If
you are asked to create a report, you can expect to include all the
parts and pieces listed here, bound within a cover of some kind.
Under real business conditions, nearly any one of these parts
could be deleted, and special situations will sometimes require
additional features not mentioned here. If you are
being asked to prepare a report for the first time, it's a good idea to
find out whether the organization has a report template that you
should follow.
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| Cover |
Heavy
paper of plastic with a company logo; may have photos or other
graphic design elements as well. Usually bound or placed in a report
cover. |
|
| Frontmatter |
The
report provides its contextualizing information in a series of introductory
pages, while the information is provided in the main pages of the report. Depending on the purpose of the report, the
action step might appear as a separate recommendation section, or the report
might be providing only limited information within the scope of a larger set of
actions. |
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| Title
Page |
Author's
name, sponsoring organiation, title, date of preparation (no page
number) |
|
| Letter
of Transmittal |
Use
company letterhead, letter format. Specifies recipients and
purpose of report. Sometimes left unbound or included
after the table of contents. |
|
| Letter
of Authorization |
Copy
of the RFP, authorizing document, or request for a report. |
|
| Table
of Contents |
Includes
all front matter (lowercase roman numerals), all main body
sections (arabic numerals), and all backmatter (no page
numbers). |
|
| Executive
Summary |
One page summary of report content. For more hints: Executive
Summary |
|
| Body
of the Report |
Organizational
structure will vary with report purpose and content, but always use
headings, single spaced text, and bulleted lists as appropriate.
Page numbers may be centered or in the lower right corner. Analytical
Reports |
|
| Citations |
Use
APA unless the company uses a citation format of its own. |
|
| Appendices |
Additional
material, objects, spreadsheets, etc. that are referred to in the
body. Tables or charts that exceed half a page in size are
generally included as appendices. |
|
| This sample report includes all the above items. |
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