Setting up a new data room or collaboration site from scratch takes time you don't have. You need to think through folder structures, anticipate what documents you'll need to organize, and ensure the layout makes sense for external stakeholders who'll be navigating it.
Clear Ideas offers over 100 professionally designed templates that eliminate this planning phase entirely. Each template provides a pre-built folder hierarchy based on industry best practices, so you can create a site and start uploading content in minutes rather than hours.
Here are ten templates that small and mid-sized businesses find particularly valuable.
1. M&A Due Diligence
The M&A Due Diligence template is one of the most popular choices for companies preparing to raise capital, sell their business, or acquire another company. The template organizes materials into the categories buyers and investors expect to see: corporate documents, financials, contracts, intellectual property, employment matters, legal issues, and operations.
For sellers, this template ensures you haven't overlooked important document categories that buyers will request. For buyers conducting diligence on target companies, it provides a familiar structure that makes reviewing materials efficient. The folder hierarchy follows conventions that M&A professionals recognize, which signals organizational sophistication to the parties you're working with.
This template works well for fundraising rounds too, where investors conduct similar due diligence reviews before committing capital.
2. Start-up Board of Directors
Growing companies often struggle to organize board-related materials effectively. Meeting packets get scattered across email threads, previous resolutions become hard to find, and new board members have no central place to get up to speed.
The Start-up Board of Directors template provides structure for board meetings, governance documents, committee materials, and historical records. Folders organize content by meeting date, making it easy to find materials from any specific session. Governance documents like bylaws, board resolutions, and committee charters have dedicated locations where they're always current and accessible.
For companies with investor directors who expect professional board operations, this template helps you present materials in a way that matches their experience with larger organizations.
3. Start-up Investor Communication
Maintaining regular communication with investors is essential but often falls through the cracks when teams are focused on building the business. The Start-up Investor Communication template creates a structured home for investor updates, financial reports, cap table information, and company news.
Rather than sending updates via email where they get buried, you can post them to a dedicated site where investors access materials at their convenience. This approach also creates a historical record of what you've shared and when, which proves valuable during subsequent fundraising rounds when new investors want to see your track record of communication.
The template includes sections for quarterly updates, annual reports, and ad-hoc communications, providing a framework for consistent investor relations even when you don't have a dedicated IR function.
4. Financial Audit
External audits require sharing significant volumes of documentation with auditors while maintaining clear organization and access controls. The Financial Audit template structures materials the way audit teams expect to receive them.
The template includes folders for financial statements, supporting schedules, bank reconciliations, accounts receivable and payable documentation, fixed asset records, and other standard audit workpaper categories. This organization helps your team gather materials systematically and helps auditors navigate the information efficiently.
Using a dedicated site for audit materials also provides audit trail documentation showing when materials were shared and accessed, which supports the audit process and your own compliance records.
5. Social Media Campaign
Marketing teams managing social media campaigns accumulate substantial volumes of content: images, videos, copy variations, brand guidelines, performance reports, and approval workflows. The Social Media Campaign template provides structure for all these materials.
The template organizes content by campaign phase and asset type, making it easy for team members and external agencies to find what they need. Approval workflows become clearer when draft content has a designated location separate from approved materials. Performance reporting folders create a historical record that informs future campaigns.
For teams working with external agencies or freelancers, this template provides a professional collaboration environment that keeps everyone aligned without endless email threads.
6. Client Onboarding and KYC
Financial services firms and other regulated businesses need structured approaches to client onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation. The Client Onboarding and KYC template organizes identity verification documents, account applications, compliance certifications, and related materials.
The template's structure helps ensure consistent onboarding processes across clients and makes compliance reviews straightforward. When regulators or auditors ask to see your KYC documentation, you can demonstrate organized, complete records rather than hunting through scattered files.
This template works well for wealth management firms, accounting practices, law firms, and other professional services organizations that need to maintain client documentation systematically.
7. New Product Launch
Product launches involve coordination across multiple teams—product, marketing, sales, operations, legal—each with their own documentation needs. The New Product Launch template brings all launch-related materials into a single organized location.
The template includes sections for product specifications, marketing materials, sales enablement content, launch timelines, competitive analysis, and post-launch reporting. Having everything in one place reduces the coordination overhead that often slows launches and ensures all stakeholders have access to current information.
For companies launching products that involve external partners, distributors, or retailers, this template provides a professional way to share launch materials while maintaining control over access.
8. Project Management
General project management needs vary widely, but most projects share common documentation requirements: project plans, status reports, meeting notes, deliverables, and stakeholder communications. The Project Management template provides a flexible structure that works across project types.
The template organizes materials by project phase and document type, making it easy to find specific items and track project history. For projects involving external clients or partners, the site becomes a shared workspace where all parties access current project information.
This template serves as a good starting point that you can customize based on your specific project methodology and documentation needs.
9. Legal Document Management
Growing companies accumulate legal documents faster than they organize them—contracts, corporate records, intellectual property filings, compliance documentation, and correspondence with counsel. The Legal Document Management template provides structure for these materials.
The template organizes documents by type and subject matter, making it possible to find specific agreements or filings when you need them. For companies working with outside counsel, the site provides a secure way to share documents and collaborate on legal matters without relying on email attachments.
Contract management is often a particular pain point for SMBs. This template includes dedicated sections for customer contracts, vendor agreements, employment contracts, and other common categories, making renewal tracking and reference easier.
10. Human Resources Management
HR documentation touches every employee relationship—offer letters, policies, benefits information, performance records, training materials, and compliance documentation. The Human Resources Management template provides structure for the full range of HR materials.
The template helps HR teams maintain organized, accessible records that support both day-to-day operations and compliance requirements. When employees need to reference policies or benefits information, they know where to find it. When managers need guidance on HR processes, documentation is readily available.
For companies without dedicated HR software, this template provides a practical alternative for maintaining organized HR records. For those with HR systems, it complements those tools by organizing documents that don't fit neatly into standard HR platforms.
Getting Started with Templates
Using a template in Clear Ideas takes just a few steps. Browse the template gallery to find a template that matches your use case. Select the template and create a new site—the folder structure is automatically created for you. From there, you can customize folder names, add additional folders, or remove sections that don't apply to your situation.
Templates are starting points, not constraints. The pre-built structure saves you the planning work and ensures you haven't overlooked important categories, but you have full flexibility to adapt the template to your specific needs.
All templates support the full range of Clear Ideas features including user permissions, watermarking, analytics, and AI capabilities. You get the same security and functionality regardless of whether you start from a template or build your structure from scratch.
Explore More Templates
These ten templates represent just a fraction of what's available. Clear Ideas offers templates for healthcare, real estate, engineering, government, education, and many other industries and use cases. The complete template gallery includes over 100 options organized by category.
If you don't see a template that exactly matches your needs, consider starting with the closest option and customizing it, or reach out to discuss your requirements.
Ready to get organized? Start free with Clear Ideas and create your first site from a template in minutes.