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How to Write a Business Report

Business reports are one of the most effective ways to communicate in today’s business
world. Although business reports' objectives are broad in scope, businesses or
individuals can use them to help make important decisions. To write an effective
business report, you first need to understand what it is and how it can be used.

Part 1
Deciding What Type of Report to Write
1.
 1
Present an idea. A report that presents an idea is called a justification/recommendation
report. You can use these reports to make suggestions to management or other
important decision makers. This report typically contains a summary and body. The
summary highlights your request. The report’s body delves into the benefits, costs,
risks, etc., associated with your request.
 For example, you want a 3D printer for your division. To convince your manager to
requisition one, you would write a justification/recommendation report to formally ask
the management team for the printer.
2.
 2
Present risks involved with a specific opportunity. An investigative report helps
determine the risks involved with a specific course of action. This type of report is great
for helping a company anticipate repercussions. The report will contain an introduction,
body and conclusion. The introduction highlights the problem under investigation. The
body is used to discuss the facts and results of the investigation. The conclusion is used
to summarize.
 For instance, say pharmaceutical company X wants to partner with pharmaceutical
company Y but has some concerns. Company X doesn’t want to partner with a
company that has current financial problems or has had financial problems in the past.
Company X conducts an investigation and uses an investigative report to discuss in-
depth financial information on company Y and its directors
 3
Present compliance information to a governing body. This report, known as
a compliance report, helps companies show accountability. A company will use a
compliance report to show proof to a governing body (city, state, federal government,
etc.) that it is following all applicable laws/rules and that it is spending money properly.
The report contains an introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction typically
includes an overview of the report’s major sections. The body contains the specific data,
facts, etc., that the regulatory entity needs to know. The conclusion is used to
summarize.
 For instance, CALPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System) needed to
show its board of administration that it followed all applicable laws and rules in 2010. It
put together an annual compliance report to show their activities for the year.
 4
Present the feasibility of an idea or proposed project. An exploratory report to
determine whether an idea will work is called a feasibility report. The report should
contain a summary and body. The summary presents the idea. The body covers the
benefits, potential problems, associated costs, etc., of the proposed idea. A company
might use a feasibility report to explore questions such as these:
 Can this project be completed within its budget?
 Will the project be profitable?
 Can this project be completed within the allotted time frame?
3.
 5
Present research found in a study. A research studies report presents research on an
issue or problem. It’s an in-depth look at a very specific issue. The report should contain
an abstract (summary), introduction, methods, results, conclusion and recommendation.
It should also cite the study or studies involved.
 For example, a business might conduct a company-wide study on whether to ban
smoking in its employee lounge. The person who writes up the study would produce a
research studies report.

4.

6
 Help a company improve its policies, products or processes via consistent
monitoring. This report, called a periodic report, is written at fixed intervals, such as
weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. It may examine efficiency, profit and loss, or any other
metric over the chosen interval.
 For instance, a pharmaceutical sales representative might provide a monthly summary
of his or her sales calls.
5.

7
Report on a specific situation. A specific situation — as opposed to a fixed interval —
calls for a situational report. The situation can be as simple as the information provided
at a conference or as complex as a report on the response to a natural disaster. These
reports contain an introduction, body and conclusion. Use the introduction to identify the
 event and briefly preview what you cover in the body of the report. The conclusion
discusses the undertaken or necessary actions for the situation.
 As an example, a state’s governing body would like a situational report after a
hurricane.
6.

8
Present several solutions for a problem or situation. A yardstick report weighs
several potential solutions for a given situation. Based on the results, the writer would
recommend a particular course of action. A yardstick report should contain an
introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction states the report’s purpose. The
body presents the situation or problem followed by potential solutions/alternatives. The
conclusion reveals the best solution or alternative.
  For instance, ABC Auto Manufacturing, Inc., wants to open a plant in Asia. The report
might narrow down three country options based on the company’s needs. The report
would then conclude which of the three countries is the best location for the new plant.

Part 2
Writing a Business Report
1.

1
Determine your objective and format. Ask yourself what you would like the report to
accomplish.[1] Based on the desired objective, choose a type of report from the list
above.
  Regardless of the answer, you need to make your objective concise. If it is muddled,
then your report will only confuse your audience, which risks damaging the report's
credibility.
 For instance, you may want to accomplish receiving a larger advertising budget for your
department. Your report should focus on the current advertising budget and how you
might effectively use a larger budget.
2.

2
Identify your audience. Your audience may include an outside party (someone who
doesn’t work within your company) or someone within your firm. Consider the
knowledge or familiarity the audience already has with the intended topic. Also, think
about how the audience will use the information in the report.[2]
  Remember that regardless of your audience, no bottom line speaks louder than money
to a company or client.
 For instance, say you want to implement a job-share program for your division. You
decide your target audience is the company’s HR director, CEO and COO. Consider
how much they likely know about job-share programs already. The answer will set the
tone for the report. If your company has never considered a job-share program, then the
report will be both informational and strategic. If the company has considered a job-
share program, then the report will be less informational and more persuasive.
3.

