PREFATORY SECTION OF A LONG (FORMAL) REPORT

WHAT IS A LONG REPORT? DISCUSS THE PREFATORY SECTION OF A

LONG REPORT.

A) A LONG REPORT

A long report is simply an expansion of a short report. A short report needs less detailed
introductions and visual aids. Short reports may be formal or informal. Long reports are
usually formal. A long report involves a deeper discussion and is more complex in nature
than a short report. A short report includes introduction, body and terminal section,
whereas, a long (formal) report includes preliminary section, a body and supplementary
material. Planning is the first step towards writing a long report. Planning would
comprise the following:

1) AUDIENCE RECOGNITION

What is the target audience? What action needs to be taken? Who is going to read?
my report? Categorize different types of document readers.

2) WRITING PURPOSE

Why am I writing? What was the situation that led to the need for this document?
What was the purpose of writing the report? What I want to achieve with my writing?

3) ORGANIZATION OF REPORT

What is the central idea that I am focusing upon? How I am going to present my
ideas? What are the things I want to include?

4) USE OF VISUAL AIDS

What visual aids will be used? To what extent these visual aids will be used? Will
these help in making message more precise and clear? Will the document reader
be able to understand the visual aids?

5) WRITING STYLE

What is the writing diction that will be followed? Which writing style will be the
most effective?

B) THE PREFATORY SECTION OF A LONG REPORT

The prefatory section of a long report comes before the body of the report. A prefatory
section comes first in a long report but may be designed in the last. It has four parts:

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1) THE TITLE PAGE
The title page includes the title, the name of the person writing the report, his rank
or position, and the date of submission. The title should be appropriate, clear,
specific and concise. It should be eight to ten words long. A report title covers
briefly what the report covers. A five W’s (who, when, where, what, why)
approach should be followed while writing the cover page. In case of highly
technical reports, the contact details of author and his project members are also
included.

2) THE COVER LETTER

The cover letter or letter of transmittal is used when the report is being sent
outside the organization. A cover memorandum is used when the report is being
sent inside the organization. In a cover letter, the receiver of the report is
addressed. A cover letter discusses the authorization for the report, or the occasion
for writing the report. It also covers the scope of the report. In the end, courteous
close and any acknowledgements can be added.

3) THE ABSTRACT OR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

An executive summary is a summarized version of a report. It is a very quick and
accurate overview of what is contained in the report. It is usually written in the
end. It should not be more than one or two pages. An abstract is helpful for top
level executives who have to read hundreds of pages daily. Most of the business
executives do not read the complete report. They go for the abstract in order to
save their time. A synopsis helps out in managerial decision making. An abstract
should be very clear, precise, to-the-point, and catchy, as it is a condensed version
of a long report.

4) THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

A table of contents shows where the report contents are in the report. It is
preferred to prepare table of contents in the end. It comes in the preliminary
section of a report but is prepared in the end. After all the document has been
considered and revised, all the page insertions are done and the document is well
formatted. A table of contents lists the sections in a report. Some report formats
allow table of contents to come before the executive summary. The numbering
starts with the chapter one. The pages before that are numbered using Roman
numerals like I, II, III, and so forth. English alphabet letters are used for
appendices. For example, Appendix A, Appendix B, and so forth. Appendices,
cover letter, executive summary, bibliography, references and acknowledgements
are made italicized (sometimes) in table of contents. A table of illustrations
includes an overview of illustrations, images, visuals or appendices within the
report.

OPTIONAL PREFATORY PARTS OF A LONG REPORT

5) RELIGIOUS LOGO
Many Muslims start their projects with a religious wording

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 like . Hindu writers usually write “Om” or use
in the beginning.

6) AN APPROVAL PAGE

An approval page contains names and signatures of project supervisors, and

examiners along with the date.

7) DEDICATION

Most of the projects include a dedication page. It includes names of those to

whom the project is being dedicated.

8) SPONSORSHIP LETTERS

If the project is sponsored, then it contains the name of the organization that
sponsored the project, location and sponsorship date.

EXAMPLES OF SOME PARTS TAKEN FROM A LONG REPORT

The following are examples of a title page, acknowledgements, executive summary and a
partial table of contents.

The title page looks like: (A logo of the organization/university may be inserted)

Entrepreneur Accounts Management Software:

Developed For Accounts Maintenance Purpose

Submitted To:
Department of Computer Science
Bahria Institute of Management & Computer Sciences

Prepared By:
Ms. Sadaf Fayyaz
CS Student, Bahria University
Enrollment No. 1313454-023

July 26th, 2005

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Acknowledgements page looks like:

ACKNOWLEDEMENTS

All my heartiest thanks to Almighty Allah, whose mercy and blessings helped me to
complete this report. I express my deepest gratitude to my project supervisor, Mr.
Nadeem M. Khan, for his help and guidance. I would also like to thank Mr. Zia
Lughmani for his technical support.

An Executive Summary looks like:

ABSTRACT
ENTREPRENEUR ACCOUNTS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

This project is designed for accounts maintenance purposes. It was sponsored by XYZ
Corporation. It is a modern inventory system which makes manual system computerized.
The project took almost six months to complete. It was designed using SQL server 2000
and VB.net. Day-to- day transactions are performed. Voucher entries are made, processed
and saved in a back-end database. Any person having a good knowledge of accounts is
eligible to use it. It is following the format of “PEACHTREE SOFWARE”. Different
statements like income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet are generated.
Further reports include Trial balance sheet, Chart of Accounts report, General Journal and
General ledger. The system provides security and authentication as well. Multiple users’
access is not allowed.
For an authorized user, transaction processing can be done. For other unauthorized users,
it is read-only.
The project analysis, prototyping and design were a difficult task. A flexible prototype
model was developed.
Finally, the XYZ Corporation will start using it after three months.

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A partial table of contents looks like:

CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………….i
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………ii
Introduction…………………………………………………………………iii
Chapter 1 Present System…………………………………………………...
1.1 Working of the present system ……………………………….
1.2 Problems in the current system……………………………….
1.3 How to overcome the problems……………………………….
1.3.1 By ensuring data security………………………..
1.3.2 By making system computerized………………..

Chapter 2 System Modeling…………………………………………………

2.1 Entity Relationship Diagrams…………………………………
2.1 Decompositioning……………………………………………..
2.3 Data Flow Diagrams…………………………………………..

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. Appendix A: Questionnaires………………………………………………..
Appendix B: Interview questions……………………………………………
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………
References……………………………………………………………………
Glossary …………………………………………………………………......
Index………………………………………………………………………. .