Walk into your next steerco with the governance already done.
Log risks, actions and decisions as they happen and the dashboard builds itself. Your steerco pack is ready before the meeting, not the night before. Set up in about 30 minutes in the Excel you already have.
£59 launch price · first 30 buyers only, then £79 · Instant download
Excel 2019+ or Microsoft 365 · Windows or Mac · No macros · Fully offline
The real dashboard, shown with the sample programme included in the download.
Sound familiar?
Most programme trackers are built in a hurry, mid-programme.
- EscalatedThree versions of the RAID log, and nobody is sure which one the sponsor saw.
- At RiskDecisions agreed at the board, and no record of the actions that were meant to follow.
- OverdueA steering committee pack rebuilt by hand the night before, again.
Governance OS gives you one place for all of it, set up before your first meeting, so you spend steerco week managing the programme instead of the spreadsheet.
How it works
Three steps to your first steerco pack.
- 1
Download it
Straight after checkout. Open the sample to see a live programme, then open the blank template.
- 2
Add your people and today's risks
Stakeholders first, so owners appear in every dropdown, then your open risks and actions. About 30 minutes.
- 3
Print the dashboard
It's already up to date. One landscape page, ready for your next steerco.
Before and after
From the tracker everyone dreads to the view your steerco reads.
| Ref | Item | Owner | Due | Status | RAG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R12 | Vendor feed late again | TBC | next wk | Ongoing | Red? |
| R12 | Data quality (see email) | Ops | 31/9 | WIP | A |
| 14 | SME availability | Sarah / Tom | chasing | AMBER | |
| R-15 | Deadline moved?? | ASAP | Open | Green | |
| Env issues – raise at steerco | David | Fri | Done? |
An illustration, not a real client file. You will recognise it anyway.
A quick check before steerco, instead of an evening of rebuilding. One ID per item, one owner from the stakeholder list, real dates, statuses from a fixed list, and a score that works out priority and escalation for you.
Who it's for
Built for the people who answer for the programme.
Contract programme managers
Look in control from week one.
Your first steerco is in two weeks. Arrive with a working RAID log, actions, decisions and a dashboard on day one, instead of inheriting someone else's spreadsheet.
Contract through your own limited company? It's a business tool, so you can usually expense it.
PMO and governance leads
Every programme, reported the same way.
One scoring rule, one set of statuses and one dashboard layout across every programme. Every pack reads the same way, with no reformatting before it goes up the line.
Small consultancies
A governance standard you don't have to build.
Give every consultant the same professional setup on every client. One licence per consultant, each covering unlimited programmes, including client work.
Equipping a team? Buy as many copies as you need in one checkout. Buying 5 or more? Use code TEAM15 for 15% off.
Who it's not for
If your organisation runs governance in Jira, ServiceNow or Smartsheet, or you need several people editing live at the same time, this isn't for you. It's for people who live in Excel and need governance done properly.
If you've ever rebuilt a RAID log on a Sunday, it's for you.
What changes
Spend steerco week on the programme, not the paperwork.
The pack is ready when you are
Every risk, action and decision you log updates the dashboard straight away. When the steering committee asks for the latest view, print it on one landscape page and go.
No more arguing about what a risk is worth
Score is Impact × Likelihood and the priority bands are fixed, so the meeting talks about what to do, not what to call it. RAG and project status stay your judgement.
Escalations don't rely on someone remembering
Anything open that scores 15 or more, or is past its target date, is flagged for escalation automatically and shows on the dashboard until it's dealt with.
Every action has a real owner
Owners come from your stakeholder list, and the dashboard shows the five people carrying the most open actions, so it's always clear who is carrying what.
Logs stay clean without you policing them
Duplicate IDs and wrong entries are stopped as they're typed, and anything pasted in that doesn't fit is flagged red. The formulas are locked, so nobody breaks the maths.
Safe for any client environment
No macros, no add-ins and no internet connection. It runs fully offline in Excel, so we never see your data and there's nothing extra to install.
Tested before you see it
We tried to break it so you don't have to.
Everything you need to run governance from Monday.
Rebuilding a steerco pack by hand takes most of an evening, every month. Governance OS costs less than an hour of a typical contractor's day rate, once.
Buy it and download it straight away. No waiting, no account to set up.
Open the sample to see a live programme, then start your own in the blank template.
£59 launch price, first 30 buyers only, then it goes back to £79.
- Blank template (.xlsx)
- Sample workbook: "Project Meridian – Reg Reporting", fully populated
- Quick Start Guide (PDF, 7 pages)
- Licence (PDF)
- Free v1.x updates
- Email support
Instant download. Excel 2019+ or Microsoft 365, Windows or Mac. Not supported: Google Sheets, Numbers, LibreOffice. Free v1.x updates.
