Project charter template for software projects
A project charter is the short document that starts a project: why it exists, what it must achieve, roughly what it covers, who sponsors it, who runs it and with what authority, and its milestones, budget and risks at a high level. The sponsor’s signature on it is what authorizes the work. Below are what a charter includes, a template, a filled-in example for a software project, how to write one, who writes and signs it, how it differs from a statement of work, a scope statement and a project plan, and charters on agile projects.
If you are in the middle of the project, you already have a project charter. It is just not written down.
— r/projectmanagement, 2022
What is a project charter?
Wikipedia’s definition: “a statement of the scope, objectives, and participants in a project.” It adds the part the PMBOK Guide insists on: “the project charter formally authorizes the project, grants the project manager authority to use organizational resources, and includes high-level details such as project purpose, objectives, key deliverables, assumptions, constraints, and risks” (Wikipedia). One answer on Project Management Stack Exchange shortens it to “a sponsor-signed document indicating work can begin” (Project Management Stack Exchange, 2011).
The name changes with the method — PRINCE2 calls a similar document the project initiation document (PID) — and so does the content. Another answer on the same question: “Exact name of an exact document is dictated by a management framework used by the team,” and “What really matters is the content” (Project Management Stack Exchange).
The commenter in the epigraph also named the risk of writing it down late: you may find that “each team member has a different view of what the charter should say.”
What a project charter includes
The sections follow Karl Wiegers’ project charter template, a free download from softwarereqs.com, with the authority section the PMBOK Guide adds:
| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Project description | The problem or opportunity, and why now |
| Business objectives and success criteria | What the project must achieve, in numbers |
| Stakeholders | The sponsor, the project manager, the customers, who else is affected |
| Vision | A short statement of what the product is and for whom |
| Scope | What the project will deliver at a high level, and what it will not |
| Assumptions and dependencies | What is taken as true; what the project relies on |
| Constraints | Fixed dates, budget, technology, rules |
| Milestones | The major events and deliverables, with dates and owners |
| Business risks | What could stop the project paying off, and what to do about it |
| Resources | People, suppliers and budget committed so far |
| Authority | What the project manager may decide alone, and what goes to the sponsor |
| Approval | Who signs, what their signature means, and the decision |
Project charter template
Copy it into a document; square brackets are yours to fill in.
PROJECT CHARTER
Project: [name]
Version: [x.y], [date]
Sponsor: [name, role]
Project manager: [name, role]
1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
[The problem or opportunity, and why
now]
2. OBJECTIVES AND SUCCESS CRITERIA
[objective]: [measure], from [today]
to [target] by [date]
3. STAKEHOLDERS
[name or group]: [role, interest]
4. SCOPE
In: [what the project delivers]
Out: [what someone might expect,
but will not get]
5. ASSUMPTIONS AND DEPENDENCIES
AS-[n] [assumption]
DE-[n] [dependency]
6. CONSTRAINTS
[dates, budget, technology, rules]
7. MILESTONES
[event or deliverable] [date]
[owner]
8. RISKS
[risk]: [what we will do about it]
9. RESOURCES AND BUDGET
[people, suppliers, budget, reserve]
10. AUTHORITY
The project manager decides:
[what, up to what limit]
Goes to the sponsor:
[what]
11. APPROVAL
Decision: [approved / approved, plan
only / on hold / revise /
rejected]
Sponsor: [name, role] [date]
The approval options come from Wiegers’ template, which separates “Approved, development of detailed project plan is authorized” from “Approved, project execution is authorized” — useful when the sponsor wants to see the plan before committing the budget.
Project charter example
The customer portal used across these templates, chartered by the client before a supplier was chosen. The vision and scope, the scope statement and the statement of work all came after it.
PROJECT CHARTER
Project: Customer portal
Version: 1.0, 8 January
Sponsor: Finance director
Project manager: product owner
(client)
1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Customers ask about invoices by
phone and pay late. A self-service
portal should let them see and pay
their invoices.
2. OBJECTIVES AND SUCCESS CRITERIA
BO-1 Invoice calls to the service
desk: from 900 a month to 450
by month six
BO-2 Average days from invoice to
payment: from 41 to 30 by
month six
3. STAKEHOLDERS
Finance director: sponsor, pays
Product owner: runs the project
Finance lead, head of sales:
decide in their areas
Service desk, accounts team:
affected
Customers' billing staff: users
4. SCOPE
In: seeing invoices, paying them
by card, receipts, reminders
Out: consumer customers; changes
to the accounting system
5. ASSUMPTIONS AND DEPENDENCIES
AS-1 Customers will pay by card
when they can
DE-1 A payment provider account
DE-2 The accounting system's daily
export
6. CONSTRAINTS
Live by the end of May. Card data
is never stored by the portal.
7. MILESTONES
Supplier chosen end of January
Requirements agreed end of January
Phase 1 live end of May
8. RISKS
Customers keep paying by bank
transfer: the reminder links to
the portal.
