Project Toolkit

End of Stage Report

End of Stage Report

Formal report summarising stage performance to support the Project Board's decision to proceed, enabling informed stage gate decisions.

End of Stage Report

The End of Stage Report provides the Project Board with information needed to decide whether to authorise the next stage, covering what was achieved, how the stage performed, and the forecast for the remainder of the project.

Purpose

The End of Stage Report:

  • Summarises stage achievements
  • Reports performance against plan
  • Identifies issues and lessons
  • Forecasts project completion
  • Supports stage gate decisions
  • Updates the business case

Stage Gate Process

flowchart LR A[Stage
Complete] --> B[Prepare End
Stage Report] B --> C[Present to
Project Board] C --> D{Decision} D -->|Approve| E[Start
Next Stage] D -->|Exception| F[Exception
Plan] D -->|Stop| G[Premature
Close] classDef blue fill:#108BB9,stroke:none,color:#fff class A,B,C,D,E,F,G blue

Report Contents

Essential Sections

Section Purpose
Executive summary Key messages for quick review
Stage achievements What was delivered
Performance Time, cost, quality, scope
Issues and changes Problems and resolutions
Lessons learned What to improve
Forecast Updated project outlook
Recommendation Proceed, modify, or stop

End of Stage Report Template

Report Header

Field Content
Project Customer Portal Enhancement
Stage Stage 2 - Development
Report Date 31 March 2026
Project Manager John Smith
Distribution Project Board, PMO

Executive Summary

Stage Status

Dimension Status Commentary
Overall Amber Stage complete with minor delays
Schedule Amber 5 days late, within tolerance
Budget Green £3,000 under budget
Quality Green All quality criteria met
Scope Green All products delivered
Risk Amber One high risk materialised

Key Messages

# Key Message
1 All planned products delivered with quality criteria met
2 Stage completed 5 days late due to API integration issues
3 Budget underspent by £3,000 (4%)
4 Business case remains valid with minor schedule adjustment
5 Recommend approval to proceed to Stage 3

Stage Achievements

Products Delivered

Product Planned Date Actual Date Quality
Login Screen 14 Feb 14 Feb Approved
Dashboard 28 Feb 05 Mar Approved
User Profile 14 Mar 19 Mar Approved
Integration Tests 21 Mar 28 Mar Approved
Technical Docs 28 Mar 31 Mar Approved

Milestones

Milestone Planned Actual Variance
Stage Start 15 Jan 15 Jan 0 days
Dev Environment Ready 20 Jan 20 Jan 0 days
Login Complete 14 Feb 14 Feb 0 days
Dashboard Complete 28 Feb 05 Mar +5 days
Integration Complete 21 Mar 28 Mar +7 days
Stage End 28 Mar 31 Mar +3 days

Key Accomplishments

Accomplishment Impact
Delivered full portal functionality Enables user acceptance testing
Achieved performance targets <1.5 second page loads
Completed security review No vulnerabilities found
Built comprehensive test suite 85% code coverage

Performance Against Plan

Schedule Performance

Metric Planned Actual Variance
Duration 11 weeks 11.5 weeks +0.5 weeks
Effort 400 person-days 410 person-days +10 days
Milestones on time 6 4 -2

Schedule Analysis: API integration complexity exceeded estimates. Recovery achieved through parallel working and weekend work. Overall delay of 5 days within tolerance (+10 days).

Cost Performance

Category Budget Actual Variance
Labour - Internal £45,000 £46,000 +£1,000
Labour - External £20,000 £16,000 -£4,000
Infrastructure £5,000 £5,000 £0
Tools/Licences £3,000 £3,000 £0
Contingency used £7,000 £0 -£7,000
Total £80,000 £70,000 -£10,000

Cost Analysis: Stage completed £10,000 (12.5%) under budget. External contractor days reduced through internal upskilling. Contingency not required.

