Report Writing Format With Templates and Sample Report

8/2/22, 3:08 PM Report Writing Format with Templates and Sample Report
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Report Writing Format with Templates and

Sample Report
Nov 19, 2021

Written by:
Orana Velarde
https://visme.co/blog/report-writing-format/ 1/31
There are many types of reports – sales reports, marketing reports, school reports,
social media reports (https://www.visme.co/templates/presentations/social-media-
report-1425276935/) and more.
But no matter which type of report you have to write, it must follow the correct report
writing format. With the right format, your report will be easy to read and understand.
First of all, a report is unlike an essay, blog post or journalistic article. The main idea of
a report is to present facts about a specific topic, situation, or event.
It’s not about supporting ideas or hypotheses. The information must be presented in a
clear and concise way — that’s why the proper report writing format is essential.
Just as there are different types of reports, there are also different ways to deliver
them. Reports can be printed documents, interactive slide decks
(https://visme.co/blog/interactive-presentation/) or even a visual infographic.
Follow the format in this article independently of your report’s visual composition.
The content should be set up the same way for any format you choose.
Once you’ve written your report, log into your Visme dashboard and find the perfect
report template (https://www.visme.co/templates/) for your needs. Input your written
content, create data visualizations and create a report (https://visme.co/report-
maker/) that won’t bore your audience.
Table of Contents
6 Types of Reports
The Ultimate Report Writing Format
Top Report Writing Tips
Sample Report in Standard Report Writing Format

1
6 Types of Reports
There are a selection of different reports you might need to create. Each of these will
follow a similar reporting writing format to what we've covering in this post.
1. Annual Reports
The first type of report we'll cover is an annual report (https://visme.co/blog/annual-

report-design/). This will typically round up a business's year of progress and
performance to let supervisors and team members know how the company did.
It can include anything from website analytics to sales profits, depending on who the
report is meant for.
Customize this annual report template and make it your own!
Edit and Download

(https://dashboard.visme.co/v2/create/template/banners/1425278760/?
vc=In-Text-Blog-CTA&ver=4)
2. Weekly Reports
1
One report that is helpful to provide your team is a weekly report

(https://visme.co/blog/weekly-report/) based on your progress in various projects and
goals. This can be a simple one-pager, or a more in-depth report with specific updates.
Customize this weekly report template and make it your own!
Edit and Download

3. Project Reports
Keep clients and team members up-to-date on the status of various projects you're
working on by providing them with a project report. This can include a timeline of your
report progress and the deadline for each segment to keep everyone on the same
page.
Customize this report template and make it your own!
Edit and Download

4. Sales/Marketing Reports
It's essential to keep your team updated on how your sales and/or marketing
strategies are going. Put together graphs showing profit margins, increases in
engagement and more.
These types of reports are also a great way to determine whether your strategies are
working or if they need some tweaking in the future.
Edit and Download

5. Research Report
Sometimes if you need to do some in-depth research, the best way to present that
information is with a research report. Whether it's scientific findings, data and
statistics from a study, etc., a research report is a great way to share your results.
Customize this research report template and make it your own!
Edit and Download

6. Academic Report
An academic report is one created for a class, often in graduate or undergraduate

university. This follows a formal writing style and dives into a topic related to the
student's academic studies.
Customize this presentation template and make it your own!
Edit and Download

(https://dashboard.visme.co/v2/create/template/presentations/14252801

The Ultimate Report Writing Format

Now we're getting to the good part — the ultimate report writing format. While this
may vary based on the data and information you pull, following along with this format
is always going to be a great way to start off any report.
It goes a little something like this:
Title: A clear and concise report title.

Table of Contents: A page dedicated to the contents of your report.
Summary: An overview of your entire report — you'll need to wait you've
completed the full report to write this section.
Introduction: Introduce your report topic and what readers will find throughout
the pages.
Body: The longest section of your report — compile all of your information and
use data visualization to help present it.
Conclusion: Different from the summary, this concludes the report body and
summarizes all of your findings.
Recommendations: A set of recommended goals or steps to complete with the
information provided in this report.
Appendices: A list of your sources used to compile the information in your report.
Each of these eight elements ensures that you leave no stone unturned and that your
reader knows exactly what they're learning in your report and how you gathered this
information.
Your next step is to get started with an outline. At each point of the outline, use one or
two sentences to describe what will go in there. It doesn’t need to say much, just an
idea for you to follow later. Input some design ideas for the overall design as well.
For example, in the Table of Contents (https://visme.co/blog/table-of-contents-

templates/) section, simply add that you want it to only cover one page or slide, make a
note if you’d like to add the pages for only the main sections or maybe also the
subsections.
1
In the Appendices section, list all the links to the sources you used and add on as you
do more research. Every source you reference in your report must be listed here.
The most important part of your outline is the Body section. In there, create an
internal outline of sections and subsections that you can follow later when writing.
After you’ve drafted the outline, it’s time to put together all of the content into the
report. The outline we provided above is the only report writing format you’ll ever
need. You can add sections if needed but don’t take any away.
Let’s take a look at every section in detail. 1
Title
Edit and Download

(https://dashboard.visme.co/dashboard/template/reports/1425280931)
The title of your report should be clear in its wording. It must say exactly what the
report is about. Remember that this isn’t a novel. Include a subtitle if necessary,
making sure the font size of each subtitle is smaller than the title.
In terms of design, your title can be designed as an inviting cover page. There needs to
be a clear hierarchy (https://visme.co/blog/visual-hierarchy/) in how the title looks.
On your title or cover page (https://visme.co/blog/report-cover-page/), be sure to

include the following:
Report title
Report subtitle (if necessary)
Author of the report
Who the report is meant for
Date the report was written
Table of Contents
Edit and Download

