What's the best approach: project charter template or build from scratch?

[Gary62]

I’m trying to decide if we should use a standard project charter template for our upcoming software implementation or build one from scratch. The pre-made ones seem efficient but I’m worried it won’t capture the specific approval workflows our finance team requires.

[LoganZW]

We used a standard template for a software rollout and it saved a lot of upfront time; it cut drafting effort by almost 40 percent. But we hit a snag when the finance approvals required a custom sign-off path and extra fields that it didn’t anticipate. So we ended up carving in the steps and drawing a quick ownership map.

[MasonW]

From scratch, we mapped the approvals and responsibilities, and it took us two long weeks to land something that felt stable. We found gaps in who signs off on budget changes and where the risk register should live. We kept tweaking the sections until people stopped asking for changes.

[Larry_G]

Would mapping the finance approval workflow first help you pick a better path?

[Luna_S]

I keep thinking maybe the real bottleneck isn’t the charter method but getting the right owner lined up early and a clear decision cadence. When we rushed to lock in the charter, the approvals dragged and the rest wandered.