9. RESOURCES AND BUDGET
Product owner, half time; finance
lead as needed; an external
supplier under a statement of work.
Budget: 80,000 EUR for phase 1,
plus a 10% reserve.
10. AUTHORITY
The project manager decides:
the supplier, within the budget;
changes up to 10 days
Goes to the sponsor:
anything larger, or a later
go-live
11. APPROVAL
Decision: approved, project
execution is authorized
Sponsor: finance director, 8 Jan
The charter’s objectives became the business objectives of the vision and scope document a week later; its authority section became the change control board’s limits; its scope became the in and out lists of the project scope statement. Each later document went into more detail. None of them had to argue again about why the project existed or who could decide.
How to write a project charter
- Start from the problem and the business case, with the sponsor. If the sponsor cannot say what would count as success, the charter is not ready.
- Write objectives with numbers and dates. They are what the project is judged against.
- Keep the scope high-level, with an out-of-scope line. The detail comes later: “Often times when you’re writing the charter, you won’t know your requirements, business rules, test plans, etc. because it’s unclear what resources are available quite yet” (r/projectmanagement, 2023).
- Name who decides and who pays. One commenter, working in government contracting: “The most important part of the charter for me is determining who gets a say in what happens and who pays for it” (r/projectmanagement, 2022).
- Write the project manager’s authority as limits: what they decide alone, and what goes to the sponsor.
- Keep it short. Answering “How long is a typical project charter?”, one commenter: “A charter should be no more than three pages” (r/projectmanagement, 2022). Another, on a one-page version: “Try to fit it all on one page. If you can’t, it’s not up-leveled enough” (r/projectmanagement, 2022).
- Get the sponsor’s signature on a version, and keep the charter current when something it states changes — the sponsor, the budget, the objectives.
Who writes and signs a project charter
Usually the project manager writes it and the sponsor signs it. Writing it does not give the project manager the authority; the signature does. One answer on Project Management Stack Exchange: “The project sponsor still needs to give the sign-off,” and “No sign-off, no authority, no matter what the project charter says” (Project Management Stack Exchange, 2020).
When people change, the charter mostly does not. Asked whether a charter changes when the project manager does, one answer: “a change of project manager should not have any impact on the Project Charter. The only change would be to update the assigned project manager’s name in the document” (Project Management Stack Exchange, 2018). A change to the objectives, the budget or the scope is different: that goes through the same change process as any other agreed document.
Project charter vs SOW vs scope statement vs project plan
| Document | What it does | Written by, signed by |
|---|---|---|
| Project charter | Starts the project and gives the project manager authority | The project manager; the sponsor signs |
| Vision and scope document | Sets the business objectives and the scope by release | A business analyst or product manager; the sponsor approves |
| Project scope statement | Fixes what is delivered, what is not, and how it is accepted | The project manager; client and supplier agree |
| Statement of work | Makes the work a contract: scope, price, dates, acceptance | The supplier; both sides sign |
| Project plan | Says how the work will be done: tasks, schedule, people | The project manager |
| Business case | Argues that the project is worth its cost | The sponsor or a business analyst |
Which of these a project has depends on who runs it. One answer to a question about charters, PIDs, SOWs and proposals, viewed nearly 18,000 times: “Part of the confusion is caused by not recognising there is a difference in terminology and methods between internal projects and commercial projects” (Project Management Stack Exchange, 2013). An internal project has a charter. A supplier delivering to a client works under a statement of work — “are you part of a consultancy? Because if so then your statement of work (SOW) will trump everything,” as one commenter put it (r/projectmanagement, 2022). In the portal example, both exist: the client’s charter authorized the project, and the supplier’s statement of work set the terms of the work.
Agile project charter
An agile charter keeps the parts that do not change from sprint to sprint — the purpose, the objectives, the sponsor, the authority, the budget and the constraints — and leaves the detailed scope to the backlog. Clients still ask for it: “Even on our projects with an agile commitment and value set on the team, client still expects project charter, milestones, and FFP” — firm fixed price (r/projectmanagement, 2023).
A short charter is also more likely to be read. One commenter’s warning about the long kind: “project charters are used mainly for the project manager, you will be lucky if anyone other than you reads it” (r/projectmanagement, 2023).
Where Specroot fits
This is the problem Specroot works on: the agreement that starts a project — its objectives, its scope, who decides — kept linked to the requirements and the changes that follow from it. Specroot for agencies and consultancies.
Read next
- Vision and scope document template — A vision and scope document template for software: business objectives, vision statement, scope by release, a filled-in example, and how it differs from a BRD.
- Project scope statement template — A project scope statement template for software projects, a filled-in example, in scope vs out of scope, and scope statement vs project charter, SOW and WBS.
- Statement of work template for software development — A free statement of work template for software projects, what a SOW should include, SOW vs scope of work vs MSA, and clauses for acceptance and changes.