Create a monthly report for [TEAM OR PROJECT] covering [REPORTING PERIOD] for [AUDIENCE]. Use only the supplied records. Do not turn incomplete data into certainty, hide misses, invent achievements, or assign commitments that an owner has not accepted. Objectives and measures: [OBJECTIVES AND METRICS] This month's evidence: [MONTHLY EVIDENCE] Work completed and in progress: [WORK STATUS] Risks, blockers, and dependencies: [RISKS AND DEPENDENCIES] Next-month plan and known owners: [NEXT MONTH PLAN]
Write a 700-1,000 word report with these sections: 1. Executive summary: three to five bullets covering material outcomes, misses, and decisions needed. 2. Scorecard: a table with metric, target, actual, prior month, status, interpretation, data source, and owner. Mark unavailable data as “not reported,” not zero. 3. Progress against objectives: for each objective, state planned outcome, actual result, variance, cause supported by evidence, and corrective action. 4. Delivery update: completed work, work still in progress, and changed scope, each with an accountable owner. 5. Risks and decisions: table with risk or dependency, impact, likelihood if known, mitigation, decision owner, and decision-by date. Separate confirmed blockers from watch items. 6. Next-month commitments: table with outcome, first concrete step, owner, due date, dependency, and success measure. End with “Data gaps and assumptions.” State exactly what is missing and how it limits interpretation. Before answering, reconcile all metric totals and dates against the input, and ensure every forward-looking item has an owner and date or is labeled unassigned. Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing.
Fill in
| Placeholder | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [TEAM OR PROJECT] | Enter the team or project name and its purpose. | Customer Onboarding team, responsible for activating new mid-market accounts. |
| [REPORTING PERIOD] | Enter the month and the exact date range the report covers. | August 1-31, 2026 |
| [AUDIENCE] | Describe who will read the report and what decisions they need to make. | VP Customer Success, Product lead, and Sales Operations manager deciding whether to fund onboarding automation. |
| [OBJECTIVES AND METRICS] | List approved objectives, metric definitions, targets, prior-month values, and data sources. | Reduce median time-to-first-value from 21 to 16 days; reach 80% onboarding completion; metrics come from Salesforce and product events. |
| [MONTHLY EVIDENCE] | Provide actual metric results, customer feedback, financial data, and other dated evidence. | Median time-to-first-value was 18 days versus 20 in July; completion was 74%; seven customers cited SSO setup delays. |
| [WORK STATUS] | List planned work, completed work, in-progress work, scope changes, and owners. | Released kickoff email sequence; integration checklist is in review; implementation manager owns enterprise onboarding changes. |
| [RISKS AND DEPENDENCIES] | List blockers, risks, dependencies, likelihood where known, and current mitigation. | SSO documentation requires security review; product event tracking misses some self-serve accounts. |
| [NEXT MONTH PLAN] | List proposed outcomes, owners, due dates, dependencies, and measurable success criteria. | Publish SSO checklist by September 10, owner Security PM; pilot automated reminders by September 20, owner Lifecycle Manager. |
How to use
- Gather metric exports and work-status notes before drafting so each statement has a source.
- Check the scorecard against the source systems, especially changes in metric definitions or incomplete tracking.
- Ask: “Convert the risks and decisions section into a leadership meeting agenda with a recommended decision for each item.”
- Send the report to named owners for factual correction before treating next-month items as commitments.
Variations
Executive one-pager
Use when leaders need a fast read rather than a full operating report.
Turn [MONTHLY EVIDENCE] into a one-page executive monthly update for [TEAM] covering [PERIOD]. Objectives and targets are [OBJECTIVES]; decisions required are [DECISIONS]. Produce: a three-bullet headline summary, a five-row scorecard, what changed and why, the two biggest risks, and three decision requests with owner and deadline. Use only supplied evidence and show unavailable data explicitly. Do not bury a missed target in narrative. Check that each decision request identifies the consequence of delay and that metric comparisons use the same definition and period.
Client report
Use when reporting progress to an external client with clear boundaries.
Write a client-facing monthly report for [CLIENT] about [ENGAGEMENT] covering [PERIOD]. Contracted outcomes are [SCOPE]; completed work and evidence are [RESULTS]; open items are [OPEN ITEMS]; next steps are [NEXT STEPS]. Produce a professional report with delivered work, outcome evidence, decisions or inputs needed from the client, timeline, and next-month plan. Do not imply guarantees or include internal opinions, margin information, or unapproved future scope. Check that each deliverable maps to contract scope and that every requested client action has a due date and stated consequence.
Project health report
Use when a project needs delivery-focused reporting rather than performance metrics.
Create a project health report for [PROJECT] as of [DATE] for [STAKEHOLDERS]. Milestones and baseline plan are [PLAN]; current progress is [PROGRESS]; budget and staffing facts are [RESOURCES]; risks are [RISKS]. Produce a RAG-status summary, milestone table with baseline versus forecast dates, scope changes, budget status, dependency log, and a two-week action plan with owners. Define the basis for each status color. Do not label a project green if a critical path item lacks an owner or forecast. Check dates for logical sequence and distinguish approved scope changes from proposed ones.
Tips
- Define each metric once and retain its source; a faster result is meaningless if the definition changed mid-month.
- Write the variance before explaining it so readers can separate measured performance from interpretation.
- A risk log is useful only when it names a decision owner and a date by which the risk must be resolved or accepted.
- Keep completed work separate from outcomes; shipping a feature and changing a customer metric are different claims.
FAQ
How long should a monthly report be?
Use the shortest form that supports the audience's decisions. A one-page executive update and a fuller operating report can come from the same evidence.
Should I include bad news?
Yes. State the miss, its evidence, likely cause, corrective action, and decision needed without disguising it in positive activity updates.
What if a metric is missing?
Mark it as unavailable, explain why, and assign an action to restore measurement if the metric is important.