Grant reporting Gantt chart template: partner data and funder response
An editable Gantt chart for one grant reporting period: partner data, finance reconciliation, narrative draft, partner review, sign-off, submission, the funder's response wait and queries, with dependencies and milestones.
What the grant reporting gantt chart template: partner data and funder response process is
Most project plans are limited by the work the team does. A reporting period for a funded project is limited by two things the team does not control. The first is the data that partners send in. The second is the funder's response after the report is submitted. A report that is complete and polished still cannot be closed until both have happened. A timeline helps because it shows how much of the period is waiting and how much is work you can do while you wait.
This template has five groups: Partner data, Finance, Narrative, Review and submission, and Funder response. It has 20 tasks and four milestones, and a total length of 38 working days in the illustrative numbers. "Agree the reporting calendar and templates" (2 working days) is the only starting task. It leads to "Send data requests to partners" (1), then "Partners prepare and return their data" (8). "Chase and check partner returns" (5) starts 3 working days into that task with a start-to-start link, so you are reading early returns and chasing missing ones while the rest are still being prepared. "Partner data received" is the first gate.
Work that does not need partner data starts earlier. "Close the period ledgers" (3) and "Gather activity and outcome evidence" (4) both begin right after the calendar is agreed. "Draft the progress narrative" (5) starts 2 working days into the evidence task, so writing begins before the evidence is complete. Then the plan reaches what cannot be done early. "Reconcile spend with partner returns" (4) needs both the closed ledgers and "Partner data received", and "Add partner figures to the draft" (2) needs the draft and the same gate. In the illustrative numbers the narrative path is the longer one, so "Finance figures agreed" is ready 2 working days before "Internal sign-off" (3) can start, and that is the slack you can use if the reconciliation turns up a problem.
The late gates are the expensive ones. "Partner review of the draft" (4) and "Revise after partner comments" (3) come before "Internal sign-off", because a change after sign-off means signing again. "Report approved for submission" leads to "Submit through the funder's portal" (1), then "Wait for the funder's response" (10) and "Answer the funder's queries" (4) before "Period closed". The query task is given as a single duration, so if a round of questions is likely, make it longer rather than adding a loop. All durations are illustrative: replace them with the time your partners say they need and with what the funder tells you about its own review.
A timeline schedules the work. It does not make a report accepted, compliant or approved, and it does not replace the funder's rules about what must be reported and when. Keep those requirements as tasks or notes with their own owners. For related plans, see /templates/year-end-close-gantt for the finance close that often feeds a report, /templates/research-project-gantt-chart for a funded project with its own work packages, and /templates/financial-reporting-process for the flowchart of the reporting steps. For how fixed dates and waits work in this kind of plan, see /guides/reporting-periods-gantt-chart and /guides/gantt-chart-dependencies.
What this flowchart covers
In this template
- Five groups, Partner data, Finance, Narrative, Review and submission and Funder response, with 20 tasks and four milestones: "Partner data received", "Finance figures agreed", "Report approved for submission" and "Period closed".
- A partner data wait with active follow-up: "Chase and check partner returns" starts 3 working days into "Partners prepare and return their data" and ends with "Partner data received".
- Work that starts before the data arrives: "Close the period ledgers", "Gather activity and outcome evidence" and "Draft the progress narrative" all run while partners are still preparing returns.
- Two joins on partner data: "Reconcile spend with partner returns" and "Add partner figures to the draft" both wait for "Partner data received", and "Internal sign-off" waits for "Revise after partner comments" and "Finance figures agreed".
- The funder's side of the period: "Wait for the funder's response" (10 working days in the illustrative plan) and "Answer the funder's queries" (4) before "Period closed".
When to use this template
- You report on a funded project every period and want one reusable plan to resize each time.
- Partners send data you depend on and you want to see how late they can be before the submission date is at risk.
- You need to check whether the funder's response wait fits before the next period starts or before your own year end.
