Free tool
RACI chart builder
- Time
- About 10 minutes
- What you'll get
- A RACI chart with one Accountable per task, checked, ready to copy or print.
Put the tasks down the side and the people across the top, choose a letter for each cell, and the builder checks the chart as you go. Copy it as a table or print it. Free, with no sign-up.
A RACI chart (or RACI matrix) is a table that shows, for each task, who is Responsible for doing the work, who is Accountable for the result, who is Consulted before it's finished and who is Informed afterwards. The rule that matters most is one Accountable person per task. You'll also see it called a responsibility matrix or a responsibility assignment matrix. They're the same table.
Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere. It stays in this browser tab, and closing or leaving the page clears it, so copy or print your chart before you go.
One process with a clear start and finish, such as “New enquiry to getting paid”.
Your name or role, so whoever you take it to knows who drew it up. Left blank, it prints as a line to write on.
Your RACI chart
Add a task and the checks start here.
RACI chart
Who does what
Your chart appears here as you add people and tasks.
R = Responsible, does the work. A = Accountable, answers for the result. A/R = Accountable and does it too. C = Consulted before it is finished. I = Informed afterwards.
How to use the RACI chart builder
- Pick one process. Choose something with a clear start and finish, such as “new enquiry to getting paid”. One chart per process keeps it short enough to read.
- Add the people or roles. Write the role first and the person after it, such as “Finance (Grace)”. When someone moves on, you change the name and the chart still makes sense.
- List the tasks. Start each with a verb: “Send the client invoice”, not “Invoicing”. Around ten is plenty.
- Give every task its A first. Then add the Rs, then the Cs and Is. Choose A/R when the person who answers for a task also does it, which happens a lot on a small team.
- Read the checks. The builder flags any task with no A, more than one A or no one doing the work, any task waiting on three or more people, and anyone answering for more than half the chart.
- Agree it, then copy or print it. Talk it through with the people on it before you share it. A chart you filled in alone is only your view of who does what.
A worked example: one process at a design studio
Press “Fill in an example” to load it. Tamberly Studio is a design studio we made up for our training material, and the people in it are invented. The chart covers one process, from a new enquiry to getting paid, across five roles: the studio lead (Priya), projects (Marcus), enquiries (Aisha), client updates (Tom) and finance (Grace).
Most rows have a single A/R: one person answers for the task and does it. “Get final designs signed off” is the exception. Marcus is R because he gets the work over the line, and Priya is A because she answers for it going to the client. Marcus is also Consulted on the invoice, because he knows which jobs changed. Read down Priya's column and you'll see mostly Is. That's the point of the exercise: the owner is told, and other people answer for the work.
How to read your RACI chart
Read it both ways. Across each row, you want exactly one A and someone doing the work. Down each column, you want no one carrying everything. The Load row counts each person's As and Rs, so the person everything lands on shows up as the biggest number.
Common mistakes
- Two As on one task. It usually starts as a polite way to avoid choosing. When two people answer for a result, each can assume the other has it. Choose one.
- “The team” in a column. A group can't answer for anything. Each column should be a role one person holds.
- An owner with As everywhere. If your own column is full of As, the chart is showing you the bottleneck. Our post on why delegation fails is the place to start.
- Too many Cs and Is. Every C is someone the work waits for. An I should change what someone does next; if it wouldn't, leave the cell blank.
- Filing it and forgetting it. Look at the chart again whenever the process or the people change, and move an A only when the handover is finished.
The “more than half the chart” warning is a rule of thumb we use to spot a bottleneck, not a research figure. Sometimes it's right for now; the chart just makes it visible.
When to use something else
A RACI chart untangles a job that several people touch. If three or four of you already know who does what, you don't need one yet. If you only need to know who owns each job overall, a one-page list of each job with one owner and one backup is quicker; that's the Who Owns What sheet in the free pack. If one person does a job from start to finish and it needs writing down, write a one-page SOP instead. For the full template, a filled-in table and a short check on one job, read our RACI chart template post.
Want the full version?
The RACI Matrix in the Workflow Mapping and Optimisation pack lays every task in a process against its roles, counts each role's load and runs six fixed checks, so every task has exactly one person answering for it. It's in the Systems for Scale Vault, as a done-for-you template in Word and PDF, not software.
See what's in the Systems for Scale Vault →RACI chart questions
What does RACI stand for?
Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. Responsible does the work, Accountable answers for the result, Consulted gives input before it is finished and Informed is told afterwards.
Is a RACI chart the same as a RACI matrix or a responsibility matrix?
Yes. RACI chart, RACI matrix, responsibility matrix and responsibility assignment matrix are all names for the same table: tasks down the side, people or roles across the top and a letter in each cell.
Can a task have more than one Accountable person?
The usual working rule is exactly one, and this builder flags a task with two. Several people can share the work as Responsible, but when two people both answer for a result, each can assume the other has it.
Can the same person be Responsible and Accountable?
Yes, and on a small team it happens a lot. This builder writes it as A/R, so the chart shows that person answers for the task and does it too.
How many tasks should a RACI chart have?
Enough to cover one process from start to finish. We would stop at around ten, which is why the builder holds twelve. A chart for the whole business is too big to read and goes out of date quickly.
Is anything I type saved?
No. The chart stays in this browser tab and is not stored or sent anywhere. Closing or leaving the page clears it, so copy or print it first.
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