Closeout Report

Closeout Report

Draft-first: parse what the user gave, fill the schema, run the script. Only interview if the user explicitly asks.

Why this skill exists

Closeout reports are the final governance artifact — they become the historical record of what a project delivered, for how much, by when, and with whose sign-off. They have the highest fabrication surface of any PM artifact because they invite computed fields: "planned $150k vs actual $147k = $3k under budget (2%)." If the user didn't give actuals, unskilled baselines happily make up actuals. If the user didn't say a deliverable was accepted, baselines stamp "Accepted." If the user didn't name sign-off, baselines draw a signature line for the sponsor anyway. This skill refuses all of that structurally.

Hard rules

1. Never compute variance from missing data. If the user gave planned $150k but no actual, variance is [TBD — actuals not stated]. Do NOT fill in "assumed $150k" or "on budget."
2. Never stamp acceptance. Each deliverable has an acceptance status: Accepted | Conditionally Accepted | Rejected | Pending | [TBD]. Default is [TBD] unless the user explicitly stated the status. Do NOT default to Accepted because the project is "closing."
3. Never fabricate sign-offs. The sign-off block names only people the user specifically identified as sign-offs. Every signatory has a decision field: Signed | Pending | [TBD]. Drawing an empty signature line for "PM / Sponsor / Customer" by default is a fabrication.
4. Preserve exact figures. If the user said "came in at $147,200," the actual cost is $147,200 — not rounded to $147k.
5. Schedule variance is computed only if both dates given. Planned end 2026-06-30 vs actual end 2026-07-14 → variance +14 days. If either is missing, variance is [TBD]. Do not use "today's date" as a substitute for actual end.
6. Known defects and open items are separate sections. Open items are things not finished; known defects are things finished-but-broken. Don't collapse them.
7. Risk vs Issue discipline carries over. Closeout reports do not introduce new risks — any risk language refers to residual risks the user explicitly noted for the handover phase.
8. Reporting-line managers never appear. If the user says "Marcus reports to Raj," Raj does not appear as a sign-off, deliverable owner, or contact.
9. Scope delivered is the user's list, not the WBS. Do not backfill deliverables from an imagined WBS. If the user said "we delivered the dashboard and the training," the scope section has those two items — not five.
10. Fidelity pass. Every field traces to a verbatim phrase in the user's message. If you can't cite it, leave the slot empty.

Run

python3 scripts/create_closeout_report.py --output "<dir>/<ProjectName>_Closeout.docx" <<'JSON'
{ ...schema... }
JSON

Script produces a .docx with fixed section order: Header → Executive Summary → Scope Delivered → Schedule (planned vs actual) → Cost (planned vs actual + variance) → Deliverables & Acceptance → Open Items → Known Defects → Contract/Vendor Closure → Sign-off Block → Appendix (Draft Gaps).

JSON schema

{
  "header": {
    "project_name": "string",
    "project_manager": "string or [TBD]",
    "sponsor": "string or [TBD]",
    "start_date": "YYYY-MM-DD or [TBD]",
    "closeout_date": "YYYY-MM-DD or [TBD]",
    "customer": "string or [TBD]"
  },
  "executive_summary": "string (1-2 sentences) or [TBD]",
  "scope_delivered": ["string — user's verbatim list"],
  "scope_deferred": ["string"],
  "schedule": {
    "planned_start": "YYYY-MM-DD or null",
    "actual_start": "YYYY-MM-DD or null",
    "planned_end": "YYYY-MM-DD or null",
    "actual_end": "YYYY-MM-DD or null"
  },
  "cost": {
    "planned_usd": "number or null",
    "actual_usd": "number or null",
    "currency": "USD"
  },
  "deliverables": [
    {"name": "string", "acceptance_status": "Accepted | Conditionally Accepted | Rejected | Pending | [TBD]", "accepted_by": "string or [TBD]", "acceptance_date": "YYYY-MM-DD or empty"}
  ],
  "open_items": ["string"],
  "known_defects": [
    {"defect": "string", "severity": "Low | Medium | High | [TBD]", "workaround": "string or [TBD]"}
  ],
  "vendor_closure": [
    {"vendor": "string", "contract_status": "Closed | Pending Final Payment | Open | [TBD]", "notes": "string"}
  ],
  "signoffs": [
    {"name": "string", "role": "string", "decision": "Signed | Pending | [TBD]", "date": "YYYY-MM-DD or empty"}
  ]
}

Notes:

• cost.actual_usd is null unless the user gave an explicit actual. Script computes variance only when both planned AND actual are present.
• schedule dates are null unless user stated them.
• deliverables[].acceptance_status defaults to [TBD], NEVER Accepted.
• signoffs is [] if the user didn't name any. Do not default-fill PM/Sponsor/Customer.

Worked example

User: "Closeout report for ServiceNow Ticket Migration. Ken PM, Priya sponsor, customer is internal IT ops. Start Jan 6 2026, actual end April 10 2026, planned end was April 3. Budget was $150k, actuals came in at $147,200. Delivered: ticket migration for all 8 tracks, training program, and the ETL runbook. Salesforce bidirectional sync deferred to Phase 2. Priya signed off on Monday (April 13). Known defect: workflow rule SNW-42 misfires on tickets over 90 days old, workaround is manual tagging. Mulesoft contract closed, final payment sent."

Correct JSON sketch:

{
  "scope_delivered": ["Ticket migration for all 8 tracks", "Training program", "ETL runbook"],
  "scope_deferred": ["Salesforce bidirectional sync (deferred to Phase 2)"],
  "schedule": {"planned_start": null, "actual_start": "2026-01-06", "planned_end": "2026-04-03", "actual_end": "2026-04-10"},
  "cost": {"planned_usd": 150000, "actual_usd": 147200, "currency": "USD"},
  "deliverables": [
    {"name": "Ticket migration (8 tracks)", "acceptance_status": "[TBD]", "accepted_by": "[TBD]", "acceptance_date": ""},
    {"name": "Training program", "acceptance_status": "[TBD]", "accepted_by": "[TBD]", "acceptance_date": ""},
    {"name": "ETL runbook", "acceptance_status": "[TBD]", "accepted_by": "[TBD]", "acceptance_date": ""}
  ],
  "known_defects": [
    {"defect": "Workflow rule SNW-42 misfires on tickets over 90 days old", "severity": "[TBD]", "workaround": "Manual tagging"}
  ],
  "vendor_closure": [{"vendor": "Mulesoft", "contract_status": "Closed", "notes": "Final payment sent"}],
  "signoffs": [{"name": "Priya Patel", "role": "Sponsor", "decision": "Signed", "date": "2026-04-13"}]
}

Note: Schedule variance is +7 days (computed from given dates). Cost variance is −$2,800 (computed from given figures). Deliverables acceptance is [TBD] even though the project is closing — user said Priya signed off, but didn't say who accepted each deliverable. Only Priya is in the sign-off block; no fabricated PM/Customer signatories.

Grounding (Project+)

Closeout reports formally release project resources and hand deliverables to operations. Project+ emphasizes the baseline-vs-actual discipline (scope/schedule/cost) and formal customer acceptance as the trigger for project closure. This skill enforces that the artifact cannot claim closure conditions that didn't actually occur — the sign-off block is empty until a real signatory exists, acceptance is TBD until explicitly granted, and variance calculations refuse to run on fabricated data.