In the workplace, the report plays an important role, whether you are preparing one for your supervisor,

the executive staff, board of directors, or clients. It may be short and simple, in the form of a
memorandum or email, or it may be more several pages long. Whatever its length, content, or
destination, is the end result is the same: a report must be informative, factual, understandable, and
neatly presented (Oxford Dictionary).

Business report is broad in scope and covers numerous written documents necessary in doing business
such as incident report, accomplishment report, recommendation report, financial report, and so on.

Even though there are several types of business reports, having a standard business report format,
according to Custodio et al. (2013), allows the reader to easily locate the important information
presented. It also enables the writer to organize the report effectively and logically. Knowing how to
write a business report is necessary in the business world.

There are basic classifications of written report:

Article Report - is a simple report which aims to inform the masses. This report focuses on any general
interest. This is like the magazine article we read on regular days.

Laboratory Report - is a comprehensive report written to communicate laboratory works and

observations to the management. It also focuses on the question, "How did we do it?"

The following are the common parts of a laboratory report.

a. Abstract - This part shows the outline of the entire experiment.

b. Introduction - This part presents the objectives and importance of the experiment. Sometimes,
the predictions background for of what the report the results often should includes be.
Theoretical
c. Procedures - This part is sometimes called methods or steps for it presents the step-by-step
methods on how the experiment is done.
d. Results and Discussion - This part presents the discussion of the experiment as well as the
results which are composed of tables and figures.
e. References - This part includes the sources and references used in conducting the experiment.
f. Conclusions - This part summarizes the results of the experiment.
g. . Appendices - This part is composed of raw data, calculations, graphs, figures, pictures,
communication and so on that you have not included in the report itself.

3. Information Report - The main function of this report is based from the title itself, to inform. This
report includes periodic and annual reports.
 a. Periodic Report - is a type of information report written by the employees or subordinates which
they submit daily, weekly or monthly to their superiors to note information of interest to the
organization to show comparison and tendencies.
b. Annual Report - is a type of information report which includes the listing of activities, projects,
and events of an organization during the whole year round to show progress, financial status,
and general state of affairs. This report can be classified as public or private.

4. Special Information Report - is composed of three subcategories which are preliminary report,
progress, report and final report.

a. Preliminary Report - is a type of special information report that collects information about a proposed
project which includes the costing, designs, and other elements.

b. Progress Report - is a type of special information report that records the history of an activity from the
time it has started up to the present date of writing.

c. Final Report - is a type of special information report submitted after completing a project to show how
plans were delivered.

5. Research Report – is a common report which generates data either in a laboratory or in the field. The
contents and organization of this type of report have a basic logic: you present your data and
conclusions, but also present information on how you went about the experiment or survey.

The following are the contents of a research report:

a. Introduction - This part of a research report provides the reader a background of the report as
well as the purpose of the report.
b. Problem - This includes essential inquiries and situations that led to the writing of the report.
c. Purpose, Objectives, and Scope - This section tells the reader what the researcher intends to do.
Also, the aims of the research as well as the limits to be covered are included in this part.
d. Review of Literature - This part of report includes related readings from different literatures
such as books, journals, articles, magazines, encyclopedia, and the likes.
e. Materials, Equipment, and Facilities - These include the supplies, resources and facilities that
were utilized in the report.
f. Theory, Methods, Procedures - These tell the reader how the report writer conducted the
research. These include the processes involved in the completion of the report.
g. Results, Findings, and Data - These present the outcome of the research with the use of tables,
figures, and charts. The tables, figures, and charts are interpreted and explained by the
researcher.
h. Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations - This section is the last part of a research
report. This includes the conclusions based from the findings and the recommendations are in
turn based on the conclusions.
i. Bibliography - This is the list of all the sources and references used by the report writer in
accomplishing the research report.

The general format of a research report commonly includes the following:

Transmittal Letter
Title Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Abstract
Introduction
Problem, Background
Purpose, Objectives, and Scope
Review of Literature
Materials, Equipment, and Facilities
Theory, Methods, and Procedures
Results, Findings, Data
Discussions, Conclusions, and Recommendations Bibliography

6. Field report - is intended to improve student understanding of key theoretical concepts of a course
through observation and reflection of real life practice. In addition, this type of report facilitates the
development of data collection and observation skills and allows students to see how theory applies to
real world practice.

When writing a field report, you need to consider two things:

a. systematically observe and accurately record the details and information of a certain aspect of a
situation; constantly analyze your observation for meaning.
b. keep the report's aims in mind while you are observing; consciously observe, record and analyze
what you hear and see in the context of a theoretical framework (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992).

7. Recommendation Report - is written to decide to answer on. It questions which are somehow so that
critical a good decision can be shows options or choices drafted.

The following elements are the typical contents of a recommendation report:

a. Introduction
b. Technical Background
c. Make Comparisons
d. Critical Requirements
e. Conclusions
f. Recommendations

8. Incidental Report - is written to narrate incidents prior to, during, and after a situation suddenly
occurred. We should bear in mind that incident report is definitely different from narrative type of essay.
The presentation of ideas in an incident report is systematically arranged and organized using
appropriate language. This kind of report uses simple and clear words and avoids using jargons and
technical terms.
There are things to consider in writing an incident report:

a. The context of the incident

b. Details of the incident
c. Thoughts, feelings, and concerns about the incident
d. Demands of the incident
e. Impact of the incident

9. Accomplishment Report - is written for the purpose of presenting the company, organization, or
institution's activities and achievements and to monitor and check if the plans were successfully carried
out. Every organization or business entity provides a format of an accomplishment report.

The following are some steps in writing an accomplishment report:

a. Use the prescribed template of your company;

b. Create tables or charts with the following columns: number, action or activity, initiator, person
responsible, remarks (target time, comments);
c. Add risk factor if needed; and
d. Innclude a list of who will be receiving this report