![\"Project](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IT-projet-plan-gantt-chart-2025-cta-1.png\")
<\/a>What Is a Business Requirements Document?<\/h2>\n
A business requirements document<\/a> collects the necessary information to deliver a project successfully. That includes the objectives that the project is planning to achieve, the scope of the project, the project schedule and much more.<\/p>\n In a sense, you’re creating a roadmap or guidelines for project stakeholders who’ll be making business decisions in terms of the project\u2019s priorities, design, structure, etc. Throughout the phases of the project, a business requirements document ensures that the execution aligns with the project goals.<\/p>\n Beyond that, it can act as a contract between customers and vendors by outlining the expectations of the project and its deliverables. The standard by which the successful completion of the project can be concluded is set by the business requirements document.<\/p>\n Using our free business requirements document template for Word is helpful as it maps out the requirements you need to define as you begin planning your project. In that way, it saves time and effort. It also provides consistency as you work on new projects and want to look back at historical data to inform your new project.<\/p>\n But there are benefits that go beyond its sections being templated. For example, with a BRD template, there’s less of a chance that a project will fail because business requirements have been aligned and represented.<\/p>\n You can also connect the goals of the individual project to the larger, overall goals of the company. This keeps the project aligned with business-wide objectives and promotes the health of the company.<\/p>\n It’s a great way to monitor the project health, create consensus among the stakeholders and the team members. Then there’s collaboration, which comes from transparency and saves costs by reducing change requests.<\/p>\n Once you download our free business requirements document template for Word, you can start to reap the reward of those benefits. Our fully customizable template can be changed to add or subtract sections to better mirror your project. It includes the following nine sections that are the foundation of any thorough business requirements document.<\/p>\n To start your BRD template, you want to have a summary of what’s to follow. The executive summary<\/a> is a bit more than an index; it’s more of an overview of the highlights. This is an ideal introduction to give stakeholders the big picture without delving into too much detail. There’ll be plenty of time for that later.<\/p>\n Use SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-specific) goals to define the project objective<\/a>. This involves analysis, assessment and understanding clearly where you want the company to be in the future and how the project will help get you there.<\/p>\n This is where you\u2019ll identify the need that the project intends to resolve or address. In this section of your BRD template, you\u2019ll flesh out that problem or need so it\u2019s clear that you\u2019re aware of it in the larger context and that the project is designed to take advantage of this opportunity.<\/p>\n At this point, you want to list all the project goals, deliverables, tasks, costs and deadlines. This is the basis of your project plan, which will organize those tasks, attach resources to them and create a schedule that delivers the project in a timely manner.<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> Free Project Plan Template<\/a><\/p>\n The requirements that you need to identify for this business requirements document template are threefold. They include business, solution and stakeholder requirements.<\/p>\n List the important stakeholders<\/a> in the project. This can include end-users, clients, team members and project sponsors or anyone who is impacted by the project. Interviewing them is critical in gathering requirements for the project.<\/p>\n Include a detailed schedule of the project<\/a>. That schedule should include deadlines and milestones to help monitor progress and make sure deliverables are on time. This helps team members know what they\u2019re accountable for and helps to keep stakeholders updated.<\/p>\n Here, you\u2019ll capture the costs associated with the project and note the expected benefits. A cost-benefit analysis<\/a> will help you determine if the financial gains of the project outweigh the financial investment.<\/p>\n Write down all of the things that might restrict or limit the project including the budget, time, resources, team skill levels and so on. It\u2019s important that these constraints are carefully examined, accurate and justified within the BRD.<\/p>\n When it comes to filling in the fields of your free business requirements document template, there are several people that should be involved. First and foremost, the customer. The customer will determine the requirements as they will use the project\u2019s deliverables.