Project Status Report

Template & Guide

Version 2.4 (November 2008)

This Guide is intended to be read in conjunction with the following template for the development of a Project
Status Report. As such the Guide should be removed from the front of your final document.
The Project Management templates are being continuously improved. Feedback on suggested improvements to
this Template would be appreciated, and may be made to Project Services by emailing
[email protected].

Inter Agency Policy and Projects Unit

Department of Premier and Cabinet

DISCLAIMER
This material has been prepared for use by Tasmanian Government agencies and Instrumentalities. It follows
that this material should not be relied upon by any other person. Furthermore, to the extent that this material is
relied upon, the Crown in Right of the State of Tasmania gives no warranty as to the accuracy or correctness of
the material or for any advice given or for omissions from the material. Users rely on the material at their own
risk.

PM030 Project Status Report: Guide

Tasmanian Government Project Management Framework
Page 2

What is a Project Status Report?

The Project Status Report is a document that is
used by Project Managers for formal regular
reporting on the status of a project to the Steering
Committee, Project Sponsor, Senior Manager or
other Key Stakeholders, depending on the size of
the project. It is important to remember that the role
of the Steering Committee, Project Sponsor or
Senior Manager is to take responsibility for the
business issues associated with the project.
Regular status reports also provide an ongoing
history of the project, which become useful in
terms of tracking progress, evaluation and review.
The Project Status Report should include, as a
minimum, the following:

Status of the project - description, milestones

for the last reporting period; milestones for
the next reporting period; impact of
achievement/non-achievement of milestones
for the remaining period of the project.
Milestones should reflect any relevant highlevel milestones listed in the Business Plan as
well as major milestones and achievements
from the Project Work Plan (or Project
Execution Plan).
Budget Report - with respect to planned
expenditure, actual expenditure deficit/surplus
and revenue against planned output delivery,
if appropriate.
Risk Management Report - specifying any
changes to the major risks identified since the
previous report and modification to the
strategies put in place to manage them; any
new risks that have arisen since the last report,
as identified in the Risk Register.
Issues Report - including areas of concern,
specific problems, and any action/decision
that needs to be taken by the Steering
Committee or Project Sponsor/Senior
Manager, as identified in the Issues Register.
Any general information.
Recommendations.
It is important to keep the report focused and to
report on/against milestones and not percentage of
work complete.
Why would you develop a Project Status
Report?
A Project Status Report is developed by the Project
Manager to provide regular progress reports to:

information on the management issues of the

project and for endorsement of any
decisions/directions made in the report;
the Inter Agency Steering Committee (IASC) if
the project extends across government;
individuals or Committees who are overseeing
progress of the project; and
ensure that no additional work or scope creep
occurs.
When would you develop a Project Status
Report?
The frequency of status reporting will vary
depending on the size of the project and the
requirements of the Steering Committee/Project
Sponsor.
With very small projects this may consist of
fortnightly consideration of any issues that could
affect progress and/or a meeting with the Project
Sponsor/Senior Manager.
For large and/or more complex projects the status
report forms an integral part of the project, as
information for the reports is drawn from the
project management processes in place for the
project.
What you need before you start
An agreed Project Business Plan or Project
Brief.
Knowledge and understanding of the project
activities, schedule, issues, risks and budget,
stakeholders, contractors and staff.
Knowledge and understanding of issues
management and risk management.
Project budgetary information.
Schedule of meetings.
Knowledge of the Tasmanian Government
Project Management Guidelines.
Other references you may need
Corporate/Business Plan for the
Department/Business Unit.
Tasmanian Government Project Management
Guidelines.
Departmental Project Management
Guidelines.
What you will have when you are finished
A complete Project Status Report that is ready for
presentation to the Senior Manager, Project
Sponsor, Steering Committee or other Key
Stakeholders, depending on the size of the project.

the Steering Committee, Project Sponsor,

Senior Manager or other Key Stakeholders with

<Project Title> Status Report

Version <n.n, dd-mm-yyyy>
Page 3

How to use this template

The template consists of a number of headings and
simple tables that reflect the nature of the
information that is to be addressed.
The completed status report should be brief and to
the point, so it quickly conveys the essential
information.
A number of different text styles have been used
within the template, as follows:

Text in blue italics is intended to provide a

guide as to the kind of information that can be
included in a section and to what types of
projects it might be applicable.
Text in normal font is intended as examples.
Text enclosed in <angle brackets> is intended
to be replaced by whatever it is describing.
This document has been formatted for duplex
printing. If you intend to print single sided,

you may need to delete some page breaks.

As no two projects are ever the same, the Project
Management Knowledge Base at
www.egovernment.tas.gov.au includes various
examples of Project Proposals that describe the
different approaches taken to ensure the initiation
process is appropriately managed.
Checklist
Have you remembered to remove:

The versioning statement from the front cover

of your document?

This guide and checklist from the front of your

document?

All blue italic instructional text and < text

enclosed in angle brackets> within the
template

<Project Title> Status Report

Version <n.n, dd-mm-yyyy>
Page 4

<Error! Unknown
document property name.>
Status Report No.<n>

<dd-mm-yyyy>
File No.: <xxxxxxx>

The version number starts at one and increases by one for each release. It shows the release number and a
revision letter if in draft. The original draft is 0.A and subsequent drafts are 0.B, 0.C etc. The first accepted
and issued document is 1.0. Subsequent changes in draft form are 1.0A, 1.0B etc.. The accepted and issued
second version is 1.1 or 2.0, depending on the magnitude of the change.

