Free Annual Portfolio Plan Template
Next year's portfolio as one plan you can argue about before it is funded. Eight sample initiatives, each with a case for it, the delivery and a check on whether it paid off, sit as phases on one timeline, with the plan approval and four portfolio reviews as milestones. Opened in Onplana, it also brings a capacity sheet by role and quarter and a one-page scoring guide, so the debate about what fits runs on numbers.
No credit card. Opens as a real project on the Free plan.
The spreadsheet is a 24-task plan with phases, durations and milestones, ready for Excel or Google Sheets. It carries no dates, so set your own start, or paste it into the Gantt chart generator to have the schedule built for you. Want to compare the plans side by side first? Every one of them is on the project plan template page, with the rows shown before you download.
What’s inside
All 24 tasks are below, three for each of the eight sample initiatives, usually the case for it, the delivery and a check afterwards. Open the template and the year is scheduled from today, ready for your own initiatives.
24
Scheduled tasks
8
Phases
5
Milestones
~57
Weeks end to end
How to use this plan to decide what gets funded
An annual portfolio plan is mostly a list of things the organisation cannot all do. This template starts from that. The eight initiatives are samples, a customer portal, a finance system upgrade, a reporting platform, security findings, a new market, process automation, an office decision and a training programme, chosen because they compete for the same people. Most open with a short business-case task, so nothing reaches delivery without a stated benefit and cost, and most end with a task that checks whether the benefit arrived.
The milestones are the governance. The plan is approved at day 45, and portfolio reviews follow at the quarters and the year end, where each initiative is kept, reshaped or stopped. Two initiatives are written to show the decisions a real plan needs: the office consolidation waits on a lease decision at the Q2 review, and the finance cutover is tied to a period end, with a pre-logged risk that missing it costs a whole month. Replace the samples with your own initiatives and keep the rhythm.
When you open it in Onplana, the project arrives with two lists beside the plan: Capacity by role and quarter, five roles across four quarters, and an Initiative scoring guide that scores each initiative on strategic fit, value, urgency, confidence and effort. The sample capacity sheet has developers planned well over capacity in Q2, and a risk on the project says so, because a plan that fits on paper is usually a plan nobody checked. The spreadsheet download carries the tasks and milestones; the two lists come with the project.
The plan, phase by phase
Customer portal refresh3 tasks
Agree the portal scope and business case
Who it serves, what changes, the benefit and the cost. Score it in the Initiative scoring guide list.
Redesign and build the portal
The main delivery. Check its developer and analyst days against the Capacity by role and quarter list.
Launch the portal and measure adoption
Go live, then track the share of customers using it against the business case.
Finance system upgrade3 tasks
Confirm the finance upgrade path with the vendor
The supported version, the support end date and the cost of staying where you are.
Migrate and test the finance data
Data migration, reconciliation and user testing, in repeated rehearsals.
Cut over at a period end
Pick a month end with the finance team, and plan the fallback before the date.
Data and reporting platform3 tasks
Map the data sources and their owners
Every report the leadership team reads, where its numbers come from, and who owns each source.
Build the shared reporting model
One model that every initiative reports through, so the numbers agree.
Publish the first leadership dashboards
Start with three, agreed with the people who will read them.
Security hardening3 tasks
Prioritise the audit findings
Rank the open findings by risk and by the date they are due.
Close the high findings
Fix, test and record each one, oldest and highest first.
Run the follow-up test
An independent retest of the fixed findings, and a short report for the board.
New market launch3 tasks
Size the market and the way in
The size of the opportunity, the entry route and what it needs from each team.
Prepare sales, support and pricing
Local terms, support hours, pricing and the first target accounts.
Launch in the new market
Go live, then review the first quarter's results at the next portfolio review.
Process automation3 tasks
Pick the five processes to automate
Choose by hours spent and errors made today, with the people who run them.
Automate and roll out
One process at a time, each with its owner signing it off.
Measure the hours saved
Compare against the hours recorded when the processes were picked.
Office consolidation3 tasks
Compare the lease options
Stay, consolidate or move: the cost and the disruption of each.
Decide at the Q2 review
On hold in the scoring guide until the lease decision is due.
Plan the move if approved
Only if the Q2 review funds it. Until then, leave it unscheduled in your own plan.
Skills and training programme3 tasks
Find the skills gaps for next year's work
Compare the roles the funded initiatives need with the people you have.
Run the training programme
Courses, mentoring and time set aside, through the year.
Review what changed
What people can now do that they could not, and what to carry into the next plan.
Milestones
Five milestones: the plan approval and the four portfolio reviews. They are the dates where an initiative is kept, reshaped or stopped, so they sit on the Gantt chart as diamonds where everyone can see them.
Portfolio plan approved
Day 45 of the plan
Q1 portfolio review
Day 135 of the plan
Q2 portfolio review
Day 225 of the plan
Q3 portfolio review
Day 315 of the plan
Year-end portfolio review
Day 395 of the plan
Frequently asked
Does this template need the portfolio feature?
No. It creates one project, with the eight initiatives as its phases, and built-in templates run on every Onplana plan, Free included. Rolling several separate projects up into a portfolio is a different feature, and the pricing page shows which plans include it.
Why are the initiatives samples rather than a blank list?
Because a blank annual plan hides the hard part, which is that the initiatives compete for the same people. The samples are chosen to collide, and the capacity sheet that comes with the project shows where. Rename them, delete the ones you do not need and add your own; the rhythm of a case, the delivery and a review is the part worth keeping.
What is in the spreadsheet download?
The 24 tasks with their initiative, duration, priority and notes, and the five milestones as zero-day rows, which Excel and Google Sheets open directly. It has no dates until you set a start. The capacity sheet and the scoring guide are lists the project creates when you open the template in Onplana.
How do the portfolio reviews work?
Each review is a milestone: the quarters fall at days 135, 225 and 315, and the year-end review at day 395. At each one, look at every initiative against its business case and the capacity sheet, and decide to keep, reshape or stop it. The office consolidation shows the pattern: its decision task sits at the Q2 review, and the move is planned only if that review funds it.
When should I start the plan?
Six to eight weeks before the year begins. The plan approval milestone falls at day 45, so starting in mid-November puts approval before the new year and the first quarter of delivery in January. Dates schedule from the day you create the project, so the reviews land in the right weeks.
Start with the plan already built
Open the Annual Portfolio Plan template free and your phases, tasks, and milestones are scheduled before the kickoff meeting. No credit card, no time limit.