# Project Status Report — Sample

> This is an illustrative example. The project and figures are composed to show what honest
> reporting looks like when the news is bad, not drawn from a named engagement.

**Project:** Customer portal replacement
**Period:** Month 8 of 12  **Prepared by:** Delivery manager  **For:** Sponsor

## 1. The headline

**Would I personally bet on the current end date?** **No.**

**By how much:** 6–9 weeks, on current scope.

**Since when did I know:** the trend has been visible for around six weeks. I am reporting it now
having confirmed it against the numbers below rather than raising it as a feeling.

## 2. Progress

| | |
|---|---|
| Timeline elapsed | 70% |
| Budget consumed | 68% |
| **Scope completed and accepted** | **41%** |

The first two numbers have been reported for eight months and are reassuring. The third has not
been tracked until this period, and it is the one that predicts the end date.

Claimed "90% done" for more than two weeks: **3 items** (payments integration, notification
service, admin permissions).

## 3. What changed

| Period | Changes approved | Schedule impact |
|---|---|---|
| Months 1–3 | 4 | +2 weeks |
| Months 4–6 | 7 | +5 weeks |
| Months 7–8 | 3 | +2 weeks |
| **Cumulative** | **14** | **+9 weeks** |

Cost impact cumulative: **+£142,000**. Scope removed to absorb any of it: **none**.

Each change was assessed and approved individually and each was reasonable. This is the first time
they have been added up.

## 4. Blocked

| What | Blocked since | Waiting on | Escalate? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payments integration | 61 days | Third-party API contract | **yes — needs you** |
| SSO configuration | 22 days | Internal security review | yes |
| Address lookup licence | 17 days | Procurement | yes |
| 3 further items | 14–19 days | Various | monitoring |

**Average time to obtain a decision this period: 9 days.**

The team works in two-week iterations. A nine-day decision means most iterations contain a stall,
and the team has adapted by working around blockers rather than escalating them — which is why this
has not surfaced in previous reports.

## 5. Quality

| | |
|---|---|
| Open defects | 34 (4 high, 18 medium, 12 low) |
| Trend | rising |
| Untested areas | payments, notifications, reporting |
| Integration attempted | **no** |
| Non-functional testing | not started |

Integration with the two upstream systems has not been attempted. Testing is scheduled to begin in
month 10. Both are deferred risk rather than absent risk.

## 6. Decision needed this week

| # | Decision | Who | By | Cost of not deciding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reduce scope, or move the date | Sponsor | 15th | Both happen anyway, later and without a choice |
| 2 | Escalate the payments API contract | Sponsor | 12th | Adds ~1 week per week of delay |
| 3 | Delegate approvals below £10k | Sponsor | 15th | 9-day decision latency continues |

**Options for decision 1, with what each costs:**

- **Hold the date, reduce scope.** Defer reporting module and 4 of the 14 approved changes.
  Recovers ~5 weeks. Recommended.
- **Hold scope, move the date.** New date: mid-March. No further cost beyond the extension.
- **Hold both.** Requires 3 additional engineers by the 20th; onboarding cost means the net
  recovery is roughly 2 weeks, not 6.

## 7. Next period

| Commitment | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Payments integration complete (if contract lands by 12th) | low |
| Notification service accepted | medium |
| Begin integration testing | high |

---

**Why this report reads the way it does.** The project has been green for four months on effort
metrics while accepted scope fell behind. Nothing was concealed; the numbers that would have shown
it were not being reported.

Three figures carry the whole report — **41% against 70%**, **+9 weeks of un-totalled change**, and
**9-day decision latency**. Each was available months ago. The report now includes them by default
so this cannot recur quietly.

See [project management](/knowledge/project-management/), the
[health check](/knowledge/project-management/checklist/), the
[status report template](/knowledge/project-management/template/), and the
[worked example](/knowledge/project-management/example/) of the review that produced these numbers.