The detail
For when you want to check how it works.
The rules are built in
- Score = Impact × Likelihood, each from 1 to 5, with fixed priority bands.
- Escalation is automatic. Any open RAID item scoring 15 or more, or past its target date, shows Escalated: Yes.
- Stakeholders sort themselves into a quadrant with an engagement strategy.
See all the rules
| Score | Priority |
|---|---|
| 15–25 | Critical |
| 12–14 | High |
| 6–11 | Medium |
| 1–5 | Low |
Escalated shows Yes when the status is Escalated, the score is 15 or more, or the item is overdue. The flag clears once the item is Complete or Closed.
Open means anything not Complete or Closed, and only rows with an ID are counted.
Stakeholders: influence and interest of 4 or more, Manage Closely. Influence only, Keep Satisfied. Interest only, Keep Informed. Otherwise, Monitor.
RAG and project status stay as your judgement. Score and priority are calculated.
The logs keep themselves clean
- Duplicate IDs are stopped, and the next ID is shown on every log.
- Wrong entries are stopped as you type, and pasted ones are flagged red.
- Formulas are locked and hidden, and every input cell is open.
See all the safeguards
Type an ID that already exists and Excel stops you. Paste one in and both copies are flagged red.
A status that isn't on the list, text in a date or a score outside 1 to 5 is rejected when typed and flagged red when pasted.
1,996 rows per log on RAID, actions and decisions; 250 stakeholders, 50 meetings and 100 RACI activities. Pre-sized, so there is no inserting rows.
Dynamic print areas, and the dashboard prints on one landscape page.
No macros, no add-ins, no internet connection. It runs fully offline, so we never see your data.
See all eight tabs
1Start here
One page of rules, statuses and definitions, so the whole team uses the logs the same way.
2Dashboard
KPIs, open RAID by type and RAG, overdue items, active escalations, top 5 risks by score, top 5 overdue actions, top action owners and recent decisions.
3RAID log
Risks, issues, dependencies and assumptions. Days open, score, priority, overdue and escalated are calculated for you.
4Actions log
Owners and due dates, with days till due, overdue and days overdue worked out automatically.
5Decisions log
Decision, owner, forum, rationale, status and follow-up, so "who agreed that?" has an answer.
6Stakeholders
Influence and interest give each person a quadrant and an engagement strategy. Names feed all the owner dropdowns.
7Governance calendar
Each forum's purpose, audience, frequency, chair, inputs and outputs in one place.
8RACI
A starter governance RACI with common activities filled in, editable roles, colour coding and room for 100 activities.
Questions
Before you buy
Which versions of Excel does it work in?
Excel 2019 or later, or Microsoft 365, on Windows or Mac. It's designed for desktop Excel, so use the desktop app for the best experience. It does not work in Google Sheets, Numbers or LibreOffice.
How long does it take to set up?
About 30 minutes to add your stakeholders and today's open risks and actions. The dashboard fills in as you go.
Does it use macros or need an internet connection?
No. There are no macros and no add-ins, and it doesn't connect to the internet. It runs fully offline, so we never see your data.
Can I change it?
Every input cell is open: your entries, owners, roles, RAG, project status and the RACI. The formulas are locked and hidden so the calculations stay reliable.
Can I use it on client work?
Yes. The licence covers unlimited programmes of your own, including client work. Outputs such as the dashboard can be shared freely, and a project copy can be shared with that programme's team.
Can I share the template with colleagues?
Each person who uses it on their own programmes needs their own licence. You can buy several copies in one checkout. A project copy can still be shared with the team working on that programme. The blank template itself can't be resold.
Will I get updates?
Yes. All v1.x updates are free. When there's a new version, we'll email you and the new files will be ready to download.
What if it doesn't work for me?
If it doesn't work as described in a supported version of Excel, email support@governanceos.co.uk within 14 days and we'll fix it or refund you. As it's a digital download, we don't normally refund once it's downloaded for any other reason.
Will it work on my locked-down work laptop?
Very likely. It's a standard .xlsx file with no macros, add-ins or external connections, which are the usual reasons spreadsheet tools get blocked on corporate machines. If you can open normal Excel files at work, you can use it.
Is VAT included?
Prices are shown plus VAT. The right VAT for your country is added at checkout.
How do I get help?
Email support@governanceos.co.uk. The Quick Start Guide in the download covers setup step by step.
Your steerco pack, ready before the meeting. Not the night before.
£59 launch price, first 30 buyers only, then it goes back to £79. Instant download.