Project Charter Template
What the project is, who owns it, what is in and what is firmly out.
Details
project charter templateUploads
Your logo
A photo or picture
Goes on this page only. Drag it anywhere and pull its corner to resize it.
Your signature
Draw it with a finger, a mouse or a trackpad, and it goes on the page like a picture.
Pictures and signatures stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
Red highlights mark what is still blank. Click anything on the page to change it. Your draft is kept on this device as you work.
| Project | [project name] |
| Sponsor | [sponsor] |
| Project manager | [project manager] |
| Approved budget | $ [amount] |
| Chartered on | October 14, 2026 |
1. Objective
[what done looks like, with a date and a number in it]
2. In scope
[add one item per line]
3. Out of scope
[add one item per line — this section is what stops the project growing]
4. Milestones
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| [add one milestone per line] |
5. Constraints and assumptions
[add one per line]
What is a Project Charter?
A project charter is the short document that brings a project into existence: what it is for, who owns it, what it will and will not cover, what it may spend, and how success will be measured. It matters because it is the reference point for every later argument about scope. Without one, work is added by whoever asks loudest, and nobody can say who has the authority to refuse.
The sponsor and the project manager write it together at the point work moves from an idea to funded effort, and a steering group or portfolio board signs it. It is used across internal change programmes, IT implementations, construction and fit-out, product launches and grant-funded work. Method names differ — PRINCE2 environments start with a project brief and build a project initiation documentation set, while PMBOK-influenced teams write a charter — but the function is the same: a signed statement of mandate that predates any detailed plan.
A charter is a governance document rather than a legal one, so what varies is your own organisation's rules and your funder's. Financial thresholds and who may authorise them come from your scheme of delegation or financial regulations. Public bodies and large charities often require an approved business case in a prescribed format before a charter can be signed, and grant agreements frequently specify approval gates and reporting. Where the project touches personal data, a data protection impact assessment may be required before work starts under the privacy law that applies to you.
The charter is not the plan. It does not contain the schedule, the resource profile or the detailed budget, and writing it does not mean the work has been estimated. It is also not a contract with a supplier — a signed charter binds nobody outside the organisation, and a supplier is bound only by the contract you sign with them. And it does not spend money by itself. Unless the person holding the delegated limit has signed, the charter records an intention rather than an approval.
What to put in a Project Charter
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Issuing organisation | For example: Maple Grove Homeowners Association |
| Organisation address | For example: 1420 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Project name | For example: Barton Road trade counter fit-out |
| Sponsor | For example: James Whitfield, Managing Director |
| Project manager | For example: Sarah Chen |
| Objective | For example: Open a working trade counter at Barton Road by 1 November, serving 40 accounts a day from… |
| In scope | One per line |
| Out of scope | One per line |
| Milestones | One per line: Milestone | Date |
| Approved budget | For example: 38,00,000 |
| Constraints and assumptions | One per line |
How to write a Project Charter
State the problem before the solution
Open with the situation that made the project necessary and what it costs to leave it alone: the manual reconciliation that takes two people three days a month, the lease that expires in eleven months. Then state the objective. If the charter opens with 'implement the new system', the project has been defined as an activity, and it will be judged on whether the software went live rather than on whether the reconciliation got shorter.
Name the sponsor and the decision rights
Name one accountable sponsor, not a committee, and say what they can decide alone, what needs the steering group, and what has to go higher. Add the project manager, the finance contact and the business owner who will run the result afterwards. A charter that lists twelve stakeholders and no decider produces a project where every question waits for the next monthly meeting.
Write the out-of-scope list first
In scope is easy to write and easy to stretch. Out of scope is the part that saves the project. List the systems you will not touch, the sites left to phase two, the data you will not migrate, the training you will not deliver. 'Migration of records older than five years is out of scope' is a sentence you will be glad exists in month four, when it is requested as a small addition.
Set success criteria and tolerances in numbers
Write what has to be true for the project to close as successful, in figures someone else could verify: the month-end close takes two days instead of five, all sites live by a stated date, error rate below a stated level for two consecutive months. Then set tolerance — how much time and cost the project manager may absorb before escalating. Without a tolerance, every slip is either hidden or escalated.
Record assumptions, risks and dependencies with owners
List what you are relying on that sits outside the project's control: the supplier's delivery date, a colleague's availability, a policy decision expected next quarter. Give each an owner and a date by which it must be confirmed. Assumptions written without owners are excuses prepared in advance. Then get the charter signed and dated, and handle changes as versioned amendments rather than silent edits.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the out-of-scope section blank, which converts every later request into a negotiation the project manager will lose.
- Naming a committee as sponsor, so no single person is accountable and decisions stall until the next scheduled meeting.
- Writing success criteria as deliverables — 'system implemented' — so the project can be declared a success while the original problem is untouched.
- Approving a charter with a budget figure but no tolerance, so the first small overspend must either be escalated to the board or quietly hidden.
- Treating the charter as a one-off document and never reissuing it after a major scope change, leaving the team working to a mandate the sponsor no longer recognises.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a project charter and a business case?
The business case argues that the project is worth doing: the options considered, the costs, the benefits and the return. The charter assumes that argument is won and authorises the work — mandate, scope, sponsor, tolerances. In many organisations the business case is approved first and the charter is signed on the back of it, referencing it rather than repeating its content.
Who signs a project charter?
The sponsor signs, and whoever holds the delegated authority for the money co-signs if that is a different person. The project manager signs to accept the mandate. Some organisations also have the receiving business owner sign, which is worth doing because it commits the people who will operate the result. Check your own scheme of delegation for the required signatures.
How long should a project charter be?
Two to four pages for most projects — enough to cover objective, scope, out of scope, sponsor and roles, success criteria, tolerances, high-level milestones, assumptions, risks and dependencies. If it runs past six pages, detail has almost certainly leaked in from the plan. Large programmes sometimes carry a longer charter, but the readable version is the one people actually use.
Do small projects need a charter?
A short one helps any piece of work with more than one stakeholder and a budget. For a two-week task, half a page stating the objective, the out-of-scope list and the decider is enough. The value is not the format; it is having written down what you are not doing, which is the part everyone remembers differently afterwards.
Can a project charter be changed?
Yes, through the same route it was approved. Record the change as a numbered version with a date and the reason, and have the sponsor sign again. Silent edits are the real problem: a team working from a quietly amended document has no baseline, and the eventual review cannot tell whether the project drifted or was legitimately redirected.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.