Project Intake Software and Project Request Management for Scoring and Approval
Most PMOs already have a way to collect requests: a form, a shared mailbox, a ticket queue. What breaks is the step after it. Forty requests arrive in a quarter, nobody can say which ten deserve a business case, and the funding meeting turns into whoever argues loudest. Intake software earns its price when it gets you from the request to a ranked, funded decision.
Portfolio Hub is priced per workspace in US dollars, from $24.50 a month billed yearly or $49 monthly. The demo portfolio opens on signup with an intake queue already scored and ranked.
Project intake software does three jobs: it captures project requests in one consistent format, routes each request to the right reviewer, and helps the PMO decide which requests get funded. Form and work management tools such as Microsoft Forms with Power Automate, Smartsheet, Jira Service Management, Asana and monday.com handle the first two well. The third job, scoring requests against each other and checking them against budget and capacity, is where most intake setups stall, and it is the job a portfolio tool exists to do.
The three jobs project intake software has to do
Buyers often compare intake tools on the form builder, because that is what the demo shows first. The form is the easy part. Judge each tool on all three jobs, and be clear which one is actually failing today.
| Job | What good looks like | Where most setups fall short |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Every request arrives through one form with the same required fields: problem, sponsor, rough cost, expected benefit, needed by date, teams affected | Requests still arrive by email and hallway conversation, so the form only holds the polite ones |
| Route | Each request reaches the right reviewer by type, size or business unit, with a visible owner and a triage deadline | Routing works, but the reviewer has no criteria, so triage becomes a yes to whoever asked first |
| Decide | Requests are scored on the same weighted criteria, ranked against the work already approved, and checked against budget and capacity by role | Scores live in a spreadsheet nobody trusts, and capacity is checked after approval, when it is already too late |
If capture and routing already work in the tools your company owns, do not buy a second form builder. Buy the decision layer. Our project intake process guide covers the workflow end to end, and the project intake form article lists the fields worth making mandatory.
Why project intake breaks at about forty requests a quarter
Below a couple of dozen requests a quarter, a PMO lead can hold the whole queue in their head and a shared spreadsheet is fine. Past that point three things happen together. Sponsors start resubmitting the same idea under new names, reviewers approve requests one at a time without seeing the others, and the delivery teams learn about approved work when it lands on their sprint.
None of that is a form problem. It is a comparison problem. A request only means something next to the other requests competing for the same people and the same budget, which is why a good intake tool shows you the queue as a ranked list, not as a pile of tickets.
Project intake software compared by the job it does
Every row describes what the product is built for, from the vendors' own documentation. Prices change and most enterprise tools are quoted, so the last column gives the pricing model rather than a number.
| Tool | Capture and route | Score and rank | Capacity check before approval | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Forms with Power Automate | Strong. Forms feed a list or Planner, and flows route approvals inside Microsoft 365 | Only what you build in Excel or Power BI | No | Included in many Microsoft 365 plans; premium connectors cost extra |
| Smartsheet | Strong. Forms write rows to a sheet and automation workflows send approval requests | Formula columns you design and maintain | Limited, through resource management add-ons | Per user, tiered |
| Jira Service Management | Strong. Request types on a portal, with automation rules and queues | Custom fields and manual sorting | No | Per agent, tiered |
| Asana and monday.com | Strong. Forms create tasks or items, and rules assign them | Custom fields and portfolio views on higher tiers | Workload views by person, not a twelve month plan by role | Per user, tiered |
| ServiceNow SPM | Strong. Demand management on the ServiceNow platform | Yes, with assessments and scoring | Yes, through resource management | Quoted, on top of the platform; see ServiceNow SPM alternatives |
| Planview Portfolios and PPM Pro | Yes. Configurable intake forms and demand workflows | Yes | Yes | Quoted; see our Planview pricing breakdown |
| Portfolio Hub | Import from any form or spreadsheet as CSV or Excel; requests enter at the Intake stage | Yes. Weighted 0 to 100 score, ranking and a funding line | Yes. FTE demand against FTE available by role, twelve months ahead | Per workspace, published, from $24.50 a month billed yearly |
The honest reading of this table: if your company already pays for ServiceNow or a Planview suite, switch on its demand module before buying anything new. If you run on Microsoft 365, Smartsheet or Jira, keep capturing there and add a decision layer, rather than replacing a form tool that already works.
What Portfolio Hub adds after the request form
We do not replace your intake form. We pick up where it stops: the moment a request has to compete with everything else for money and people.
