RASCI Matrix Template

What is a RASCI Matrix?

A RASCI matrix is a responsibility assignment matrix with five letters instead of four. Deliverables run down the left, roles run across the top, and every cell carries R for responsible, A for accountable, S for supported, C for consulted or I for informed.

The S is the only difference from RACI. Supported people provide resources to the responsible party and work alongside them to get the deliverable finished. Everything else behaves the same way: responsible does the work, accountable owns the outcome and signs it off, consulted gives input before the work is finished, informed is told after. It is also written as a RASCI chart, a RASCI table or a RASCI model, and occasionally misspelled RASIC.

What Support Means in RASCI

Support is not responsible. A supported role does part of the work but owns none of the deliverable. The distinction is answerability rather than effort. If the deliverable is late, the R explains why. The S does not.

Support is not consulted. Consulted gives input and advice, in conversation, before the work is finished. Support supplies people, equipment, data or time. One talks about the work, the other contributes to it.

The practical test is whether removing the role would stop the work or only weaken it. If the deliverable cannot be produced without them, they are S. If it can be produced worse without them, they are C.

Support earns its place where a deliverable depends on a team that does not own it. A cost report produced by the project manager using data supplied by financial operations, or a design brief written by the consultant team with survey information from a quantity surveyor. In RACI both of those get flattened into C, which hides a real dependency.

RASCI Matrix and Chart Example

Here's an example of a completed RASCI matrix, covering eighteen deliverables across eleven roles on a mixed use development fitout.

How to Create a RASCI Chart in Excel Using This Template

List deliverables down the left, roles across the top, then assign one letter per cell. The template already has that structure, so most of the work is replacing what is in it.

1. Enter the project name and the date the chart was agreed.
2. Replace the role columns with the roles on your project, and name the person holding each one.
3. Replace the deliverable rows with what your project actually produces, keeping them grouped by discipline.
4. Describe each deliverable on the Deliverable Descriptions sheet, so a row title cannot be read two ways.
5. Assign R and A first, one row at a time, since those two are the ones the rules apply to.
6. Add S only where a role supplies something the deliverable cannot be produced without.
7. Fill in C and I last, keeping consulted for people whose input changes the work.
8. Check every row has exactly one A and at least one R.
9. Circulate it to everyone named and get the A's confirmed, since an accountability nobody agreed to is not one.
10. Revisit it at each phase gate, as the roles that matter change between design, procurement and delivery.

Leave a cell blank where a role has no part in a deliverable. A blank is a real answer, and a chart with a letter in every cell usually means somebody assigned by habit rather than by thought.

RASCI vs RACI: Which Should You Use?

Use RASCI where support is a real, recurring dependency and recording it changes how the work is planned. Use a RACI matrix everywhere else, because five letters take longer to assign and longer to argue about.

The failure mode is adopting RASCI and then using S the way you used C. If your finished chart has support marked on rows where nobody actually supplies anything, the extra letter has added work without adding information.

Best Practices for Building Accurate RASCI Charts

Building an accurate RASCI matrix demands discipline beyond basic designation assignment. These practices address real failure points, not textbook advice.

☑️ Run a vertical column audit: Scan each person's column, not just rows. A column dense with R assignments is an overload risk most reviewers miss entirely.

☑️ Version-control every revision: Add a date stamp and a one-line change note to every update. When disputes arise weeks later, the version history shows exactly what was agreed.

☑️ Cap S assignments per activity: Limit Supportive designations to two per activity. More than two signals unclear ownership. Elevate one to R or consolidate the support function.

☑️ Co-create it, don't hand it down: Build the RASCI grid with your team in a workshop. Contributors who co-create it respect it more during execution than those handed a finished document.

☑️ Keep decision grids and deliverable grids separate: On larger projects, maintain two grids, one for who makes decisions and one for who produces work. Combining them creates noise.

☑️ Separate R and A on critical deliverables: When one person both executes and approves, there is no independent check. Build in separation wherever quality sign-off matters.

☑️ Use the grid to catch scope creep early: Any new activity not in the RASCI has no formal owner. That gap is your earliest scope creep warning signal.

Fix Role Confusion for Good with Mastt AI

Mastt's AI generates a customized RASCI document in seconds. Describe your project, and it builds the grid tailored to your team and activities, no blank files, no manual formatting.

Related Articles and Templates

Explore these resources for project roles, responsibilities, accountability, and governance:

• Project Execution Plan Template
• Project Governance Template
• Project Management Plan
• Project Charter Template
• Stakeholder and Communications Plan
• Roles and Responsibilities in Project Controls: A Quick Guide
• Project Planning in Construction: Tools, Phases, and Tips