Quality Performance

Metric Target Actual Status
Code review completion 100% 100% Met
Unit test coverage >80% 85% Met
Integration tests passing 100% 100% Met
Defects at handover <10 3 Met
Performance target <2 sec 1.4 sec Met

Issues and Changes

Issues Resolved

Issue Impact Resolution
API rate limiting Delayed integration Implemented caching
Database performance Slow queries Query optimisation
SSL certificate delay Blocked testing Used temporary certs

Outstanding Issues

Issue Impact Mitigation
Mobile responsiveness Minor display issues Fix in Stage 3
Edge browser quirk Affects 2% of users Workaround documented

Changes Approved

RFC Description Impact
RFC-003 Additional SSO provider +2 days, +£500
RFC-005 Enhanced error handling +1 day, no cost

Changes Deferred

RFC Description Reason
RFC-004 Dark mode Out of scope, future phase
RFC-006 API versioning Complexity, defer to Stage 3

Risk Update

Risks Materialised

Risk Impact Response
R2: API integration issues 5-day delay Extended testing, vendor support

Current High Risks

Risk Probability Impact Mitigation
UAT resource availability Medium High Early booking confirmed
Production environment Low High Parallel preparation

Lessons Learned

What Went Well

Lesson Application
Daily stand-ups improved coordination Continue in Stage 3
Early QA involvement reduced defects Maintain approach
Cross-training reduced key-person risk Expand practice

What Could Be Improved

Lesson Action
Third-party API complexity underestimated Add buffer for integration
Documentation started late Begin documentation earlier
Stakeholder demos could be more frequent Weekly demo sessions

Project Forecast

Updated Project Timeline

Stage Original End Forecast End Variance
Stage 1 - Design 14 Jan 14 Jan 0
Stage 2 - Development 28 Mar 31 Mar +3 days
Stage 3 - Testing 30 Apr 05 May +5 days
Stage 4 - Deployment 31 May 05 Jun +5 days

Updated Project Budget

Category Original Forecast Variance
Stage 1 £30,000 £29,000 -£1,000
Stage 2 £80,000 £70,000 -£10,000
Stage 3 £50,000 £52,000 +£2,000
Stage 4 £40,000 £40,000 £0
Total £200,000 £191,000 -£9,000

Business Case Update

Metric Original Revised Status
Total cost £200,000 £191,000 Better
Completion date 31 May 05 Jun Acceptable
Year 1 benefits £150,000 £145,000 Slight reduction
NPV £320,000 £315,000 Still positive
ROI 160% 165% Improved

Next Stage Plan Summary

Stage 3 Overview

Element Detail
Stage name Stage 3 - Testing and UAT
Duration 5 weeks
Budget £52,000
Key products UAT completion, bug fixes, performance tuning
Key milestone UAT sign-off by 05 May

Stage 3 Resources

Resource Allocation Period
Project Manager 50% Full stage
QA Lead 100% Full stage
Testers (2) 100% Weeks 1-4
Developers (2) 50% Full stage
Business SMEs 50% Weeks 2-4

Recommendation

Options

Option Description Recommendation
1. Approve Stage 3 Proceed as planned Recommended
2. Approve with conditions Proceed with specific changes Not required
3. Request exception plan Major replanning needed Not applicable
4. Stop project Terminate project Not recommended

Recommendation

Approve Stage 3 as presented. The project remains on track to deliver planned benefits with only minor schedule variance. Budget performance is positive, and all quality criteria have been met.

Approval

Project Board Decision

Decision Selected
Approve Stage 3 ☐
Approve with conditions ☐
Request exception plan ☐
Stop project ☐

Conditions (if applicable)

Condition Owner Due Date
     

Sign-off

Role Name Signature Date
Project Sponsor      
Senior User      
Senior Supplier      

End of Stage Report Checklist

Preparation

  • All products signed off?
  • Performance data gathered?
  • Issues documented?
  • Lessons captured?
  • Project forecast updated?
  • Business case reviewed?
  • Next stage plan ready?
  • Risk register current?

Review

  • Report reviewed by PMO?
  • Pre-meeting with sponsor?
  • Board meeting scheduled?
  • Papers circulated?

Post-Meeting

  • Decision recorded?
  • Actions assigned?
  • Next stage authorised?
  • Documents baselined?
Last updated: 13 January 2026
Themes

Governance

Control