SETH PADAM CHAND JAIN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS REPORT
How to make a report & Characteristics of a
report
Kunal manglam goyal

SUBMITTED TO:-
DR. Ruchira Prasad
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS REPORT
When you write a business report, focus on the subject at hand.
Information included in the document should be accurate,
relevant and informative to its readers. These are important
characteristics of good reports. When reading a report to gain a
deeper understanding of an issue, a businessperson shouldn’t
have to sift through paragraphs of filler content. A good report
speaks to the reader in terms she can understand.
Reports Need a Clearly Defined Purpose
The purpose of a report should be clear to the reader from the
beginning. The purpose should be stated in the title of the report
if possible and included in the introduction. Identify whether the
intent is to persuade the reader to do something. It should also be
clearly noted whether past information or future predictions will
be provided as evidence to support the points of the report. These
are distinguishing qualities of good reports.
Features of a Business Report
Business reports come in all shapes and sizes and when
considering the features of business reports, you should be
structuring the report in a way that best conveys the information.
One feature that almost all reports share, however, is an
executive summary. The executive summary section on a
business report is typically a single page that outlines the key
points contained within the full report. The summary is essentially
an overview that acts as a reference for readers by offering the
key takeaways. Writing the executive summary can happen
before the report or after the report is completed, but you may
find it easier to write this section last so you can pull out the key
details. Writing after the report is completed makes it easy to
create summary in a similar sequence.
In a similar vein, be aware that a business report can vary in
length from one page to a massive document containing multiple
chapters. All readers may not be looking for the same
information, so it’s helpful to include a table of contents for all
except the briefest reports. This page includes all the main
sections of the report and the page numbers where the
information can be found. This allows a reader to flip right to the
information he needs, without having to search through the entire
report.

Easy to Understand
A good business report should be easily understandable, so it can
hold the attention of the audience. Before you begin to write,
consider the audience. If it consists of people with a great deal of
experience in the industry, it’s fine to use complex terminology
and provide detailed information. However, if the audience
doesn’t have much experience in the industry, the report must be
written in simple, straightforward manner, providing definitions
for any industry terminology used.
Accurate and Neutral Facts
It’s essential that facts provided in the report are accurate, as the
information is used to prove points and draw conclusions. Any
inaccurate facts will skew results and could cause the company to
make an ill-advised business decision.
Clear and Concise Presentation
Including filler content distracts from the point at hand and
wastes the reader’s time. The report should be written in a
concise manner, using a minimum amount of words to make a
clear point. This is not to say that a long report cannot be
effective, it simply means it’s important to avoid including
unnecessary information.
How to Write a Report
Confusion often arises about the writing style, what
to include, the language to use, the length of the
document and other factors

What is a Report?
In academia there is some overlap between reports and essays, and
the two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but reports are
more likely to be needed for business, scientific and technical
subjects, and in the workplace.

Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report concentrates

on facts.

Essentially, a report is a short, sharp, concise document which is written for a

particular purpose and audience. It generally sets outs and analyses a situation
or problem, often making recommendations for future action. It is a factual
paper, and needs to be clear and well-structured.
 Reports may contain some or all of the following
elements:
 A description of a sequence of events or a situation;
 Some interpretation of the significance of these events or situation, whether solely your
own analysis or informed by the views of others,
 An evaluation of the facts or the results of your research;
 Discussion of the likely outcomes of future courses of action;
 Your recommendations as to a course of action; and
 Conclusions.
Not all of these elements will be essential in every report.

If you’re writing a report in the workplace, check whether there are any standard guidelines or
structure that you need to use.

Sections and Numbering

A report is designed to lead people through the information in a structured
way, but also to enable them to find the information that they want quickly
and easily.

Reports usually, therefore, have numbered sections and subsections, and a clear and full
contents page listing each heading. It follows that page numbering is important.

Modern word processors have features to add tables of contents (ToC) and page numbers as
well as styled headings; you should take advantage of these as they update automatically as
you edit your report, moving, adding or deleting sections.

Report Writing
Getting started: prior preparation and planning

The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader

through your thinking to a course of action and/or decision.
It’s worth taking a bit of time to plan it out beforehand.
Step 1: Know your brief
You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including what you are
studying and for whom the report should be prepared.

First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that you are clear who the report is
for (if you're a student then not just your tutor, but who it is supposed to be written for), and
why you are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do at the end of reading: make a
decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.

Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times

During your planning and writing, make sure that you keep your brief in
mind: who are you writing for, and why are you writing?

All your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require you to be ruthless in your
reading and thinking. Anything irrelevant should be discarded.

The Structure of a Report

Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so
do check what’s set out in any guidance.

However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the

very least an executive summary, introduction, the main body
of your report, and a section containing your conclusions and
any recommendations.

Executive Summary

The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a brief summary of the contents.

It’s worth writing this last, when you know the key points to draw out. It should be no more
than half a page to a page in length.

Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy 'executives' a quick summary of the
contents of the report.

Introduction
The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a brief summary of the problem
under discussion. It should also touch briefly on your conclusions.
Report Main Body
The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way that leads the reader
through the issue.

You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings relating to themes or areas for
consideration. For each theme, you should aim to set out clearly and concisely the main issue
under discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It may also include experimental
results. All the information that you present should be related back to the brief and the precise
subject under discussion.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the information, including any
experimental results. It may include recommendations, or these may be included in a separate
section.

Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be improved, and should be
specific, achievable and measurable. If your recommendations have financial implications, you
should set these out clearly, with estimated costs if possible.

A Word on Writing Style

When writing a report, your aim should be to be absolutely clear. Above all, it
should be easy to read and understand, even to someone with little
knowledge of the subject area.

You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using plain English, and shorter words rather
than longer, with short sentences.

You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use specialist language, you should explain each
word as you use it. If you find that you’ve had to explain more than about five words, you’re
probably using too much jargon, and need to replace some of it with simpler words.

Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be written for a particular person, check
whether you should be writing it to ‘you’ or perhaps in the third person to a job role: ‘The Chief
Executive may like to consider…’, or ‘The minister is recommended to agree…’, for example.

A Final Warning
As with any academic assignment or formal piece of writing, your work will benefit
from being read over again and edited ruthlessly for sense and style.
Pay particular attention to whether all the information that you have included is relevant. Also
remember to check tenses, which person you have written in, grammar and spelling. It’s also
worth one last check against any requirements on structure.

For an academic assignment, make sure that you have referenced fully and correctly. As always,
check that you have not inadvertently or deliberately plagiarised or copied anything without
acknowledging it.