Report Writing

A review of short reports and

formal business reports

Tracey Wright, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, 2015

 Writing 4: Short Report
Date: September 11TH
Example
To: Managing Director
From: (students name) Terms of reference
Subject: Comparison of hotels for Berlin seminar 1) Reason for the
We are currently looking for a hotel for the weekend report
seminar. This report compares two possible hotels in 2) What the report
Berlin. does
Rheinland Hotel 1st Hotel Information
A clear, concise
The Rheinland Hotel is near the airport and about 30
minutes from central Berlin. It costs 91 euros per room summary of
and has good facilities for guests including a sauna, pool, the hotels location,
massage, and fitness studio. For seminars, they can cost, and facilities.
provide one large conference room and five small
meeting rooms.
2nd Hotel
Information
Hotel Europa A clear, concise
This hotel is further from the airport, but its close to the
summary of
centre with lots of restaurants nearby. It can also provide the hotels location,
meeting rooms for the seminar and the price is 82 euros cost, and facilities.
per room. Conclusion
1) Writers decision/
Conclusion
opinion
I think both hotels can provide all the right facilities, so 2) Reason for the
the main difference is the price. In my opinion Hotel decision/ opinion.
Europa is probably a better choice. I think everyone will
enjoy visiting central Berlin in the evening and its
Introduction to Business Report Writing

1 There are many 2

different ways to
The structure you use can
write a report.
depend on:
1: Your companys
preferred style.
2: The type information
you want to present.
So, you can use 3: The way you gathered
3 that information.
whatever
headings/styles are Etc.
necessary for your
situation

4 The important thing to do is

to present your information
in a logical order.
 1st Common Report
Structure 1
Structure
Title Name /subject of the report.

Brief overview of the whole situation

Executive you are going to present.
summary
Introduction of the items you are going
Introduction to talk about during the rest of the
report.
Presentation your items/ information you
have gathered.
Findings
BUT YOU DONT INCLUDE YOUR
OPINIONS YET!
Summary of the main point/s you have
Conclusi
presented with your opinions.
on
Your suggestions about future actions
Recommendat to solve the problems/ improve the
ions situation .
Example 1: Accident Report
Title
Brief and precise name to let the
reader know the exact subject of the
report .

Executive summary
Brief overview of the whole accident
including who was involved, how the
fire started, and the consequence.

Introduction
Presents the order of topics to be
discussed in the findings.
Findings
Follows the order of the introduction
topics and gives more detail about the
sequence of events, then the
subcontractors involved, and then
their responsibilities.
Conclusion
Gives a precise opinion from the writer
about the subcontractors
responsibility in regard to the
situation.
Recommendations
Presents further suggestions from the writer about how
to prevent such a fire from happening again.
 2nd Common Report Structure
Structure 2
Title Name /subject of the report.

One or two sentences to state who the

Terms of reference report is for, what it does/ is about, and
a request/due date (if known).
How you have gathered the information
you will present in your findings. E.g.
Procedure
Did you interview staff? Did you send
people a survey to fill in? etc.
Presentation your results/ information
you have gathered from your
Findings procedure.
BUT YOU DONT INCLUDE YOUR
OPINIONS YET!
Summary of the main point/s you have
Conclusion presented with your opinions.
s
Your suggestions about future actions
Recommendation to solve the problems/ improve the
s situation .
 Example 2: Staff Football

Report
Title
Brief and precise name to let the
reader know the exact subject of the
report .
Terms of reference
States the reason for the report ,
who it was requested by, and what
date he requested it.

Procedure
Briefly explains how the writer
gathered the information Mr Hassan
requested. (Who was interviewed,
how many people etc. )
Findings
Presents the information the writer
gathered from staff members during
the procedure. It is clearly organised
into positive feedback and problems.

Conclusion
Gives a precise opinion from the writer
based on the positive feedback and
problems.
Recommendations
Presents a further suggestion from the
writer about what support should be given
to the football team.
 Report Structure Recap

From the examples you can see that

1
there are different ways to structure
your report.

The way you present your Findings can

2 vary, depending on what kind of
information you have.
The Findings section is where you
3
present the results/ the facts of your
report only, not opinions.

Your opinions can be presented in your

4
Conclusion and Recommendations
section.
 Business Report Writing Style
We typically use reported speech
1
for a formal business report.
E.g.
Sally: I think I am good at managing my time.

Reported Speech: Sally / one employee (says) she

thinks she is good at managing her time.
OR:
Sally/ one employee (said) she
thinks she is good
at managing her time.
For this assignment, all of the employees are reporting on a current
situation.

You can use verbs of reporting in the present or past simple, but
keep the persons speech in the present.

Some verbs of reporting you can use: say/said, report/reported,

state/stated, remark/remarked, complain/complained,
mention/mentioned, point out/pointed out,
propose/proposed, recommend/recommended, suggest/suggested
 Business Report Writing Style
2 Keep the style formal

1. Avoid using you to address your superior/ boss

E.g. You should definitely choose this hotel.

Better:
This hotel would be a better choice for the conference.
etc.

2. Avoid stating the opinion of your superior/ boss

(because you dont know its true)

E.g. The price does not matter to my manager.

Better:
The price is affordable.

3. Avoid using informal expressions

E.g. It doesnt have many facilities, but who cares.

Better:
The few facilities provided will be suitable.
Business Report Writing Style
1.
3 Verb agreements
Watch your grammar!

The hotel have many facilities. (The

hotel has...)
It take 25 minutes to get to from the airport. (It
takes)

2. The verb to be

The hotel close to central Berlin. (The

hotel is close)

3. Singular/ plural nouns

The hotel provides one large meeting rooms. (one

large meeting room.)
There are only one facility available. (There is
only one)

4. There is/ There are

 References
Taylor, Model Business Letters, Emails & Other Business
Documents
Vantage, Business Benchmark Upper Intermediate