Guide
What is a POA&M?
A Plan of Action and Milestones is how you honestly track gaps. Done well, it builds trust; done badly, it destroys it.
Beginner
8 min
Free
NIST SP 800-171
CMMC
Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
Template
POA&M Starter
A plan of action and milestones you can actually maintain, with the fields assessors expect.
- Intended audience
- Contractors and program owners
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Estimated time
- 30 minutes
- Access
- Free
NIST SP 800-171
CMMC
FedRAMP
Government contracting
All industries
Version v1.0.0 · Last reviewed 2026-08-01 · Document owner: ComplianceAnvil Content Team
What you will be able to do
- Map each finding to the specific control or requirement it relates to.
- Capture severity, root cause, remediation plan, and required resources for each finding.
- Track milestones with dates and note dependencies and current status.
- Record evidence of completion and validation results for closed items.
Fields
- Finding and the control or requirement it maps to.
- Severity and root cause.
- Planned remediation and resources required.
- Owner and target completion date.
- Milestones with dates.
- Dependencies and status.
- Evidence of completion and validation result.
Discipline
Update the POA&M when reality changes, not when an assessment is announced. Empty POA&Ms are rarely believed.
Key takeaways
- Every POA&M entry should map back to the specific control or requirement the finding relates to.
- A useful POA&M records root cause and required resources, not just a description of the gap.
- Milestones need dates and dependencies so progress can be tracked, not just a single completion target.
- Evidence of completion and a validation result are what turn a closed milestone into something an assessor can trust.
- A POA&M should be updated as reality changes, not rushed into shape right before an assessment.
Sources
Written from these public, authoritative publications. ComplianceAnvil paraphrases and summarizes them; it does not reproduce copyrighted control text.
NIST · Revision 3
SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
DoD Chief Information Officer
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
U.S. Government Publishing Office
32 CFR Part 170 — Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
How this was written and reviewed
Published
- Author
- ComplianceAnvil Editorial Team
- Technical reviewer
- ComplianceAnvil Technical Review Board
- Jurisdiction
- United States (federal acquisition / DoD supply chain)
- First published
- 2026-08-01
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-01
- Next review due
- 2027-08-01
Version v1.0.0 · Document owner: ComplianceAnvil Content Team
Important
This template is provided for readiness and educational purposes. Organizations should review and adapt it for their environment.
Related resources
Matched on shared frameworks, topics, and program packs.
Guide
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A System Security Plan describes your system and how each control is implemented. Here is what belongs in it and how to keep it current.
Intermediate
10 min
Free
NIST SP 800-171
CMMC
Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
Template
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A section-by-section outline for a System Security Plan a small business can maintain.
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60 min
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NIST SP 800-171
CMMC
Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
Exercise
Build a Sample SSP Section
Draft one System Security Plan section end to end, using the narrative pattern assessors expect.
Advanced
25 min
Free
NIST SP 800-171
CMMC
Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
Checklist
CMMC Readiness Checklist
Work through the preparation steps most small contractors miss before a CMMC assessment: scope, system boundary, documentation, and evidence.
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45 min
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NIST SP 800-171
Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
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What to put in place before your first federal award creates security obligations you cannot meet.
Intermediate
40 min
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FAR
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Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
Put this into practice
Resources tell you what good looks like. A Program Pack does the work with you — generated documentation, tracked controls, training, and evidence in one workspace.