Memorandum Template

Start Your Memo Free

A memo has one job: make somebody’s decision easier.

Which is why the conclusion belongs at the top and the reasoning underneath it. Most memos fail by narrating the analysis first and arriving at the recommendation on page two, by which point the reader has skimmed to the end anyway. This template puts the structure the right way round, and includes the policy and legal variants that follow different rules.

What’s in the memorandum template

Ten blocks in standard business memo order, plus three variant structures.

• Header Block: To, From, Date, Subject and CC, formatted the way a memo is expected to look.

• Purpose Line: One sentence on why this memo exists and what it’s asking for.

• Summary & Recommendation: The conclusion first - what you think should happen, before the reasoning.

• Background: The context a reader needs, and nothing they don’t.

• Analysis: The options, honestly weighed, including the one you’re rejecting.

• Recommendation: The chosen course, with the reasoning that supports it.

• Action Items: Who does what, with a name against each.

• Deadline & Next Steps: Dates, and what happens if nothing is decided.

• Attachments: Data, reports and files, held in your Library beside the memo.

• Distribution: Who receives it and who is merely informed.

• Variants: Policy memo, decision memo, and the legal memorandum in IRAC order - issue, rule, application, conclusion.

Why write your memo in Skrib?

It’s a short document. The value is in never rebuilding it.

• Structure That Holds: The header and section order stay correct across every memo you write.

• Reuse the Format: Duplicate a memo, replace the content, keep the shape. Last month’s stays intact.

• Supporting Data Attached: Spreadsheets, reports and .csv files sit in the Library, one click from the analysis that cites them.

• Every Version Kept: The draft before Legal edited it is still there.

• Export Clean: .docx or .pdf, formatted correctly for circulation or a file.

Who is this memorandum template for?

• Managers and Team Leads recommending decisions upward.

• Policy and Public Sector Staff writing briefing and policy memos.

• Law Students and Paralegals working in IRAC legal memorandum structure.

• Consultants delivering findings in a form clients will read.

• Internal Communications announcing changes clearly and on record.

• Students writing memos for business, law and public administration coursework.

Put the recommendation first

Drop the template on your Board, write the conclusion, then earn it underneath.

Open Memo Template See all templates