What it is
A weekly status meeting needs one list that shows every engagement, its stage and how it is going against time and budget. This tracker calculates a red, amber or green status from the due date and from the gap between hours used and percent complete, using thresholds you set.
The dashboard counts engagements by status, stage and partner, totals budget against hours to date, and checks that every engagement has a listed stage and partner so none drops out of the count.
When to use it
- Weekly or biweekly status meetings during busy season.
- Partner coverage reviews and workload discussions.
- Spotting engagements that are using hours faster than they are progressing.
What’s inside
- Settings: amber lead time, hours-gap thresholds, engagement types and stages marked as finished or not
- Engagements: 80 rows with client, type, partner, manager, stage, due date, PBC percent, budget and hours, percent complete, status and next step
- Dashboard: status counts, stage table, partner table, hours and tie-outs
Standard cited
This template follows Firm practice. It is written in our own words, except for phrases the standard requires the document to contain, with [bracketed placeholders] for client details, amounts in USD and dates as MM/DD/YYYY. Check it against the current standard and your firm’s methodology before use.
Questions
How is the status decided?
Complete if the stage is marked finished. Red if the due date has passed or hours used exceed percent complete by the red threshold. Amber if due within the lead time while under 90% complete, or the hours gap is at least the amber threshold. Green otherwise.
What is the hours gap?
Percent of budget hours used minus percent complete. A positive number means hours are being used faster than work is progressing. It depends on a sound percent complete estimate, so base that on work done and not hours spent.
Can I add my own stages?
Yes, up to sixteen. Mark each as finished or not on the Settings sheet and the status logic follows.
Does it replace the time system?
No. Enter hours to date from your time system weekly. The tracker is a view for status decisions.
Related templates
- PBC Tracker with Ageing (Excel)
- Engagement Kickoff Checklist
- Time and Budget Variance Workbook (Excel)
- Busy-Season Capacity Planner (Excel)
Last updated 11/05/2026. All free templates.