Free Project Milestones Template
A plan built around its milestones: seven of them, from the approved brief to the closed project, and before each one a sign-off task that says what proves it was met. Fill in the work between them and the milestones stay the dates everyone outside the team watches.
No credit card. Import the spreadsheet as a new project on the Free plan.
The spreadsheet is a 19-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 19 tasks are below, in six phases, each with its description, duration and priority. Each phase ends with its sign-off task, the one-day check against the evidence written in the first week.
19
Scheduled tasks
6
Phases
7
Milestones
~10
Weeks end to end
A milestone is a result with evidence, not a date
Most milestone lists are a column of dates with names like "Design" or "Testing". On the day, nobody can say whether the milestone was met, because nobody wrote down what met means. This template fixes that in the first week: choosing the milestones is one task and writing the evidence for each is the next, one line per milestone saying what proves it (a signed scope, a design review with the users, a test report, a go-live decision).
Every phase then ends with a sign-off task, a single day, in which the named person checks that evidence and the milestone row is marked done. That is the whole discipline. A milestone passed without its sign-off is a date that went by, and the sign-off tasks are where a slipping project shows itself early, because they are short and cannot be argued into being half done.
The milestones are named as results, not activities: scope signed off, design approved, build complete, go-live approved. Rename them for your project and keep that shape, and keep to five to eight of them, so each one is a real decision rather than a progress update. In the spreadsheet they are zero-day rows after the tasks; in Onplana they are diamonds on the Gantt chart and a list the sponsor can read without opening the plan.
The plan, phase by phase
Start4 tasks
Write the project brief
The goal, the scope boundary, the sponsor and the date the project must finish, on one page.
Choose the milestones
Five to eight moments where something is decided, delivered or signed, each named as a result, not an activity.
Write the evidence for each milestone
One line per milestone saying what proves it is met and who confirms it, so nobody argues about it on the day.
Sign off the brief and the milestones
The sponsor approves the brief, the milestone list and the evidence for each, and the first milestone is marked done.
Define3 tasks
Gather the requirements
What the result must do and the constraints it must fit, from the people who will use it.
Agree what is in scope and what is out
A written list of both, because the out list is what stops scope creeping in after the milestone.
Sign off the scope
The sponsor signs the scope against the evidence agreed in the first week; changes after this go through a change request.
Design3 tasks
Design the solution
The approach and its main choices, written down so the build can be checked against it.
Review the design with the people who will use it
A walkthrough with real users, with every objection written down and either fixed or answered.
Sign off the design
The design owner and the sponsor approve it against its evidence: the review held and its open points closed.
Build3 tasks
Build the agreed scope
Rename and split this task into the pieces of your build, none longer than two weeks.
Demo progress every two weeks
Show the sponsor what works so far, so build complete is a confirmation rather than a reveal.
Sign off build complete
Everything in scope built and shown, checked against the scope list, with anything left out named and agreed.
Test and Launch4 tasks
Test against the acceptance criteria
Each requirement tested the way it will be used, and every failure logged with an owner.
Fix what testing found and retest
Fix in order of harm and retest each fix until what remains is agreed as acceptable to launch with.
Decide go or no-go
The sponsor reads the test report and the open issues and decides; a no-go names what must change and a new date.
Launch
Go live on the agreed day, with the team on hand and a way back agreed in advance.
Close2 tasks
Check the results against the brief
The goal in the brief, measured, with an honest note on anything missed and why.
Sign off the project close
The sponsor accepts the result, the records are archived with the milestone evidence, and the project is closed.
Milestones
Seven milestones, one at the end of each phase and two at launch: brief and milestones approved, scope signed off, design approved, build complete, go-live approved, launched and project closed.
Brief and milestones approved
Day 8 of the plan
Scope signed off
Day 17 of the plan
Design approved
Day 28 of the plan
Build complete
Day 49 of the plan
Go-live approved
Day 63 of the plan
Launched
Day 64 of the plan
Project closed
Day 70 of the plan
Frequently asked
What is in the download?
A CSV file with the 19 tasks, each with its phase, duration in days, priority and notes, and the seven milestones as zero-day rows. Excel opens it directly and Google Sheets imports it. It has no dates until you choose a start.
How many milestones should a project have?
Five to eight for most projects. Fewer and the gaps between them are too long to warn you of a slip; more and they turn into a progress report. Keep the ones where something is decided, delivered or signed.
What is the evidence for a milestone?
The thing that proves it was met, written down before the work starts: a signed scope, a design review held with its open points closed, a test report, a go-live decision. The sign-off task before each milestone is where someone checks it.
How is this different from the project timeline template?
The timeline is a six-month overview with a phase per month, made to show a sponsor when things happen. This one is about whether they happened: each milestone has written evidence and a sign-off task, so it works for a project of any length.
Start with the plan already built
Import the Project Milestones spreadsheet into a free Onplana project and your phases, tasks, and milestones are scheduled from the start date you pick. No credit card, no time limit.