Formal Reports

An overview

The distinctions between formal and

informal reports

The distinctions between formal and informal

reports are often blurred:
a formal report is usually written to someone in
another company or organization.
Occasionally it is written for a senior manager in
the same company, or for someone with whom the
writer has little regular contact.
Usually it is longer than an informal report and
requires more extensive research.

The distinctions between formal and

informal reports

Reader

Length

Tone

Title

Transmittal page

Contents page

Informal
often internal

Formal
often external or
distant within organization

usually short
several sections
personal

usually long sections and

subsections
more impersonal

appears as subject line appears on separate

in memo heading
title page
optional
covering letter or memo
none

useful if report is over 5page

Structure of a formal report

Title page. 1
The

Title Page must include the

subject of the report, who the report
is for, who the report is by and the
date of submission.

Letter of Transmittal. 2

A letter of transmittal is a covering letter, given in letter or memo form,

depending on whether it is going to someone outside or inside the writers
organization.
A covering letter is usually brief and follows this pattern:
an opening statement,transmitting the report to the reader and stating its
title or purpose (for example,Here is the report you requested on . . .)
a brief outline of the major conclusions or recommendations
202 Impact: A Guide to Business Communication
a statement of thanks for any special help received from other employees
a goodwill close that looks forward to future discussion or opportunities to
Help.
Occasionally, a fairly extensive summary of the report in the covering letter
will substitute for a summary at the beginning of the report.
Sometimes, if the writer is an outside consultant hired for the job, the letter of
transmittal expresses appreciation for the opportunity of working on the task.

Abstract. 3
An abstract is usually 100 to 200 words and should include the
following:
why the report has been written (i.e. what question or problem is it
addressing?)
how the study was undertaken
what the main findings were
what the significance of the findings is.
Be specific and precise so that the reader can get a good understanding
of the main points without having to read the whole report.
It is usually written in a single paragraph with no indentation.

Table of contents. 4

This is useful if the report is over five pages. It follows the letter of transmittal
and has no page number.
It may be labelled Table of Contentsor simply Contents.
List the sections of the report in a column on the left, using the same system of
numbering used in the body of the report.
If the report has subsections, list these as well. (Subsection headings
may be indented a few spaces from the section headings.)
In a column at the right of the page,list the appropriate page numbers.
If the report itself contains a number of tables or figures, list them with an
appropriate labelfor example,List of Tables.
The Table of Contents should be on a separate page.
It helps the reader to find specific information and indicates how the
information has been organised and what topics are covered.

Introduction. 5

The Introduction has three main components:

1. The Background which describes events leading up to
the existing situation, what
projects have been done previously, and why the project
or study is necessary.
2. The Purpose which defines what the project or study
is to achieve, who authorised it and the specific terms of
reference.
3. The Scope which outlines any limitations imposed on
the project such as cost, timeetc.

Body. 6

The Body varies according to the type of report.

Basically, it answers the questions Who?
Why? Where? When? What? How?
In an investigative report, it would consist of all
the information required to convince the reader
that the conclusions and recommendations are
valid/reliable. This information must be presented
in a systematic way.

Conclusions. 6

The Conclusions should be as brief as possible.

They should be
presented in descending order of importance and
should not suggest action.
Conclusions should be free from speculation (i.e.
ideas for which you have presented no evidence),
have no new thoughts or references introduced
and contain no further discussion of points raised.

Recommendations. 8

The Recommendations should follow naturally

from the conclusions.
They should be offered in descending order of
importance and may be in point form when
several recommendations are being made.

8.References

If you have referred in your report to any facts or figures that are not general
knowledge or part of the organizations internal operation, you should give the
source in a reference.
The most common methods of documentation is the American Psychological
Association (APA) style.
1. Citations
Parenthetical citations are used in the body of the report, giving only the
authors last name and the date of publication, for example (Soames, 1995).
If you are referring to a page or section of the source material, your citation
should include this information, for example (Henderson, 1993, p. 49) or
(Shelley, 1992, chap. 3).

References -continued.8
2. Reference List
Complete information about the text citations appears in a list of references
attached at the end of the report.

The references are listed alphabetically by the authors last name.

Some examples of common items in a reference list are:

Book:
Elliott, D.W. (1994). The effects of free trade on Canadian business.
Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall Canada.

Journal article:
Patrick, N. L. (1990).The role of ergonomics in contemporary business
practice. Business Psychology,82, 67583.

Electronic reference:
Jacobson, J.W., Mulick, J.A., & Schwartz,A.A. (1995).A history of facilitated communication: Science,
pseudoscience, and antiscience: Science working group on facilitated communication. American
Psychologist,50, 750765. Retrieved January 25, 1996, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.apa.org/journals/jacobson.html

E-mail (M.J. Rhiner, personal communication, October 24, 1996)

Newsgroup (Ellen Jones, newsgroup posting, March 17, 1997)

Discussion list (Paul Prentiss, discussion list posting, April 7, 1997)

Appendix/Appendices. 9
Appendix/Appendices contain important data,
explanatory and illustrative material not included in
the text.

Tables and figures

Tables, graphics and photos are placed immediately after where they are first
referred to in the text.
The reader should also be referred (by number) to the diagrams at the
appropriate time in the text and the most important features pointed out to
them.
Tables, and graphics and photos (called figures), should be sequentially
numbered.
In large reports with many chapters, they are sequentially numbered in each
chapter (i.e. for Chapter 2 you will begin from Table 2.1, Figure 2.1).
Titles for tables are centred above the table.
Titles for figures are centred below the graphic.
The source of the table or figure should also be included.
The source is usually in a smaller font (e.g. 10 point) and aligned on the left
hand margin under a table, and under the title of a figure.