Business Report Writing

developed by Robin Roberts
Department of International Business and Asian Studies

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What is a business report?

One of the most useful skills you can acquire as a business student is the ability to write business reports. A business person who can write good reports has the ability to describe and give a detailed analysis of a circumstance and provide realistic recommendations to the given task.

Business reports may be research based, analytical in nature or a combination of both. The audience for a business report is mainly directed internally and to decision makers in an organisation.

Effective business reports are:

  • Usually longer (+1500 words)
  • involve extensive research, including analysis and description
  • provide an accurate presentation of information;
  • objective;
  • clear and concise;
  • goal directed;
  • a structured document with numbered sub headed sections
  • provide a conclusion
  • and include practical and actionable recommendations.

Business reports, technical reports, research and analytical reports all have the same basic structure. Please check with your lecturer as to the exact requirements for your course.

Structure of a business report
Preliminary section This section includes all the initial information required before the actual discussion.
Body of Report This is where the main discussion is shown.
It begins with the Introduction and end after the conclusion and recommendations.
Supplementary material This section includes additional information that supports the discussion and is referred to in the body of the report.