Annual report Gantt chart template: audit wait and board approval
An editable annual report Gantt chart: data collection, year-end close, the external audit wait, narrative drafting, leadership review, a fixed board meeting, then design, print and web, with dependencies and milestones.
What the annual report gantt chart template: audit wait and board approval process is
An annual or impact report looks like a writing job, but the writing is the part with the most room. What sets the date is the accounts. The numbers in the financial summary, the charts and the headline claims all come from a year-end close and, where one is required, an external audit, and those happen on other people's timetables. Then the board or committee meets on a date that was fixed long before, so a report that misses the meeting waits for the next one. A timeline shows which of these is the real constraint and how much the rest can move.
This template has four groups: Data and finance, Narrative, Approval, and Production and release. It has 20 tasks and four milestones: "Audited accounts received", "Full draft complete", "Board approves the report" and "Report published". "Agree the report scope and timetable" (2 working days) is the only starting task. It leads to "Collect programme and impact data" (8), "Close the year-end accounts" (10), "Collect case studies and quotes" (6) and "Design the layout and templates" (6), so the data, the finance close, the stories and the design all run side by side.
The narrative does not wait for the audit, and that is the main overlap. "Draft the narrative sections" (10) starts 3 working days after "Collect programme and impact data" starts, with a start-to-start link, because writers can begin on the first returns. "Close the year-end accounts" leads to "External audit and sign-off" (15), a plain wait that you replace with what your auditor tells you, and then to "Audited accounts received". Only "Draft the financial summary" (3) needs that milestone. "Assemble the full draft" (3) needs the data, the stories, the narrative and the financial summary, so it is the point where the quick work waits for the slow work. In the illustrative numbers the narrative is finished about 12 working days before the summary can start, which is slack you can spend on a second pass of the story.
After "Full draft complete" comes the approval chain: "Leadership review of the draft" (4), "Make leadership changes" (3), "Prepare and send the board pack" (2) and "Board approves the report". The meeting is a fixed date, so this is the gate to protect. A late change is expensive in two places. A figure that changes after the audit sign-off reopens the financial summary, the charts and the board pack. A change after "Board approves the report" may need the board to see it again. Production therefore starts its heavy steps only after approval: "Typeset the approved text and figures" (4), "Proofread and correct" (3) and "Print run and delivery" (8), with "Build the web version" (5) starting 1 working day after typesetting starts and finishing 1 day after proofreading. In the illustrative numbers the print run decides "Report published", and the web version has about 7 working days to spare. All durations are illustrative: replace them with your auditor's, printer's and committee's real lead times.
Because the board meeting date is fixed in reality, give "Agree the report scope and timetable" a fixed Start on the day you begin and "Board approves the report" a fixed Start on the meeting date. The plan starts on the earliest fixed Start and is scheduled forward, so compare the finish of "Prepare and send the board pack" with the meeting and read the conflict flag. A timeline schedules the work. It does not make the figures correct, the audit complete or the report compliant with any reporting rule, and it does not replace the requirements that apply to your organisation. For related plans, see /templates/year-end-close-gantt for the close that feeds the figures, /templates/audit-preparation-gantt-chart for getting ready for the auditor and /templates/grant-reporting-gantt-chart for a funder report. For the approval path as a flowchart, see /templates/document-approval-workflow. See /guides/gantt-chart-milestones and /guides/reporting-periods-gantt-chart for how gates and fixed periods are drawn.
What this flowchart covers
In this template
- Four groups, Data and finance, Narrative, Approval, and Production and release, with 20 tasks and four milestones: "Audited accounts received", "Full draft complete", "Board approves the report" and "Report published".
- An audit wait that gates only the numbers: "External audit and sign-off" leads to "Audited accounts received", and only "Draft the financial summary" waits for it, so the rest of the writing carries on.
- Overlapping narrative work: "Draft the narrative sections" starts 3 working days after "Collect programme and impact data" starts, with "Collect case studies and quotes" running beside it.
- A fixed board gate: "Leadership review of the draft", "Make leadership changes" and "Prepare and send the board pack" lead to "Board approves the report", which you pin to the meeting date.
- Production after approval: "Typeset the approved text and figures", "Proofread and correct" and "Print run and delivery", with "Build the web version" overlapping them by start-to-start and finish-to-finish links.
When to use this template
- You publish an annual, impact or programme report that needs audited figures and board or committee approval before it goes out.
- You want to see whether the audit, the board meeting or the print run decides the publication date.