Refer to the Project Management Fact Sheet: Document Control, for more information at
www.egovernment.tas.gov.au

Version No: <n.n> <dd-mm-yyyy>

Copy: uncontrolled

The contribution of the following individuals in preparing this document is gratefully acknowledged:

Acknowledgements

<Contributors/reviewers/developers>

This document has been derived from a template prepared by the Department of Premier and Cabinet,
Tasmania. The structure is based on the Tasmanian Government Project Management Guidelines.

For further details, refer to www.egovernment.tas.gov.au

<Project Title> Status Report

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REPORT FOR:

PROJECT MANAGER:

PROJECT OBJECTIVE:

(Optional) eg <Project Name> Steering Committee

<Name>

As stated in the Project Business Plan.

1 Project Progress Summary:

A brief statement of project performance not covered in the remainder of the report. Describe the
Projects progress towards meeting its target outcomes during this reporting period. Anecdotal
information may be provided.

o Milestones

This section should reflect any relevant high-level milestones listed in the Business Plan as well as
major milestones and achievements from the Project Work Plan (or Project Execution Plan).
Baseline dates are those outlined in Project Business Plan or other core document.

Table 1 - Milestones scheduled for achievement since last report and performance against those
milestones:

Milestone

Baseline
Date

Target
Date

Achieve
ment

<Description of milestone>

dd-mmyyyy

dd-mmyyyy

dd-mmyyyy

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Table 2 - Impact of achievement / non-achievement of milestones for the remaining period of the
project:

Milestone

Impact

Description of
affected/amended/changed milestone

Briefly describe any changes to the project

schedule required as a result of the amended
milestone(s).

Table 3 - Milestones scheduled for achievement over the next reporting period and changes to
those milestones with respect to the previous plan:

Milestone

Baseline
Date

Previous
Target
Date

Curren
t Target
Date

Description of milestone

dd-mmyyyy

dd-mmyyyy

dd-mmyyyy

o General Information

Include any general comments that may support/enhance/add to the above sections.

Things to note in this section may include:

Staffing issues, training undertaken
Update on employment of consultants, eg detail how government purchasing principles and policies
have been applied to each tender process.
A follow-up assessment of products/services provided against the initial terms of engagement should be
provided in a later Status Report.

2 Budget:

Where the project draws on multiple funding sources (eg Commonwealth and State funds), separate
budget analysis should be provided for each source.
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Where the project is beginning the transition to program mode, Business Owners need to be made
aware of the level of recurrent expenditure required for ongoing maintenance of the outputs.

Table 4 - Funding Sources

Department of (Tasmanian Government)

Department of (Australian Government)

Total project funding

(plus)

(equals)

Example:
4 year
project

$ 500
000

$ 500
000

$ 1
000
000

Table 5 - Project Budget Overview

Total Project funding

Expenditure for <Financial Year A/B>

(minus)

$ 200
000

Expenditure for <Financial Year B/C>

(minus)

$ 250
000

Remaining budget for life of project

(equals)

$ 550
000

Preliminary allocation for <Financial Year C/D>

$ 300
000

$1
000
000

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Table 6 Simple budget to <end mm-yyyy C/D>

Date

Planned Expenditure
<mm>

dd-mm-yyyy

Actu
al
Exp
endi
ture
<m
m>

Deficit/S
urplus1

Table 7 - <financial year C/D>

Date

dd-mm-yyyy

Planned Expenditure

Actu
al
Exp
endi
ture

Deficit/S
urplus1

Table 8 Detailed budget for medium-large projects2

Operating
Expenses
<start> mmyyyy to <end>
mm-yyyy

Current Budget

YTD

(Planned Expenditure)

Actu
al
Exp
endi
ture

Salary

Deficit/S
urplus1

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Salary and
Related
Expenditure

Other
Employee
related
expenses

Total for
salaries and
other related
expenditure

Operating
Costs

Rent and
Accommodatio
n related
expenses

Communicatio
ns

Travel
(including
motor vehicle
expenses)

Advertising
and promotion

Consultancies

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Information
Technology

Other
administrative
expenses

Total for
operating
expenditure

Overall total

Deficit reflects whether the project has expended more than the anticipated budget for the reporting period
(overspend). Surplus reflects whether the project has expended less than the anticipated budget for the reporting
period (underspend).
These fields are standard reporting items on Finance 1.

o Comments:

Additional comments should be included to indicate reasons for the deficit/overspend or

surplus/underspend in the monthly budget and anticipated expenditure for the year to date.

3 Project Risk Management Statement

Identify any changes in risk status to the previous report. See risk grading key below.

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Risk

Brief description of the

Extreme, major A and B
grade risks or any significant
changes in grading, and new
risks identified.

Likelihoo
d

Low/Medi
um/High

Risk Grading Key:

Grade

Extreme

High/High

High/Medium or Medium/High

High/Low or Medium/Medium

Medium/Low

Low/Low

Seriousne
ss

Low/Medi
um/High

Gr

C
ha
ng
e

In
cr
ea
se
/
D
ec
re
as
e/
N
e
w

o Comments:

Include explanation of why the risk rating has been changed. Where the rating has been increased,
include details of mitigation actions.
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Discuss the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies that have been applied to A and B grade risks.
This can include any changes to risk mitigation strategies.
Large projects should consider providing the Steering Committee with a separate Risk Status Report
detailing risk mitigation activities for the reporting period. This can be useful in managing Extreme
risks.

4 Issues:

Brief description of any business issues associated with the project that have arisen since the previous
report and need to be addressed by the Steering Committee, Project Sponsor or Senior Manager etc.
For small projects this section can be utilised for recording and monitoring of project issues in the
absence of an Issues Register. See the Issues Register Proforma for an overview of the required
information.

5 Recommendations:

Brief statement(s) for the Steering Committee, Project Sponsor or Senior Manager to consider and/or
endorse. Where no recommendations are raised for endorsement, this section should state that the
Steering Committee note the Status Report.

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