Risk register template
A risk register lists what could go wrong on a project, how likely and how bad each risk is, and what you're doing about it. Kept as a spreadsheet, it's written once and forgotten. As a board, each risk is a card that moves from Identified to Closed, with an owner who can see it's theirs.
Free for 3 projects, forever. No credit card.
Key supplier may miss the March delivery
Only 1 person knows the billing system
New data law may apply to us
Document the billing system
Exchange rate on the hardware order
Venue availability
The 5 columns
What each one is for. Rename, reorder or add columns whenever the work needs it.
- Identified
- A risk someone has raised, not yet looked at. Anyone can add one.
- Assessing
- Being rated for likelihood and impact, and given an owner.
- Mitigating
- The owner is acting to make it less likely or less damaging.
- Monitoring
- Accepted or reduced as far as it will go. Someone keeps an eye on it.
- Closedcounts as done
- Passed, resolved or no longer relevant. Counts as done.
What to record for each risk
The columns a risk register spreadsheet usually has, and where each goes on a card.
On the card
- Title: the risk as a sentence, as in "Key supplier may miss the March delivery"
- Description: the cause, and what happens if it occurs
- Assignee: the risk owner, one person
- Priority: the overall rating, from low to urgent
- Due date: the next review, or when the response must be in place
- Tags: the area, like supplier, people, legal or budget
In the description
- Likelihood, from 1 (rare) to 5 (almost certain)
- Impact, from 1 (minor) to 5 (severe)
- Score: likelihood times impact, from 1 to 25
- Response: avoid, reduce, transfer or accept
- Trigger: the early sign that the risk is happening
On the card's checklist
- Each step of the response, ticked off as it's done
How to keep a risk register
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Step 1
Collect risks with the team
Hold a 30-minute session at the start of the project. Ask what could stop it finishing on time, on budget or at all. One card per risk, in Identified.
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Step 2
Rate each one
Score likelihood and impact from 1 to 5, multiply them, and set the card's priority from the score: high or urgent for anything above 15, say. Assign an owner.
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Step 3
Choose a response
Avoid it, reduce it, transfer it (to insurance or a supplier), or accept it. Write the steps as a checklist on the card and move it to Mitigating.
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Step 4
Review on a rhythm
Every week or 2, walk the board from Mitigating to Monitoring. Update scores, close what's passed, and add what's new.
With your AI agents
An agent can draft a first list of risks from a project plan, then remind owners when a review date comes up, and summarise the open risks before a steering meeting.
Agents connect over MCP or the REST API, on every plan, and act as you.
agentcreate_project("Office move risks", template: "risk-register")
agentbulk_create_cards("Office move risks", 15 risks from plan.md)
agentget_focus()
Keep it working
- Write risks as things that might happen, not things that have. A problem that's already here is an issue: put it on the project board.
- Give every risk one owner. A risk owned by the team is owned by nobody.
- Filter by priority before a meeting, so the time goes on the risks that matter.
- Share a read-only link with sponsors who want to see the register without editing it.
Questions
About this template
What is a risk register?
A list of the risks to a project or organisation, with how likely and how serious each one is, who owns it, and what's being done about it. It's also called a risk log.
Does the board calculate risk scores?
No. There's no scoring field or formula. Write likelihood, impact and score in the card's description, and use the card's priority as the overall rating, so you can sort and filter by it.
Is the risk register template free?
Yes. It's on the Free plan: 3 projects with unlimited cards, forever. No credit card. Sharing editing with your team needs Pro.
Can I import my existing register?
Yes. Save the spreadsheet as CSV and import it, mapping its columns to card fields. Up to 2,000 rows at a time.
Other templates
Start from this template
Free for 3 projects, with no credit card to enter. Every board exports as JSON or CSV whenever you want to leave.