<\/p>\n While the customer isn’t physically using the template, they’re informing it at its core. A business analyst is responsible for figuring out the problem or niche that the project is going to address. That potentially involves interviewing customers but also market research and other demographic findings.<\/p>\n The project manager is the owner of the business requirements document template and is likely the person on the project team who will fill it out. They’re tasked with delivering the solution to the problem or filling the niche that was discovered by the business analyst as they collected data from the customer.<\/p>\n If it\u2019s an IT project, a systems analyst is responsible for designing the business requirements. A marketing manager will lead the marketing strategy and a product manager will help to define the why, when and what of the product that the development team will build.<\/p>\n The free business requirements document template for Word is only one of the dozens of free project management templates<\/a> we offer on the site. There are free templates that address every aspect of managing a project, from start to finish. Here are only a few of the ones that relate to the topic at hand.<\/p>\n Another document that can help is the free requirements gathering template. It\u2019s a more general one that includes the project plan, scope, timeline with milestones, goals, dependencies and more. There\u2019s a project description for stakeholders to share their expectations in terms of goals and objectives.<\/p>\n The free stakeholder analysis template will help you identify the stakeholders in the project and determine their level of participation, interest and power or influence over the project. This will help you not only know who your key stakeholders are, but how to manage them, such as the frequency of communications and more.<\/p>\n Doing a cost-benefit analysis is part of any thorough business requirements document. This free cost-benefit analysis template helps you calculate this important information to figure out if the money the project will cost is worth investing considering the return the project will provide. Don\u2019t move forward with your project until you\u2019ve done a cost-benefit analysis.<\/p>\n ProjectManager<\/a> is cloud-based project management software that helps you plan, manage and track projects in real time. Once you have created a business requirements document, you have to make a plan to coordinate all your resources, costs and schedule to deliver on time and within budget. Our real-time data helps you make better decisions with features that let you monitor how you\u2019re doing as you\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n To make sure you\u2019re keeping to your project plan, you need to monitor your progress and the performance of your team. This data is crucial. Having real-time dashboards<\/a> means you\u2019re getting a high-level view of the project as it is happening, which means you can respond faster to keep your project on track. You don\u2019t have to configure our dashboard like you do with competitors\u2019 products. It\u2019s ready to go when you are.<\/p>\n Implementing a project involves the cooperation of many different departments, from IT to marketing and sales. But while managers love Gantt charts, the IT department probably wants a more agile tool. That\u2019s why we have multiple project views, such as kanban boards<\/a> to visualize workflow, list, calendar and sheet views. Each project view is updated in real time and allows every department to collaborate on the tools they\u2019re most comfortable with.<\/p>\n ProjectManager is more than just powerful software, it\u2019s an online hub for all things project management. Every week we publish new blogs, and there are tons of tutorial videos, guides, whitepapers, and, of course, free templates. Here are a few pieces that relate to a business requirements document.<\/p>\nWhy You Need a Business Requirements Document Template<\/h2>\n
![\"Business](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Business_Requirements_Template_Screenshot.png\")
<\/a>How to Use This Business Requirements Document Template<\/h2>\n
1. Executive Summary<\/h3>\n
2. Business Objectives<\/h3>\n
3. Needs Statement<\/h3>\n
4. Project Scope<\/h3>\n
5. Requirements<\/h3>\n
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6. Stakeholders<\/h3>\n
7. Project Schedule<\/h3>\n
8. Cost-Benefit Analysis<\/h3>\n
9. Project Constraints<\/h3>\n
Who Should Use This Business Requirements Document Template?<\/h2>\n
Other Templates to Help with Business Requirements<\/h2>\n
Requirements Gathering Template<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Stakeholder Analysis Template<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Cost-Benefit Analysis Template <\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
ProjectManager Helps You Implement Your Business Requirements Document<\/h2>\n
Track Progress and Performance in Real Time<\/h3>\n
![\"ProjectManager's](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/project-management-dashboard.webp\")
<\/a>\nGive Teams the Tools They Want<\/h3>\n
![\"Kanban](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Agile-sprint-plan-kanban-CAR.jpg\")
\nRelated Content<\/h2>\n