1. Business report writing
Zoë Mitchell , Faculty,
NSCC School of Access
Welcome to the lesson on writing business reports
From Susan Hunt, Faculty, NSCC

2. Types of reports Sales proposal Funding request Progress report
Analysis of a new product, service or market
Marketing plan
Financial assessment
Employee assessment
Quarterly and annual reports
…many more.
There are thousands of different type of business reports. These are just a few: sales proposal; funding request; progress report; an analysis of a new product, service or market; marketing plan; financial assessment; employee assessment; as well as quarterly and annual reports

3. Common elements Brief summary of information
Written for a specific audience and purpose
Informs or persuades reader
Often CONFIDENTIAL
Strict formatting style:
Single spaced
12 point font Times New Roman or Arial
Written in plain language –grade 8 audience if intended for public reading
Broken into sections with subheadings
Does NOT follow 5-sentence rule for paragraphs. Only write what is necessary.
May include an executive summary at beginning (if long report)
Often includes graphs, charts and images
References and source citations if a research report
Looks professional
No matter the type of report, there are common elements found with all reports.
First the report is a brief summary of information. In business, time is money, so information is written concisely.
Also, the report is directed to a specific audience and written for a specific purpose. For instance, the report may be a business plan that is submitted to a bank officer who will decide whether or not the company will receive a capital loan from the bank. Alternatively, companies that are publically traded on the stock market must by law publish quarterly and annual reports that include financial statements.
Generally business reports inform or persuade the reader to do something.
Often they are confidential and not to be shared publically, unless it is the example just mentioned.
In addition, formatting style of the report looks very professional. Font is single spaced and often 12 point Times New Roman or Arial or similar fonts that are very easy to read. Usually the report is written in basic, plain language. If the report is written for a public audience, then generally the language could be read by a grade 8 student, with the exception of financial terms and financial statements.
The report is always broken into sections and subdivided with subheadings. That allows the reader to quickly skim down through the subheads and read the sections that are relevant. Often people do not read reports from front to back. They usually read the first summary section, and then skip to the sections that are most important.
Business writing never follows the traditional English class 5-sentence rule for paragraphs. For instance, a paragraph in a business report could be a single sentence.
If the report is long, it will likely include an executive summary at the beginning that highlights the most important points of the report.
Often business reports include graphs, charts and images.
Last, if the report includes information that was researched, the references will be provided.

4. Delivery options Print reports
Presentations (usually with MS PowerPoint)
Online (websites, text documents attached in , web board for sharing information or making sales presentations, etc.)
Business reports are shared in a number of ways. Typically they are printed. If they’re intended for a small audience, such as a loans officer, they’ll just be printed on a regular printer. However, if they’re intended for a public audience, then they’ll be professionally designed by a graphic designer and printed in full colour at a print shop. Often the content of business reports are shared in presentations, typically using PowerPoint as a visual aid. In addition, business reports can be shared online as attachments or in PDF format.

5. RECAP Report writing Common practice in business
Essential means of communicating lots of info quickly
Written for a specific audience and purposes
Formatted to look professional
Just to quickly review, business reports are commonly used in business and are a method of sharing a lot of important information quickly. They’re written for a specific audience and specific purpose. They are formatted to look professional, so the formatting is almost as important as the information provided in the report, because the formatting helps the reader skim through the report and choose which information to read.

6. References
17 Designs. (2015). Business reports & proposals [Image]. Retrieved from
Linkedin.com. (2013). Should everyone work in consulting? [Image]. Retrieved from should-everyone-work-in-consulting-at-least-for-a-few-years
Nuckles, B. (2014). 5 ways to share a business presentation from an Android phone [Image]. Retrieved from phone-projector.html
ProfitID. (2013). Some questions to ask before you sign a new vendor contract [Image]. Retrieved from
Here are my references I used to prepare this presentation.

7. Thank you
Questions?
Thank you for listening and please let me know if you have any questions.