How to Write a Report: Essential Principles

What is a report?

It may be presented either verbally or in writing and is usually addressed to managers, clients, institutions, investors or regulatory bodies.

The main purpose of a report is to communicate specific information about a particular issue, process or event. A report may be used to:

• summarise activities,
• present research findings,
• analyse data,
• assess a situation,
• identify irregularities,
• present recommendations,
• monitor progress,
• document the progress of a project.

In practice, a report primarily serves an informative and decision-making function: it enables the reader to draw conclusions and take specific action.

What are the qualities of a good report?

Regardless of the type of report, the document should meet several basic requirements.

• Precision – a report should contain only specific information relevant to the subject under discussion. Avoid unclear wording and generalisations.
• Objectivity – the content must be concise, logical and well organised, with every piece of information justified and supported by data.
• Impartiality – a report must not be based on the author’s personal opinions. Conclusions should arise from facts, analyses or research findings.
• Consistency – the document should maintain a uniform structure, style and method of presentation.
• Readability – a well-prepared report makes it easy to find the most important information quickly by using a contents page, headings and sections.
• Linguistic and factual accuracy – a report must be free from language, stylistic and factual errors. Incorrect data or imprecise conclusions may lead to poor decisions.

How do you write a report?

Preparing a report requires you to organise the information, use an appropriate structure and present the data clearly and objectively.

1. Define the subject and purpose of the report – begin by establishing what the report concerns, which issue it analyses, why it is being prepared and who will read it. This determines both the scope of the information and the language used in the document.
2. Collect and organise the data – a report should be based on reliable sources and specific data. This may include research findings, statistics, financial data or observations. At this stage, select the most important information and remove data that is unnecessary or unrelated to the subject.
3. Prepare the report structure – before you start writing, it is worth creating an outline and dividing the document into thematic sections. This will make the report logical and easy to follow.
4. Write the report content – the document should present facts, explain relationships, present data and lead to specific conclusions. Reports often use tables, charts and diagrams.
5. Complete the formatting – a report should have a clear layout that makes the content easy to read. Use headings and sections, bulleted or numbered lists, and emphasis for the most important information. Sans-serif or serif fonts in 11–12 pt are most commonly used, together with 1.15–1.5 line spacing.
6. Develop conclusions and recommendations – the final section should summarise the most important findings. Where appropriate, you can add recommended actions, proposed changes or a risk assessment.
7. Review the report – before submitting the document, check the accuracy of the data, whether the conclusions are consistent with the analysis, the consistency of the writing, the completeness of the sources, and the linguistic and technical accuracy.

What should the structure of a report look like?

Much depends on the type of report, but the following is a highly versatile structure:

1. Title page – contains the key information identifying the report, such as its title, author, recipient if required, date and place of preparation.
2. Executive summary – a concise presentation of the most important information, results and conclusions.
3. Contents page – an organised list of chapters and sections with page numbers.
4. Introduction – an introduction to the subject of the report, including its context, the scope of the analysis and the main methodological assumptions.
5. Main body – the central part of the report, covering the description of the issue, data analysis, the course of research or events, and their consequences and interpretation.
6. Conclusions – a summary arising directly from the analysis carried out.
7. Recommendations – proposed actions, solutions or next steps.
8. References – a list of all sources used when preparing the report.
9. Appendices – additional materials supplementing the report, such as detailed research findings, technical documentation or other source materials that are too extensive to include in the main body.

Types of reports

There are several types of report, and the classification depends on their purpose, characteristics or range of variables. Reports can therefore be divided according to:

Length:

• short (executive) – up to 10 pages, containing concise and clear information,
• long (extended) – more than 10 pages, containing an in-depth analysis of the issue and a broader range of data.

Content:

• informational – presents facts and data,
• analytical – contains an interpretation of data and conclusions,
• research – based on research and scientific methodology,
• technical – concerns technical or technological issues,
• financial – covers financial and economic data,
• periodic – produced regularly, for example weekly or quarterly.

Purpose: a report may be, for example, an audit report, marketing report, sales report, incident report, research report or inspection report.

Report example

Here is a shortened example of a report.