Report Writing
Unit III
What is a business report?
A
business report is an oral presentation or
written business document that provides
information, requests funding or approval,
analyzes company or market data, or
makes recommendations for innovations
and change.
A Report is….
 An
orderly and objective presentation of
information that helps in decision making
and problem solving.
Characteristics of Business
Reports.
•
Reports vary widely- in length, complexity,
formality, and format.
•
The quality of the report process affects the
quality of the product.
•
Accuracy is the most important trait of a
report.
•
Reports are often a collaborative effort.
Styles of Reports
•
The style of the report used depends on the
need for the report and the audience.
Reports are either formal or informal.
•
Informal reports are usually brief and use
personal pronouns (I, We, and You) and a
direct style.
•
Formal reports are long and are constructed
in a prescribed format.
Purpose of Reports.
•
Provide information - provides objective
statistical data or facts. Analysis of the data is
usually not included.
•
Analyze data and information- offer
interpretations of information or solutions to
problems.
•
Persuade- propose, request, or recommend
specific actions or problem solutions.
Informational Reports
Memos
Convey info. within an
organization.
Progress or interim reports
Describe in narrative form the
status of continuing projects or
tasks.
Compliance Report
Used by orgs. that work with or are
regulated by local, state or govt.
agencies.
Annual reports
Describe the achievements and
developments of an org. over the
course of the year.
Policy and Procedure reports
Communicate broad
organizational goals, guidelines
and methods. They explain and
outline company policy.
Minutes
Details the actions and discussions
in a business meeting.
Analytical Reports
 Justification
reports- offer support for an
action or determine the potential benefit
of an action based on a series of reasons.
 Feasibility
study- a type of justification
report that includes detailed research,
analysis, and a judgement on the
potential success or failure of an action.
Persuasive Reports

A business plan is a comprehensive report
that defines and describes all the
components of a business, including its
feasibility, profitability, and marketing
environment.

A proposal is a persuasive written report that
offers to provide a service, sell a product, or
provide a solution to a problem or need.
Persuasive Reports continued
 Solicited
Formal proposals- are submitted
at the request of a potential funder.
A
Funder is a business, government
agency, or private foundation that will
approve or finance your project.
What are the differences
between Reports and
Proposals
 Reports
provide information, analysis, or
recommendations that can be used to
solve problems; monitor or document
progress; clarify or implement policies or
procedures; and guide change, direction,
or decisions. While proposals are a form
of report, the difference is that they
request funding, or acceptance in
exchange for work to be performed.
The short formal report
 This
format is used in formal reporting
situations mostly internally directed where
middle or senior management reports to
senior or top management.
Structure of the short formal
report
1.0 Terms of Reference
 In
this first section of the report, the author
details the scope of the report, or its
‘parameters’, within which he may
investigate.
2.0 Procedure
 Having
outlined the report’s scope, the
writer identifies the means he or she
adopted to collect its data:
. By scrutinising documents
. By interviewing personnel
. By visiting branches
. By observation
. by examination, analyses
3.0 Findings
 Here
the detailed information which has
been collected is sifted for relative
importance and relevance and classified
under appropriate headings, usually in
descending order of importance, where
the most important comes first.
4.0 Conclusions
 In
this section a resume or synopsis of the
principal findings is written, and is
particularly helpful to those who may not
wish to read the entire report.
5.0 Recommendations
 Having
classified the detailed information
of the report and summarised its main
conclusions, the writer’s last duty, if
required, is to identify the means by which
a problem may be solved or a deficiency
remedied, so that decisions may be
made or advice acted upon.
1.0 TERMS OF REFERENCE
2.0 PROCEDURES
3.0 FINDINGS
3.1 Main Section Heading
3.2 Main section heading
3.3 main section heading
3.3.1 Sub- heading
4.0 CONCLUSIONS
5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
Short Informal Report
Short informal report


1.
2.
3.
The content of this report falls into three
principal sections, equating to a ‘beginning,
middle and end’, and may be used in a
variety of situations where the subject of the
report is neither too long nor complex.
The three sections may be considered as
follows:
Background outlined
Problem/ situation analysed
problem/ situation resolved
Background Outlined


This opening section puts the report into a
context and briefly outlines the essential
background information needed to make the
detailed information which follows in the
middle section intelligible to the reader.
This section would also indicate who had
commissioned the report, its author and any
further details corresponding to the ‘Terms of
Reference’ section of the Short formal report.
Findings or Analysis of
problems
 This
section displays systematically the
detailed information which has been
collected by similar methods to those
identified in the ‘Procedure’ section of the
short formal report.
 Information should be written in
paragraphs under suitable sub-headings,
which may also contained numbered lists
or tabulated information.
Conclusion or Resolution
 In
this last section the main points of the
report are summarised as conclusions and
any actions required, recommendations
or means of resolving a problem outlined.
Thus the ‘Conclusions’ and the
‘Recommendations’ sections of the Short
Formal Report are combined.
A
fire drill in your offices last week
revealed a number of alarming
inadequacies. Many members of staff
behaved quite indifferently; others
seemed to have no idea what they
should do, while one or two simply did
nothing at all, saying that they were ‘far
too busy’. As a consequence, you have
been detailed to draft a memorandum to
all staff aimed at emphasising the possible
dangers in remaining indifferent to
company regulations in case of fire at
securing an improved response.
