Free tool
Issue log template
Track the problems that are already happening on your project, each with a priority, an owner, a resolve-by date and a next step. Overdue and escalated issues stand out, and you get a summary to paste into the status report. Or download the Excel and Word versions.
Filled in with a made-up example so you can see how it works.
1. Project
Set “As of” to the review date. Unresolved issues past their resolve-by date are flagged as overdue against it.
2. Issues
One problem per card. Give each one an owner, a resolve-by date and a next step. When it's fixed, set the status to Resolved and write what fixed it.
I1CriticalEscalatedOverdueopen 10 days
PriorityI2Highopen 7 days
PriorityI3Highopen 3 days
PriorityI4Mediumopen 8 days
PriorityI5Mediumopen 4 days
PriorityI6Lowopen 1 day
PriorityI7HighResolved
PriorityI8MediumResolved
Priority
3. Open issues by priority
- 1Critical
- 2High
- 2Medium
- 1Low
1 overdue · 1 escalated · 1 without an owner · 2 resolved
4. Summary to share
8 issues: 6 open (1 critical, 2 high), 1 overdue, 1 escalated, 1 without an owner. 2 resolved.
Issue log: Customer portal relaunch
As of Nov 13, 2026
8 issues: 6 open (1 critical, 2 high), 1 overdue, 1 escalated, 1 without an owner. 2 resolved
Open, highest priority first:
I1. [Critical] The payment provider's test environment has rejected every test card since its API update on Nov 2.
Impact: Checkout testing is blocked; the Dec 7 go-live slips a day for every day this stays open. Owner: Marta Ruiz, resolve by Nov 12 (overdue). Escalated. Open 10 days. Next: Support case open since Nov 4, escalated to the provider's account manager on Nov 10; call booked for Nov 16.
I2. [High] Single sign-on fails for customers with an apostrophe in their surname.
Impact: 6 of the 1,200 test accounts can't log in. Owner: Sam Okafor, resolve by Nov 18. In progress. Open 7 days. Next: Fix in code review; retest with the 6 accounts before merging.
I3. [High] Two of the three testers are also on year-end close from Nov 23.
Impact: Regression testing for release 2 drops to one tester for two weeks. Owner: Jo Lin, resolve by Nov 20. Open 3 days. Next: Ask the finance lead to release one tester, or run regression Nov 16 to 20 instead.
I5. [Medium] The French and German help pages arrived from the translation agency two weeks late.
Impact: Localized pages won't be reviewed before the Nov 30 content freeze unless the rest arrives on time. Owner: Priya Rao, resolve by Nov 21. In progress. Open 4 days. Next: Agency delivering the remaining pages by Nov 18; reviewers booked for Nov 19 and 20.
I4. [Medium] Staging data is three months old and has none of the plan types launched in October.
Impact: Upgrades to the new plans can't be tested. Owner: Sam Okafor, resolve by Nov 25. Open 8 days. Next: Refresh staging from a masked copy of production.
I6. [Low] Footer links still point to the old help center.
Impact: Customers who click them land on retired articles. Owner: No owner yet. Open 1 day.
Resolved:
I7. The load test server ran out of disk space during the second run. Resolution: Disk raised to 500 GB on Oct 30; runs 3 and 4 passed.
I8. Legal hadn't approved the new cookie banner wording. Resolution: Approved at the Nov 9 review with one change to the opt-out line.“Copy for email” pastes as a table into Outlook or Gmail, or into a status report. The CSV includes days open and an overdue flag. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
What an issue log is for
An issue log is the list of problems that are already affecting the project: a supplier that missed a date, a test environment that doesn't work, two people booked on the same week. Its job is simple. Every problem has one person working on it, a date it should be fixed by, and a next step everyone can see. When a problem is beyond the team, the log is how it reaches someone who can decide.
It isn't a bug tracker. Individual defects belong in the team's own tool. A defect goes in the issue log when it threatens a milestone, the budget or the scope, like the sign-in failure in the example above.
What goes in each column
- Issue: what is wrong, as a fact, with a date or a number. “The test environment has rejected every card since Nov 2”, not “payments are a problem”.
- Impact: what it does to the schedule, the cost or the scope, and what happens if it isn't fixed by the date.
- Priority: critical, high, medium or low, using a guide agreed with the sponsor (below).
- Category: technical, supplier, resources, scope, requirements, environment, stakeholders, budget or other. Three open issues in one category usually share a cause.
- Raised, owner and resolve by: when it was logged, who is fixing it, and by when. Days open counts from the raised date, so slow-moving issues show up.
- Status: open, in progress, escalated or resolved.
- Next step or resolution: the next concrete action while it's open; what fixed it once it's resolved.
Priority and escalation guide
Agree something like this with the sponsor at kickoff, so nobody argues about priority while an issue is open. The Excel and Word templates include it.
| Priority | What it means | Review | Escalate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Stops a milestone, the go-live or a customer commitment now. | Every day | To the sponsor the same day if there is no fix in sight. |
| High | Will move a milestone or the budget if it isn't fixed by its date. | Twice a week | When the owner can't fix it by the date with their own authority. |
| Medium | Hurts the work, but there is a workaround. | Weekly | If it is still open after two reviews with no progress. |
| Low | Minor or cosmetic. | Weekly, in a batch | Rarely. Fix it when convenient or close it. |
Example: an issue log summary for the status report
This is the example from the builder above, as plain text. The project, numbers and names are made up.
Issue log: Customer portal relaunch
As of Nov 13, 2026
8 issues: 6 open (1 critical, 2 high), 1 overdue, 1 escalated, 1 without an owner. 2 resolved
Open, highest priority first:
I1. [Critical] The payment provider's test environment has rejected every test card since its API update on Nov 2.
