How to Write a Report: Essential Rules

What is a report?

It may be delivered orally 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 problem, process or event. A report may be used to:

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

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

What makes 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 vague wording and generalisations.
• Objectivity – the content must be concise, logical and well organised, and every piece of information should be justified and supported by data.
• Impartiality – a report must not be based on the author’s personal opinions. Conclusions should follow from facts, analyses or research findings.
• Consistency – the document should maintain a uniform structure, style and presentation format.
• Readability – a well-prepared report makes it easy to find the most important information by using a table of contents, headings and chapters.
• 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 to write a report

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

1. Define the subject and purpose of the report – first determine what the report is about, which problem it analyses, why it is being prepared and who will read it. This will determine 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. These may include research findings, statistics, financial data and 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, create an outline and divide 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 visual layout that makes the content easy to absorb. Use headings and chapters, bulleted or numbered lists, and highlights for the most important information. Sans-serif or serif fonts in 11–12 pt are commonly used, together with line spacing of 1.15–1.5.
6. Develop conclusions and recommendations – the final section of the report should summarise the most important findings. If 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, the consistency of the conclusions with the analysis, the consistency of the writing, the completeness of the sources and the linguistic and technical quality.

What should a report structure look like?

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

1. Title page – contains basic 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, findings and conclusions.
3. Table of contents – an organised list of chapters and subchapters with page numbers.
4. Introduction – an introduction to the report’s subject, including its background, scope of analysis and basic methodological assumptions.
5. Main body – the central part of the report, covering the description of the problem, data analysis, the course of research or events, and their consequences and interpretation.
6. Conclusions – a summary arising directly from the analysis conducted.
7. Recommendations – proposed actions, solutions or next steps.
8. References – a list of all sources used to prepare 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

Reports can be divided into several types according to their purpose, characteristics or scope. They may be classified by:

Length:

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

Content:

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

Purpose: a report may be an audit, marketing, sales, incident, research or compliance report.

Report example

Here is a simplified report example.