3
Identify what you need to learn. The hardest part of writing a business report isn't in
the writing. It’s forming a conclusion and collecting the data necessary to support that
conclusion. This involves a variety of skills, including data collection and market
 analysis. What do you — and, in the end, management — need to know to make an
informed decision about the topic?
4.

4
Collect the appropriate data for your report. It is important that your data is well-
researched; otherwise, you risk losing credibility. Data gathering itself is going to
depend on the type of report that you write. Ensure that the data parameters you
choose are concise and relevant to the point of the report.
 Data may come internally, which means you'll be able to collect it quite quickly. Sales
figures, for example, should be available from the sales department with a phone call,
meaning you can receive your data and plug it into your report quickly.
 External data may also be available internally. If a department already performs
customer analysis data collection, borrow that department's. You don't need to conduct
 the research on your own. This will be different for every type of business, but the writer
of a business report often doesn't need to conduct firsthand research.
 For instance, if you are writing a justification/recommendation report, then you have to
research all the benefits of your proposed idea and incorporate the research into your
report.
5.

5
Organize and write the report. How you organize your report depends on your
objective. For instance, you would organize a compliance report differently than a
feasibility report. Once you have an idea of how you want to organize your report, you
can write your content.
 Break up relevant data into separate sections. A business report can't be a big flood of
figures and information. Organizing the data into separate sections is key to the success
 of a well-written business report. For example, keep sales data separate from customer
analysis data, each with its own header.
 Organize the report into appropriate section headers, which may be read through
quickly as standalone research, but also supporting the basic objective of the report
together.
 Since some of the sections may depend upon analysis or input from others, you can
often work on sections separately while waiting for the analysis to be completed.
6.

6
Draw conclusions with specific recommendations. Draw clear conclusions that
follow logically from the data examined in the report. Clearly recommend the best
course of action based on those conclusion, if appropriate.[3]
  Any goals should include specific, measurable actions. Write out any changes in job
descriptions, schedules or expenses necessary to implement the new plan. Each
statement should directly indicate how the new method will help to meet the
goal/solution set forth in the report.
7.

7
Write the executive summary. The executive summary should be the very first page of
the report, but it should be the last thing that you write. The executive summary should
present your findings and conclusions and give a very brief overview of what someone
would read, should they choose to continue reading the entire report. It's like a trailer for
a movie, or an abstract in an academic paper.
  The executive summary gets its name because it's likely the only thing a busy executive
would read. Tell your boss everything important here, in no more than 200-300 words.
The rest of the report can be perused if the boss is more curious.
8.

8
Use infographics for applicable data, if necessary. In some cases, you may find it
helpful to include graphs or charts displaying quantitative data.[4] Use color within the
display, as it draws more attention to and helps to differentiate the information.
Whenever possible, use bullet points, numbers or boxed data to help with readability.
This sets your data apart from the rest of your report and helps to indicate its
significance.
  Generally speaking, visual figures are a great idea for business reports because the
writing and the data itself can be a little dry. Don’t go overboard, though. All infographics
should be relevant and necessary.
 Use boxes on pages with a lot of text and no tables or figures. A page full of text can be
tiresome for a reader. Boxed information can also effectively summarize important
points on the page.
9.

9
Cite your sources, if necessary. Depending on what kind of research you've done,
you might need to explain where you obtained your information. The purpose of the
bibliography or sources page in a business report is to provide a resource for others
should they wish to follow up on the data and look into it.
 Use the appropriate formatting for the citations in your report, based on your industry.
10.
 10
Proofread your report twice. Misspellings or basic grammatical errors may give your
readers the impression that you didn’t put enough effort into the report. These errors
can even call into question the credibility of your findings. Also, make sure that you
present your information in a clear, concise way.[5]
 For example, don’t overuse fancy words or make your sentences too wordy.
 Avoid using slang.
 If your report and audience are both closely tied to a specific industry, it's appropriate to
use jargon or technical terms. But you have to take care to not overuse jargon and
technical terms.
 Generally, business writing is written in the passive voice, and this is one of the few
instances where passive writing is usually better than active active writing.
  You can often miss errors while proofreading your own work due to the familiarity from
writing it. Consider asking someone else in your department who wants the report to
succeed to read over it as well. Be open to the feedback. It's better to hear about
mistakes from a co-worker than from a boss. Review each comment from the peer
review and rewrite the report, taking comments into consideration.
11.

11
Create a table of contents. Format the business report as formally as possible,
creating a table of contents to make it easy to reference and flip through your report.
Include all relevant sections, especially the executive summary and conclusions.
12.
 12
Package your business report. The best complement to a thorough, well-researched
report is polished packaging. This may include nice folders, binders or paper. The
bottom line is that your business report needs to look sharp to intrigue your audience
enough to read it.
 This applies to any graphs or charts included in the report as well.