- You manage several grants and want the same sequence of data, finance, narrative and sign-off for each.
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 reporting calendar and templates | Partner data | 2 | |
| 2 | Send data requests to partners | Partner data | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Partners prepare and return their data | Partner data | 8 | 2 |
| 4 | Chase and check partner returns | Partner data | 5 | 3SS+3 |
| 5 | Partner data received | Partner data | Milestone | 3, 4 |
| 6 | Close the period ledgers | Finance | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | Reconcile spend with partner returns | Finance | 4 | 5, 6 |
| 8 | Prepare the financial statement | Finance | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | Finance figures agreed | Finance | Milestone | 8 |
| 10 | Gather activity and outcome evidence | Narrative | 4 | 1 |
| 11 | Draft the progress narrative | Narrative | 5 | 10SS+2 |
| 12 | Add partner figures to the draft | Narrative | 2 | 5, 11 |
| 13 | Partner review of the draft | Review and submission | 4 | 12 |
| 14 | Revise after partner comments | Review and submission | 3 | 13 |
| 15 | Internal sign-off | Review and submission | 3 | 9, 14 |
| 16 | Report approved for submission | Review and submission | Milestone | 15 |
| 17 | Submit through the funder's portal | Review and submission | 1 | 16 |
| 18 | Wait for the funder's response | Funder response | 10 | 17 |
| 19 | Answer the funder's queries | Funder response | 4 | 18 |
| 20 | Period closed | Funder response | Milestone | 19 |
How it works
Fix the dates that are real
Give "Agree the reporting calendar and templates" a fixed Start on the day you begin, and give "Submit through the funder's portal" a fixed Start on the due date. The plan starts on the earliest fixed Start and is scheduled forward, so a conflict flag on the submission task tells you the earliest date its dependencies allow. Compare that with the date you need.
Replace the partner wait
Set "Partners prepare and return their data" from what partners tell you they need, and adjust the 3-day start-to-start link on "Chase and check partner returns" to when you can start looking at early returns.
Resize the finance path
Set "Close the period ledgers", "Reconcile spend with partner returns" and "Prepare the financial statement" from your own close. Check that "Finance figures agreed" does not become the task that holds "Internal sign-off".
Give review its real time
Set "Partner review of the draft" and "Revise after partner comments" to what your partners and approvers actually take. Late changes after "Report approved for submission" mean the sign-off is done twice.
Replace the funder waits
Set "Wait for the funder's response" and "Answer the funder's queries" to the review time and query turnaround you have been told. If queries usually come in more than one round, make the second task longer.
Add owners, share and export
Put the person responsible for each task in People, share the chart as a link with partners and approvers, and export a PDF or PNG for the project file.
Frequently asked questions
Can the chart tell me when the funder will respond?
No. It shows the duration you enter for "Wait for the funder's response" and moves the dates after it. When you are told how long the review takes, or when it ends, change that task and "Answer the funder's queries" and "Period closed" move with it.
My report has a fixed due date. How do I check it fits?
Give "Agree the reporting calendar and templates" a fixed Start and "Submit through the funder's portal" a fixed Start on the due date. The chart schedules forward from the earliest fixed Start. If the partner data and the review cannot be finished by then, the submission task shows a conflict and the earliest date its dependencies allow.
Does the plan make my report compliant?
No. It schedules the work. It does not check that the report meets the funder's requirements, and it does not make it accepted or approved. Use it next to the funder's own rules, and keep any requirement as a task or a note.
What if partners send data late?
Lengthen "Partners prepare and return their data" and see which dates move. "Reconcile spend with partner returns" and "Add partner figures to the draft" move because they wait for "Partner data received", while the ledgers, evidence and the first draft do not. See /guides/gantt-chart-delays for reading a delay through a plan.
Can I use it for a final report?
Yes. Resize the narrative and finance tasks, add a task for any closing step your funder asks for, and remove anything you do not need. For a plan of the funded project itself, see /templates/research-project-gantt-chart.