A report is an objective presentation of factual information for a specific purpose such as decision making. There are several types of reports categorized by structure, purpose, frequency of issue, subject matter, and persons interested. A formal business report generally contains preliminary parts like a title page and table of contents, a body with introduction, discussion, findings, and recommendations, and supplemental parts like appendices. The principles of a good report are precision, accuracy, relevance, reader orientation, objectivity, clear language, brevity, and clarity.

1. REPORTWRITING
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BUS-202: BusinessCommunication

2. • Definition of a report.
• Different types of report.
• Purpose of a report.
• Principles or characteristics of a good
business report.
• Parts / elements of a formal business
report.
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LEARNINGOUTCOME

3. Areport is an objective and presentation of information
in order to achieve some purpose. It is a basic
management tool usedindecision-making.
AccordingtoC.A. Brown
"A report is a communication from someone who has
some information to someone who wants someone to
usethat information"
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Definition of a report

4. Definitionof areport
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AccordingtoRamondV
.A. Lesikar,
“Abusinessreportisanorderly,objectivecommunication
offactual information that servessomebusinesspurpose"

5. Different typesof report
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Thereisnosinglewaytoclassifyreports.Wecanclassifyreportin
variouswaysondifferent bases:
Onthebasisof structure, report maybe-
➢Formal report:
Formal reportisprepared usuallyinprescribedform designed
byanorganizationfor itsownuse. Theymaybestatutoryor non
statutory. Statutoryreportispubliclimitedcompany,directors
reportetc. Andnon-statutoryreportsconcludecommittee
reports, shareallotment reportsetc.
➢Informal report:
Informalreportsdonotadheretotheformalrulesofthe
organization.Theyareprepared usuallyinformally,usuallyin
memorandumof lettersforms.

6. •
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Onthebasisof purpose, report maybe-
➢ Informational report: Informational reportis preparedfor
providinginformationexactlyastheyare. It isnot a
lengthyreport.
➢ Analytical report: Analytical report contains information
but it also contains the opinion of the report writer. It is a
lengthyreport.

7. •
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Onthebasisof frequencyof issue, report maybe-
➢ Routinereport: routinereportsarepreparedand
presentedat regular,prescribed, intervals in theusual
routineofbusiness.Theymaybesubmittedannually,
semi-annually, monthly, weeklyor everyday.
➢ Specialreport: Specialreports arerelated toasingle
occasionor situation.

8. Onthebasisof thesubject matter, report maybe-
➢ Problemdeterminingreport:Whenareportis
preparedtodetermine thecausesof problemthenit is
calledproblem-determiningreport.
➢ Factdeterminingproblemreport: Thisreportis
preparedtofindout theactuallyexistingproblems.
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9. Onthebasisof personsinterested,reportmaybe-
➢ Reportbyindividual:Anindividuallikebranchmanager
maysubmit Report.
➢ Reportbycommittee:Sometimesreport maybemore
thanoneperson,andthenit is calledreport by
committee.
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10. Purposes of a report
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Areportisanobjectiveandfactualpresentation in
ordertoachievesomeimportantpurposes.These
purposesarediscussedbelow:
1. Torequiretheessentialinformation for decision-
making.
2. Takeimportantdecisionfromthecollectinginformation.
3. Expresstheneutralfigureofanyimportantmatter.
4. Toincreasethemovementofadministration.
5. Toincreasedirectionandcontrolling.

11. 7. T
opreparethefutureagenda.
8. T
ocomparethegetting resultwithestablishedbudget.
9. T
osupplytheinformationtothegovernment offices.
10. T
ohelpexpresstheaccurateplanning.
11. T
oexplain theimportantandcomplexmatter.
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Purpose of a report

12. Principlesor characteristicsof a
good businessreport
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•
•
•
•
Precision: Inagoodreport, thereport writer isveryclear
aboutwriting it. Precisiongivesakindofunitytoreport and
makeit avaluabledocument.
Accuracyoffacts: Accuracyoffactsis anessential
principleof writingagoodreport.
Relevance:Thefactspresentedin areport shouldbenot
onlyaccuratebut alsorelevant.
Reader orientation: Agoodreport isalwaysreader
oriented. It isneededtoareader toset uphismind.

13. Principlesor characteristicsof a
good businessreport
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•
•
•
•
Objectivityof recommendation: If therecommendations
aremadeattheendofa report,theymust be impartial
andobjective.
Simple andeasylanguage: Agood report should be
written in asimpleword.It shouldbefree fromvarious
formsof complexity.
Clarity: Agoodreport should beclear. Clarity dependson
theproper arrangement of facts.
Brevity: Thefinal principle is that areport shouldbebrief.
Brevityshouldnot beachievedat thecost of clarity.

14. Parts / elements of a formal business report
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Aformal businessreport ispreparedandpresentedfor an
organizationfor its ownuse.Theymaybestatutoryand
non-statutory.
Elements/ Partsof formal report:
Basicallytherearethreepartsof formal report-
1. Preliminaryparts:
2. Report body:
3. Supplemental Parts:

15. Preliminary parts: Thepreliminary part identifies and
explainthesubject andcontentsof report. Preliminary
partscontainsthefollowing-
i. TitleFly
ii. TitlePage
iii. Letter of Transmittal
iv. Acknowledgement
v. ExecutiveSummery
vi. Tableof Contents
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Reportbody:Thebodyis theprocessofareport.Herethefactsarepresentedand
interpretedandtheconclusionandrecommendationsarestated.Thebodyofreport
includesthefollowingparts:
Chapter-01: Introduction
1. Statement of theresearchproblem
2. Scopeof thestudy
3. Objectivesof thestudy
4. Methodologyof thestudy
5. Limitations of thestudy
Chapter-02:Discussion:Anoverview oftheproblem(Issue/Company/Products/
services/ideas)
2.1-------
2.2-------
2.3Andsoon
Chapter-03: FindingsandAnalysis
3.1----------
3.2----------
3.3Andsoon.
RecommendationsandConclusions
4.1-------
4.2------
4.3Andsoon

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Supplemental Parts: Thesupplemental partsdivision
followsthebodyandprovidesreferencetohelpthereader
tobetter understandabout it. Theyare-
i. Bibliography
ii. Appendices
Thesearethepartofaformalreport.Areport maybecome
moreformal asmorepartsareadded. Sincethesubject
matterin aformalreportis usually morecomplexand
requiresmorecomprehensivecoverage, thereport writer
shouldusetheabovepartsinaformal report.