Impact: Checkout testing is blocked; the Dec 7 go-live slips a day for every day this stays open. Owner: Marta Ruiz, resolve by Nov 12 (overdue). Escalated. Open 10 days. Next: Support case open since Nov 4, escalated to the provider's account manager on Nov 10; call booked for Nov 16.
I2. [High] Single sign-on fails for customers with an apostrophe in their surname.
Impact: 6 of the 1,200 test accounts can't log in. Owner: Sam Okafor, resolve by Nov 18. In progress. Open 7 days. Next: Fix in code review; retest with the 6 accounts before merging.
I3. [High] Two of the three testers are also on year-end close from Nov 23.
Impact: Regression testing for release 2 drops to one tester for two weeks. Owner: Jo Lin, resolve by Nov 20. Open 3 days. Next: Ask the finance lead to release one tester, or run regression Nov 16 to 20 instead.
I5. [Medium] The French and German help pages arrived from the translation agency two weeks late.
Impact: Localized pages won't be reviewed before the Nov 30 content freeze unless the rest arrives on time. Owner: Priya Rao, resolve by Nov 21. In progress. Open 4 days. Next: Agency delivering the remaining pages by Nov 18; reviewers booked for Nov 19 and 20.
I4. [Medium] Staging data is three months old and has none of the plan types launched in October.
Impact: Upgrades to the new plans can't be tested. Owner: Sam Okafor, resolve by Nov 25. Open 8 days. Next: Refresh staging from a masked copy of production.
I6. [Low] Footer links still point to the old help center.
Impact: Customers who click them land on retired articles. Owner: No owner yet. Open 1 day.
Resolved:
I7. The load test server ran out of disk space during the second run. Resolution: Disk raised to 500 GB on Oct 30; runs 3 and 4 passed.
I8. Legal hadn't approved the new cookie banner wording. Resolution: Approved at the Nov 9 review with one change to the opt-out line.Read it the way a sponsor would. I1 is the one for the steering meeting: critical, already escalated, past its resolve-by date, and every day it stays open moves the go-live. I3 needs a decision from someone outside the project (the finance lead), so it may be the next escalation. I6 has no owner, which is the first thing to fix at the next review, even though it's low priority.
Running the weekly issue review
- Keep it short. Fifteen to thirty minutes, open issues only, highest priority first.
- Every issue leaves with three things: an owner, a resolve-by date and a next step. If one is missing, that's the action.
- Escalate early, with a recommendation. “We need the finance lead to release one tester for two weeks, or we move regression testing to Nov 16” gets a decision. “Testing is at risk” gets a meeting.
- Close issues properly. Write what fixed it. Those resolutions are the raw material for the lessons learned log at closure.
- Watch days open. A medium issue open for six weeks is usually a high one nobody wants to own.
Issue log, risk register or RAID log?
- Risk register: things that might happen, with a probability, an impact and a planned response. When a risk occurs, it moves here. See the risk register template.
- Issue log: things that are happening, with an owner, a date and a next step.
- RAID log: risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies in one place, for teams that prefer a single list. See the RAID log template.
The Excel and Word versions
- Excel template (.xlsx, 12 KB): a Summary sheet with live counts (open by priority, escalated, overdue against the “As of” date, without an owner, resolved) and a table by category. The Issues sheet has 60 numbered rows with drop-down lists for category, priority and status, a days-open column, and red resolve-by dates for overdue issues. A third sheet has the priority guide. Opens in Excel or Google Sheets.
- Word template (.docx, 37 KB): tables for open and resolved issues on a landscape page, with the priority guide on the second page, for teams that file the log with the status report. Opens in Word or Google Docs.
Both are blank apart from gray example rows.
Questions
What is an issue log in project management?
A list of problems that are already affecting the project, each with a priority, an owner, a date to resolve it by and the next step. It is what the project manager reviews every week to make sure every problem has someone working on it, and what goes to the steering group when an issue needs a decision above the team.
What is the difference between an issue log and a risk register?
A risk might happen; an issue is happening. The risk register holds uncertain events with a probability, an impact and a response planned in advance. When a risk occurs, it moves to the issue log, where the question is no longer how likely it is but who is fixing it and by when.
What should an issue log include?
For each issue: an ID, the date it was raised, a category, a priority, what is wrong (as a fact), the impact on schedule, cost or scope, an owner, a resolve-by date, a status, and the next step, which becomes the resolution once it is fixed. Above the list: the project, the date of the review and who owns the log.
Who should own the issue log?
The project manager owns the log itself: keeping it current, running the review and escalating. Each issue has its own owner, the person best placed to fix it, who may be on the team, at a supplier or in another department. An issue without a named owner is the first thing to fix at any review.
How often should the issue log be reviewed?
Weekly for the whole log, usually as part of the team meeting or right before the status report. Critical issues need a daily check until they are resolved, and high ones twice a week. The priority guide on this page is a starting point to agree with your sponsor.
Is anything I type saved?
No. The log is built in your browser and nothing is sent to PingCadence or anyone else. Download the CSV or the Excel template to keep it.
Hear about problems before they're issues
Most issues reach the log late, because the person who knows a date is slipping only says so when someone asks. PingCadence asks every task owner each week, from your own Outlook or Gmail after you approve the batch. Owners answer in about 30 seconds: on track, hard to say, or not on track with a new date and a reason. You see the slip against your baseline while there is still time to act, and nothing in your plan changes until you decide. The project status report template is the free version of the weekly report. See how it works.