How to Use This Template
Fill in each section before your first meeting with a development team. The more specific you are, the more accurate your quote and timeline will be. Vague requirements lead to scope creep and budget overruns.
Time to complete: 2–4 hours for a typical SMB application
Section 1: Business Overview
Company name: _______________
Industry: _______________
Company size: ___ employees | ___ locations
What problem are you solving?
Describe the current situation and why it's a problem. Be specific about the pain.
*Example: "Our sales team tracks orders in 3 separate Excel files. When a customer calls to check order status, it takes 10 minutes to find the information. We lose 2–3 orders per week because of follow-up delays."*
What does success look like?
Describe the measurable outcome you expect after the software is deployed.
*Example: "Any team member can find order status in < 30 seconds. Order follow-up time reduced from 10 minutes to 2 minutes. Zero orders lost due to follow-up delays."*
Section 2: Users
List every type of person who will use the system.
| User Type | Count | Technical Level | Primary Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| e.g., Sales Manager | 2 | Medium | View all orders, generate reports |
| e.g., Sales Executive | 8 | Low | Create orders, update status |
| e.g., Customer | 500 | Low | Check order status (self-service) |
Section 3: Core Features (User Stories)
Write each feature as a user story: "As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit]."
Must Have (MVP - without these, the software has no value)
- 1As a Sales Executive, I want to create a new order with customer details, products, and quantities so that the order is recorded in the system.
- 2As a Sales Manager, I want to see all open orders with their current status so that I can identify delayed orders.
- 3*(Add your must-have features)*
Should Have (Important but not blocking launch)
- 1As a Sales Executive, I want to receive a WhatsApp notification when an order is approved so that I can inform the customer immediately.
- 2*(Add your should-have features)*
Nice to Have (Future phase)
- 1As a Customer, I want to track my order status on a self-service portal so that I don't need to call the sales team.
- 2*(Add your nice-to-have features)*
Section 4: Data Requirements
List the key data entities the system needs to manage.
| Entity | Key Fields | Relationships |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Name, phone, email, address, credit limit | Has many Orders |
| Product | Name, SKU, price, unit, stock level | Belongs to Category |
| Order | Order date, customer, products, quantities, status | Belongs to Customer, has many OrderLines |
| *(Add your entities)* |
Existing data to migrate:
- Customer list (Excel/CSV) - ___ records
- Product catalogue - ___ records
- Historical orders - ___ records, from ___ (date)
Section 5: Integrations
List every external system the new software must connect to.
| System | Purpose | Integration Type | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| e.g., Tally | Sync invoices to accounting | API / File export | Must Have |
| e.g., WhatsApp Business | Send order notifications | API | Should Have |
| e.g., Google Sheets | Export reports | Export | Nice to Have |
Section 6: Non-Functional Requirements
Users: Maximum ___ concurrent users
Data volume: ___ records per year (estimated)
Availability: Must be available ___ hours/day, ___ days/week
Mobile: Must work on mobile browser / native app required?
Languages: English only / Hindi required / other?
Offline: Must work without internet? (e.g., for field staff)
Section 7: Constraints
Budget range: ₹___ to ₹___
Go-live deadline: _______________
Reason for deadline (if any): _______________
Existing infrastructure: Cloud / On-premise / No preference
Technology preference (if any): _______________
Section 8: Acceptance Criteria
How will you know the software is ready to go live?
- All must-have user stories are implemented and tested
- Historical data has been migrated and verified
- All integrations are working
- Performance: pages load in < 3 seconds on a standard internet connection
- Training completed for all user types
- User acceptance testing (UAT) completed with sign-off from key users
Section 9: Support & Maintenance
After go-live, what do you need?
- Bug fixes for ___ months post-launch
- Hosting and infrastructure management
- Regular backups
- Feature enhancements (ongoing)
- Training for new staff