Differences Between BRD and FRD

What is a BRD?

A BRD, or Business Requirements Document, is a formal document that outlines the high-level business needs and objectives of a project. Think of it as the “why” behind a project. It explains what the business hopes to achieve and why the project is necessary. The BRD is typically created by a business analyst in collaboration with stakeholders—such as clients, managers, or end users—and serves as a foundation for the entire project.

For example, if a company wants to build a new mobile app to increase customer engagement, the BRD would describe the business problem (e.g., low engagement), the goals (e.g., increase user interaction by 30%), and the expected benefits. It does not go into technical details or how the solution will be built—just what the business needs and why.

What is an FRD?

An FRD, or Functional Requirements Document, dives into the “how” of a project. Once the business needs are clear from the BRD, the FRD translates those needs into specific, actionable features and behaviors that the system or product must have. This document is usually prepared by business analysts or system analysts and is used by developers, testers, and designers to build and validate the solution.

Continuing the mobile app example, the FRD would detail things like: “The app must allow users to log in using their email and password,” or “The app must send a push notification when a new offer is available.” These are concrete, testable requirements that guide the actual development work.

BRD vs FRD

Some of the differences between BRD and FRD are as follows:

	BRD (Business Requirements Document)	FRD (Functional Requirements Document)
Purpose	Defines the business problem and high-level goals	Describes how the system will function to meet those goals
Focus	Business needs and outcomes	System behavior and features
Audience	Stakeholders, project sponsors, business users	Developers, testers, designers, technical teams
Level of Detail	High-level and strategic	Detailed and tactical
Created By	Business Analysts (with input from stakeholders)	Business or Systems Analysts (often based on the BRD)
Example	“The system should improve customer retention.”	“The system shall allow users to reset their password via email.”