One intake queue
Import requests from Microsoft Forms, Smartsheet, Jira or a plain spreadsheet. Each one lands at the Intake stage with its sponsor, business unit, cost and benefit.
Weighted scoring
Score strategic fit, value, risk, urgency and confidence from 1 to 5. The workspace turns them into a 0 to 100 score with risk inverted, so a safer request ranks higher.
A funding line
Set the budget and see which requests sit above the line and which wait. The cumulative cost is visible, so the conversation is about trade-offs rather than favors.
Capacity before approval
Each request carries FTE demand by delivery role and dates. The twelve month plan shows the gap by role before anyone says yes.
Gate packs
Move a request to Business case and generate a stage gate decision pack as an Excel file, ready for the steering committee.
Export
Export the ranked queue and the capacity plan to Excel or CSV for the funding meeting or for your BI tool.
From request form to funding decision in four steps
- Keep your form. Leave capture and routing where they are. Add the scoring fields to the form so sponsors give a first estimate of value, cost and the roles they need.
- Import the queue. Export the responses and load them into the workspace with the import template. Every request starts at the Intake stage.
- Score in one sitting. The review group scores every open request against the same criteria in one meeting, not one request at a time across six weeks.
- Decide with the line and the gap visible. Requests above the funding line that also fit capacity move to Business case. The rest get a clear answer and a date to resubmit.
The scoring criteria are the part most PMOs get wrong, usually by weighting everything equally. Our project scoring model guide walks through weights that hold up in a funding meeting, and the project prioritization tool page shows the ranking view in detail.
Which intake setup fits which PMO
An IT PMO on Microsoft 365
Forms and Power Automate already route requests to the right director. What is missing is a ranked view and a capacity check. Add the decision layer and keep the flows.
A business PMO on Smartsheet
The intake sheet has grown to two hundred rows and thirty formula columns. Move scoring and capacity out of the sheet before the formulas become the PMO's main job.
An enterprise already on ServiceNow
Demand management is probably one license conversation away. Price that first, and compare it against a lighter tool only if the module is not in your contract.
A growing company with no PMO tool yet
Start with one form, five scoring criteria and a monthly review. A full PPM suite at this stage usually buys configuration work, not better decisions.
Questions PMOs ask about project intake software
What is project intake software?
Project intake software collects project requests through one standard form, routes each request to the right reviewer, and helps the PMO decide which requests to fund. Simple tools cover the form and the routing. Portfolio tools add scoring, ranking against approved work, and a check against budget and capacity before approval.
How do you automate project intake?
Automate the capture and routing first: one form with required fields, and a rule that assigns each request to a reviewer by type or business unit with a triage deadline. Then automate the comparison, so every request is scored on the same weighted criteria and shown in a ranked queue next to its cost and the roles it needs.
Can Microsoft Forms be used for project intake?
Yes. Microsoft Forms works well for capture, and Power Automate can route each response to an approver and write it to a list or Planner. What it does not do is rank requests against each other or check them against capacity, so most PMOs pair it with a spreadsheet or a portfolio tool for the decision.
What should a project intake form include?
Keep it to what the first decision needs: the problem, the sponsor, the business unit, a rough cost range, the expected benefit, the date it is needed by, and the teams or roles it will draw on. Ask sponsors for a first score on value and urgency, and leave detailed plans for the business case stage.
How much does project intake software cost?
Form and work management tools price per user and often include basic intake in plans you already own. PPM suites such as ServiceNow SPM and Planview are quoted, usually with implementation services. Portfolio Hub is priced per workspace, from $24.50 a month billed yearly or $49 monthly, and imports requests from the form you already use.
Who should approve project requests?
A small portfolio review group should approve requests, not the PMO alone and not each sponsor's own manager. It usually includes a finance lead, the heads of the main delivery teams and one or two business sponsors. The PMO prepares the ranked queue and the capacity view, and the group makes the funding call.
Pick the plan that matches your request volume
Starter
$24.50/mo
Billed $294 a year, or $49 monthly
- 20 initiatives
- 8 delivery roles
- 5 stage gate packs a month
- Excel and CSV export
Team
$74.50/mo
Billed $894 a year, or $149 monthly
- 100 initiatives
- 40 delivery roles
- 40 stage gate packs a month
- Excel and CSV export
Portfolio Office
$199.50/mo
Billed $2,394 a year, or $399 monthly
- Unlimited initiatives
- Unlimited delivery roles
- Unlimited stage gate packs
- Excel and CSV export
Rank this quarter's requests before the funding meeting
Create your account, import the open requests from your form, and walk into the next review with a ranked queue, a funding line and the capacity gap by role already on screen.