A portfolio operations annual calendar for private equity teams

When to use this calendar

Use this calendar when you build the portfolio operations plan for the year, or when a new head of portfolio operations needs the sponsor's rhythm on one page. It assumes funds and portfolio companies on a calendar fiscal year with quarterly reporting; shift the months if yours differ.

Long holds make the calendar repeat. PitchBook reported that more than 30% of US PE-backed companies still in portfolios at the end of 2024 had been held at least five years. A company held that long goes around this cycle five or more times, long enough for its records to deepen and for at least one core system to be replaced. That is why the calendar carries a records-and-rights column: replacements are when history is most easily lost.

The month-by-month calendar

Treat the fund column as typical, not standard. Some firms hold the annual LP meeting in the autumn, some report to LPs semiannually, and add-on heavy platforms run integrations all year.

Where does the records-and-rights screen fit best?

Budget season, for three reasons. Portfolio CFOs are already reviewing software spend line by line, so every system and its renewal date is on the table. IT leads know which platforms will be replaced next year. And a one-time license payment is the kind of item a CEO weighs while setting next year's priorities. Running the screen in October and making introductions in November also leaves each company time to decide before the year-end close; qualification and the data inventory, which need finance and IT time, can be scheduled once the audit is out of the way.

The screen stays short: headcount at peak, years of documented operations, the number of systems holding history, rights to license, and an authorized sponsor. The baseline is on the who qualifies page, and the portfolio heat map template gives the results a column in the August review.

Calendar templates to paste

Use these in the planning pack, the budget template and the council invite.

The guide to communities of practice across a PE portfolio explains how to run the June session.

How to personalize the calendar

Follow-up timing after the screen

Introductions are not the end of the timeline, and the calendar should show what follows. After an introduction, SourceX qualifies the company and the company completes its data inventory, with timing set around its own close and audit calendar. Once a company is deal-ready, buyers typically respond within about two weeks. If a buyer selects data and the company signs, the company is typically paid within about 60 days of invoicing.

For anyone at the firm registered as a partner: Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company, and the reward becomes payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee. No reward is guaranteed. The fund CFO should review how the firm treats such fees before anyone registers; see fund CFO responsibilities.

What never goes on the calendar or in the pack

• Record contents, customer names, sample tickets or exports of any kind.
• License revenue in a budget or forecast before an agreement is signed.
• Reward amounts typed in dollars, or promises of payment to anyone.
• Descriptions of a company as approved or selected after a screen; a screen is preliminary.
• LP-facing language that runs ahead of the stage reached, the risk covered in how PE firms should describe AI initiatives.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Have compliance review any LP-facing wording before it goes out.

Next step

Add the records-and-rights item to this year's budget template. To decide which companies and contacts go in the first wave, try the network opportunity finder, and register as a partner ahead of the October screen.