Business report structure should reflect results of your investigation into a particular business problem, affecting a company, business, or other entity under analysis. Furthermore, what makes it different from simple research is its parts and their order. Therefore, with the help of detail tips presented below, you’ll learn how to organize the report, differentiate executive summary and abstract, as well as present findings in appendices.
1. Executive Summary vs. Abstract and Introduction: A Comparison Grid
Of course, you should start your report with a title page. Specifically, write the title, your name, and university (if it is an academic report), or company name. Further, proceed with the table of contents, presenting headings for your report. A recommendation is to create the table at the end of your work. For example, you may use the respective option in Microsoft Word. Note that executive summary comes after the table of contents. It presents important parts of your report with recommendations (in the form of a bulleted list). In detail, its purpose is to make the reader understand all steps, solutions, and report essence, even without delving into details. Therefore, it is a must for a business paper. Consider that executive summary is different from abstract or introduction. Look at the comparison grid below.
| Executive Summary | Abstract | Introduction | |
| Presentation of the problem/backround | ✔ | ✓ | ✔ |
| Questions to research | ✔ | ||
| Research articipants | ✔ | ||
| A hook to attract reader’s attention | ✔ | ||
| Importance of the issue or topic under discussion | ✔ | ||
| Purpose definition | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Scope | ✔ | ||
| Methods applied to collect data and information (of three types, namely, qualitative, quantitative, mixed) | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Short data presentation | ✔ | ||
| Findings | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Conclusions | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Recommendations (a bulleted list) | ✔ | ||
| Thesis statement | ✔ | ||
| Keywords | ✔ | ||
| Length | not more than 1 page | up to 250 words | depends on the scope of the paper, usually up to 1 page (1 paragraph) |
Afterwards, type the title of your report on the next page and write introduction with the parts outlined in the table above. Further, present the background for the problem affecting the company and why it is important to find a solution to it. Finally, finish this part with a thesis statement.
2. Business Report Structure of the Main Part (Body)
Note that if you have collected data, first, include the part with the description of methods you have used. However, it is not obligatory. Further, the Discussion or Findings section follows. Specifically, present your analysis of the main causes of the problem, data collected, and possible alternatives for the business to solve the issue. Importantly, do not include tables and figures with data here, but in Appendix or Appendices. Refer to this part in Discussion, using (See Appendix) or (See Appendix A), if there are several appendices.
3. Conclusions and Recommendations
When writing your report, pay attention that these are two separate parts, where Recommendations follow Conclusion. Particularly, in the latter, summarize the main findings, and in the former, present recommendations for the company to fix the problem or improve its current operations. When discussing these, you can use a bulleted list to present recommendations.
4. References and Appendices as Parts of Business Report Structure
Finally, if you have used sources to support your report and provide evidence, include References. When you want to present data, including finances, tables, and figures, add Appendices.
Specifically, you can download a free report template with a Harvard Referencing Style cover. Adapt it to the style you need.
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