- The board meeting date is fixed and you need to check that the draft, the review and the board pack fit before it.
- You produce the same report every year and want a standard plan to resize with last year's lead times.
The plan, task by task
Every task in the chart with its length in working days and what it waits for. A dependency is a step number; SS is start-to-start, FF is finish-to-finish, and +n is a lag in working days.
| # | Task | Group | Working days | Depends on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agree the report scope and timetable | Data and finance | 2 | |
| 2 | Collect programme and impact data | Data and finance | 8 | 1 |
| 3 | Close the year-end accounts | Data and finance | 10 | 1 |
| 4 | External audit and sign-off | Data and finance | 15 | 3 |
| 5 | Audited accounts received | Data and finance | Milestone | 4 |
| 6 | Collect case studies and quotes | Narrative | 6 | 1 |
| 7 | Draft the narrative sections | Narrative | 10 | 2SS+3 |
| 8 | Draft the financial summary | Narrative | 3 | 5 |
| 9 | Assemble the full draft | Narrative | 3 | 2, 6, 7, 8 |
| 10 | Full draft complete | Narrative | Milestone | 9 |
| 11 | Leadership review of the draft | Approval | 4 | 10 |
| 12 | Make leadership changes | Approval | 3 | 11 |
| 13 | Prepare and send the board pack | Approval | 2 | 12 |
| 14 | Board approves the report | Approval | Milestone | 13 |
| 15 | Design the layout and templates | Production and release | 6 | 1 |
| 16 | Typeset the approved text and figures | Production and release | 4 | 14, 15 |
| 17 | Proofread and correct | Production and release | 3 | 16 |
| 18 | Print run and delivery | Production and release | 8 | 17 |
| 19 | Build the web version | Production and release | 5 | 16SS+1, 17FF+1 |
| 20 | Report published | Production and release | Milestone | 18, 19 |
How it works
Set the two fixed dates
Give "Agree the report scope and timetable" a fixed Start on the day you begin and "Board approves the report" a fixed Start on the meeting date. Read the conflict flag to see whether the work before the meeting fits.
Replace the audit wait
Set "External audit and sign-off" to the time your auditor tells you. If no external audit applies, shorten it to the time your finance team needs to sign off the figures, or remove it and link "Close the year-end accounts" to "Audited accounts received".
Size the narrative
Set "Collect programme and impact data", "Collect case studies and quotes" and "Draft the narrative sections" from how long your teams take. Check that "Assemble the full draft" is held by the financial summary, not by the writing.
Allow for review rounds
Set "Leadership review of the draft" and "Make leadership changes" to the number of rounds you expect, then check that "Prepare and send the board pack" ends in time for your meeting.
Use the printer's lead time
Replace "Print run and delivery" with the printer's quoted time, including delivery. If you publish on the web only, shorten it or remove it and let "Build the web version" lead to "Report published".
Add owners, share and export
Put the responsible person for each task in People, share the chart as a link with finance, programme staff and the board secretary, and export a PDF or PNG for the committee papers.
Frequently asked questions
Why does only the financial summary wait for the audit?
Because only that task needs audited figures. The data collection, the case studies and the narrative can be drafted from the programme side while the audit runs. "Assemble the full draft" then joins the two, which is why late figures are the expensive change: they reopen the summary, the charts and the board pack.
My board meets on a fixed date. How do I check that the report fits?
Give "Agree the report scope and timetable" a fixed Start on the day you begin and "Board approves the report" a fixed Start on the meeting date. The plan starts on the earliest fixed Start and is scheduled forward. If the work before the meeting cannot be done in time, the milestone is flagged with a conflict naming the earliest date its dependencies allow. Compare that with the date you need.
Does the chart know when the audit will finish?
No. It shows the time you plan for "External audit and sign-off" and what depends on it. When your auditor gives you a date or a revised estimate, change the duration and the dates after it move.
Why is the print run after the board approval?
Because a report printed before approval risks being reprinted if the board asks for a change. The template starts typesetting only after "Board approves the report". If your board approves a near-final draft and changes are rare, you can start "Design the layout and templates" and parts of typesetting earlier. See /guides/gantt-chart-overlapping-tasks for how to draw that overlap.
Can I use it for a short impact report with no audit?
Yes. Shorten "External audit and sign-off" to your internal sign-off time, or remove it and delete the tasks you do not need. The gates, the board meeting and the production steps stay as they are. Put the person responsible for each task in People so the owners show beside the bars.