track of every minute details of a project.

Let’s say an accounting director wants to keep track of monthly close activities. He or She has to prepare a list of items and their completion date and circulate it to every member of the accounting team and then keep track of all the activities if they are being completed on time or not. Let’s understand this by using the below template –

You are free to use this image on your website, templates etc, Please provide us with an attribution linkHow to Provide Attribution?Article Link to be Hyperlinked
For eg:
Source: Project Planner Template (wallstreetmojo.com)

About Project Planner Template

• In this template, an accounting manager has his task sorted by date and circulated to the team so that everyone knows when they are supposed to get their things done. This template shows the monthly close activity for December 2019. So, AP close on 30th December 2019 means that the accounts payableAccounts PayableAccounts payable is the amount due by a business to its suppliers or vendors for the purchase of products or services. It is categorized as current liabilities on the balance sheet and must be satisfied within an accounting period.read more team must book all the invoices received by that date. Any invoice received after that date will be booked in the next accounting periodAccounting PeriodAccounting Period refers to the period in which all financial transactions are recorded and financial statements are prepared. This might be quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, depending on the period for which you want to create the financial statements to be presented to investors so that they can track and compare the company's overall performance.read more.
• Once the invoices are book, the General LedgerGeneral LedgerA general ledger is a book of accounts that records the everyday business transactions in separate ledger accounts. The entries made in a ledger can be verified by getting a NIL balance on summing up all the ledger account amounts in the trial balance.read more team can start their analysis and their various month-end activities. So, it shows that the Sales, General, and AdministrationSales, General, And AdministrationSelling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense includes all the expenses incurred in the selling of the products of the company whether direct or indirect along with the entire general and the administrative expenses during an accounting period under consideration such as advertisement expenses, sales promotion expenses, marketing salaries, etc.read more (SG&A) team has to get their activities completed by Thursday 2nd January 2020. Same way COR-Cost of Revenue team and Accounts receivableAccounts ReceivableAccounts receivables refer to the amount due on the customers for the credit sales of the products or services made by the company to them. It appears as a current asset in the corporate balance sheet.read more team has to complete all of their activities by 6th January 2020.
• Once respective teams have done their task, the group team works on the consolidation of reports and shows the revenue and operating expenses high-level review to CFOCFOThe full form of CFO is Chief Financial Executive, and he or she is a top level executive of the firm who is responsible for the firm's overall finance functions and has the authority to make financial decisions for the organization. read more. Once the trial balance and all the reports go for review to the group team and CFO, the ledgers are kept closed till 8th January 2020, and it only opens on 9^th for any adjustments identified during the review.
• By 10th January, all the adjustments must be completed, and EBITDA is finalized. Once EBITDA is closed on 10the January, other activities like Depreciation, Intercompany loanIntercompany LoanAn intercompany loan is an amount lent or advanced by one company (in a group of companies) to another company (in the same group of companies) for a variety of reasons, including to help the borrowing company's cashflow, to fund fixed assets, or to fund the borrowing company's normal business operations, which generates interest income for the lending company and interest expense for the borrowing company.read more interest, etc.
• They are carried out, and all these should be completed by 14th January and sent to the Reporting director for review on 15th January 2020. By the 16^th of the month, the final books of accounts go to CEO for review, and once it is final, the details financial reportsFinancial ReportsFinancial Reporting is the process of disclosing all the relevant financial information of a business for a particular accounting period. These reports are used by the stakeholders (investors, creditors/ bankers, public, regulatory agencies, and government) to make investing and other relevant decisions. read more are presented to the Board of Directors and Investors on 20th January 2020.

How to use This Template?

• Now this template can be used by any person working in the accounting field, or it can be modified, subjects can be changed, dates can be changed to weeks or years, and the reporting authority could be changed.
• It is a very simple template for managing an accounting project. In the same way, the accounting team can prepare a project planner template for all the statutory reporting, Tax filing, and payment of other government dues.
• Now, this type of template is not only useful for an accounting person, but it can also be used by a Software engineering Team Manager or a person working in the manufacturing organization.
• A software project manager can replace the accounting terms with various deadlines relating to any site or application or product development and track it by date.
• In the same way, the person from the manufacturing sector can set up a project planner template for making or assembling a new product and set a deadline for every team for various parts they are responsible for.
• This template not only helps the manager in tracking the growth of the project but also helps in understating if there is any delay in any activity.
• Any project is a combination of various activities completed by various teams simultaneously or one after another. Now, if that chain is broken or one department cannot complete any activity for any reason, then the project cannot be completed on time.
• For understanding, let us assume that in the attached template Revenue team could not complete all the accounts receivable activities by 8th January 2020, and they need one or two days extra to complete their tasks. In that case, all the further activities are delayed by two days.
• It is a point where the decision-making skill of the project manager is tested. Either he/she can ask for an extension of two more days from senior management, or the teams have to be requested to work extra hours. Whatever option is feasible and aligns with the mission and vision of the organization should be exercised by the project manager.

Conclusion

So, we see that the Project planner template not shows the progress but also helps in the identification of bottleneck activities in the organization. If implemented carefully and feasible targets are assigned to all the teams, be it any area or field, a project planner template will help in tracking, motivating, and completing the projects on time. Also, it helps in the identification of average and extraordinary performers, which further helps a project manager in the appraisal, bonus distribution, and moving the personnel in future critical projects within the organization.

Recommended Articles

This article has been a guide to Project Planner Template. Here we provide you with a free project planner template that tracks the progress of the project, makes adjustments, and also helps handle any changes. Also, you can download and use this template in Excel, PDF, or in ODS format. Below are some of the recommended articles that you may like –

• Project Budget Template
• Project Management Template
• Swot Analysis Template
• Event Budget Template