Quarterly business planning cycle template

Steps in this flowchart

• Quarter end minus 4 weeks
• Review last quarter: KPIs vs plan
• Retrospective: wins, misses, lessons
• Refresh revenue & headcount forecast
• Gap to annual target?
• Identify growth & cost levers
• Draft top 3-5 priorities
• Teams propose plans & resource asks
• Fits budget & capacity?
• Trade-off session with leadership
• Leadership commits plan
• Finance locks quarterly budget
• All-hands kickoff
• Weekly business review
• On track?
• Re-plan or escalate blockers
• Quarter close & next cycle

How to use this flowchart template

1. Click Open in the editor. The flowchart opens on a new page in FlowDiagram — nothing is uploaded and there is no sign-up.
2. Rename, add or delete shapes and drag them where you want; connectors stay attached as things move.
3. Drop in vendor logos from the library — 1,160 of them, including every AWS, Azure and Google Cloud service icon — or restyle it with the colour and theme controls.
4. Prefer text? Edit the Mermaid source below and paste it in through ☰ → Import diagram (see the Mermaid editor); it imports as an editable diagram.
5. Export to PNG, SVG or PDF, or press Ctrl+L for a link that carries the whole diagram.

Mermaid source

The whole template is the text below. Paste it into FlowDiagram, keep it in Git next to the code it describes, or hand it to an AI assistant to extend.

flowchart TD
  START([Quarter end minus 4 weeks]) --> REVIEW[Review last quarter: KPIs vs plan]
  REVIEW --> LESSONS[Retrospective: wins, misses, lessons]
  LESSONS --> FORECAST[Refresh revenue & headcount forecast]
  FORECAST --> GAP{Gap to annual target?}
  GAP -->|Yes| LEVERS[Identify growth & cost levers]
  GAP -->|No| PRIOR[Draft top 3-5 priorities]
  LEVERS --> PRIOR
  PRIOR --> TEAMS[Teams propose plans & resource asks]
  TEAMS --> FIT{Fits budget & capacity?}
  FIT -->|No| TRADE[Trade-off session with leadership]
  TRADE --> TEAMS
  FIT -->|Yes| COMMIT[Leadership commits plan]
  COMMIT --> BUDGET[Finance locks quarterly budget]
  BUDGET --> ALLHANDS[All-hands kickoff]
  ALLHANDS --> WEEKLY[Weekly business review]
  WEEKLY --> ONTRACK{On track?}
  ONTRACK -->|No| ADJUST[Re-plan or escalate blockers]
  ADJUST --> WEEKLY
  ONTRACK -->|Yes| CLOSE([Quarter close & next cycle])

Related: Mermaid editor · All business & organization templates · All 521 templates