Writing Business Reports printable pdf download

RITING

USINESS

EPORTS

WHAT IS A BUSINESS REPORT AND HOW DO I WRITE ONE?

Business reports can take different forms. Generally, they are concise documents that first inform

by summarizing and analyzing key facts and situations and then make recommendations to the

person or group asking for the report. One example—four small county hospitals are no longer

covering their expenses and are costing taxpayers dearly. Each operates very differently from the

others. Some legislators think the least profitable hospitals should be closed while some

taxpayers think all four should be consolidated into one regional administrative unit. An

independent task force is considering all the feasible alternatives and will make a final

recommendation to the county. You have been asked to write a report to this task force. You

have an array of data collected from the hospitals as well as information about the communities

they serve and available literature on hospital administration to draw from. Before writing this or

any report, you must ask yourself two important questions:

1. Who is my audience? (In business, this is likely to be either your supervisors or clients,

such as the task force above,

who will read your report.)

2. What is my purpose? (This is what your readers need to know to do their job.)

If you don’t understand your audience and purpose, you are not likely to create a report that

meets the needs of those who will be reading it.

AUDIENCE: In the example above, you must write your report as if you were writing not to

your professor, but rather to the task force members. Who are they? Legislators? Nurses?

Lawyers? Administrators? Taxpayers? All of these?

Whoever they are, you need to ask and answer the following: What do they already know before

they read your report? What do you want them to know after they’ve read it? What are their

backgrounds? What are their likely biases? How do they approach problems—for example,

would certain kinds of information and terminology be understood by the medical staff but not

by administrators? The medical staff would be familiar with information on risks and benefits of

certain medications for certain patients, while administrators would be familiar with government

regulations on Medicare reimbursement. Use information, explanations, and language familiar to

your specific readers.

PURPOSE: Once you fully understand the audience for your report and re-consider your

assignment with them in mind, your purpose (goals) should become clear. Most likely, your

writing goals will be to inform by summarizing key information; analyze by comparing costs, or

If you are writing for a class assignment, don’t think of your professor as your only audience; the assignment is

designed to test your ability to address a particular audience, one identified in the case you will be working with.

Writing Business Reports