Always leave the Table of Contents page until the end. After all, you can’t write a table
of contents if you don’t know all of your page numbers yet.
However, if your Body outline already has each of your section and subsection titles 1
defined, you can add those to the contents and leave the numbering for later.
Having a Table of Content pages makes it easy for your readers to find the information
they're most interested in quickly and easily, improving overall readability. So you
absolutely do not want to skip this step.
Summary
Edit and Download

(https://dashboard.visme.co/dashboard/template/reports/1425280931) 1
Likewise, the summary (also known as the abstract) of the report is best done after
you’ve finished writing the report. You can draft a summary at the beginning to help
you continue with the work, but you’ll definitely want to revisit it at the end.
A summary is a blurb of the entire report. It must include the purpose, the process and
a snippet of the resolution. This should be no longer than a single paragraph or two.
Introduction
Customize this report template and make it your own! 1
Edit and Download

In the introduction, state what the report is about and why it has been created.
Depending on the length of your report, the introduction could range from one single
paragraph to an entire page long.
For example, one paragraph is enough for a social media report introduction while an
entire page would be more suitable for an annual report.
Take this time to introduce why your topic is so important, especially if it's a research
report. You need to focus on why your readers should care about what you have
uncovered.
Body
Edit and Download

The body of your report is where all the information is put together and will be the
longest section of your report. This will likely span several (anywhere from 5-50)
pages. Follow your initial outline to maintain consistent flow in the content creation.
1
Write the body content (https://visme.co/blog/how-to-write-a-report/) as sections

and subsections.
Furthermore, use bullet points and data visualization as visual cues

(https://visme.co/blog/category/understanding-data-visualization/). These will help
your audience to better understand the content of your report.
Check out this video from Visme for some tips on visualizing all that data!
Conclusion 1
Edit and Download

Close your report with a well-crafted conclusion (https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-

Conclusion-for-a-Research-Paper). Formulate it as a brief summary of what was
covered within the report, and be sure to include a mention to the recommendations
section and the resources in the appendix. 1
This section should never bring new information to the table — instead, it should
simply summarize all of the findings you've already mentioned into one concise final
section.
Recommendations
Edit and Download

(https://dashboard.visme.co/dashboard/template/reports/1425280931) 1
Craft the recommendations section as a set of actionable steps with smart goals
associated (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/smart-goal-examples) along with
possible solutions. This section is irrelevant for school reports or book reports, but is
essential in a business setting.
Appendices
Edit and Download 1
This is the section where you list all your sources if it’s a research report. You should
also add any links that are relevant to the report — or previous reports about the same
topic.
You could even link an interactive version of the report you just created with Visme.
Visme allows you to create interactive and animated documents that can be published
to the web with a single click, offering a new dimension to your report.
A good rule of thumb when creating your appendices is to only add information that is
relevant to the report or that you referenced when writing your report. Use reference
annotations inside the report to link to the content in the appendix.
The report content used in this sample report design can be found here
(http://www.wright.edu/~david.wilson/eng3000/samplereport.pdf).
Top Report Writing Tips
Looking to create a stand-out visual report?
- Choose from dozens of professionally designed templates
- Create animated charts and creatively visualize stats and figures
- Customize anything to fit your brand image and content needs
Sign up. It's free. (https://www.visme.co/templates/reports/?vc=In-Text-Blog-

CTA)
Following a report writing format is only one part of the process. You also need to be
conscious of how you put the written content and the visuals together.
1
Here are some tips from the Visme team to help you make amazing reports.
1. Write the body of the report before writing the introduction or conclusion.
2. Use as much visualization as possible, but not “just for the sake of using visuals.”
Make sure every visual has a purpose.
3. Review your writing skills (https://visme.co/blog/how-to-improve-writing-skills/)

to craft a well-written report. For example, use active voice and refrain from
using too many acronyms. Also, use simple language and stay away from word
stuffing.
4. Stick to the facts! Be clear and concise.
5. Use a grammar checker like Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com/). Even

your best KPIs and ROIs won’t save you from bad grammar.
6. Try to keep the appendix small. Don’t make it so long that it gets burdensome.
Sample Report in Standard Report Writing

Format
Click through the image below to use this customizable template to create your
report. It follows the standard report writing format so you won’t get confused or miss
a section.
Edit and Download

Over to You 1
Hopefully, this post has helped you to better understand the best way to put together
a report. Following a standard report writing format is just what you need to create
engaging, memorable reports (https://www.visme.co/report-maker/?vc=In-Text-Blog-
CTA). Follow the tips above and you’ll never make a boring report again.
Just how following a report writing format will help you create a better report, a
Visme subscription (https://www.visme.co/) will help you create a full suite of visual
content.
Create Stunning Content!

Design visual brand experiences for your business
whether you are a seasoned designer or a total novice.
Try Visme for free

(https://www.visme.co/professional-document-creator/?
utm_source=BlogCTA&utm_medium=BlogCTA&vc=BottomBanner-CTA)
About the Author

1
Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world
with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com
(https://www.oranavelarde.com/)
(https://visme.co/blog/)
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8/2/22, 3:08 PM Report Writing Format with Templates and Sample Report

DESIGN FOR BUSINESS

Report Writing Format with Templates and

Nov 19, 2021

The first type of report we'll cover is an annual report (https://visme.co/blog/annual-

Customize this annual report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

One report that is helpful to provide your team is a weekly report

Customize this weekly report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Customize this research report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

An academic report is one created for a class, often in graduate or undergraduate

Customize this presentation template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

The Ultimate Report Writing Format

It goes a little something like this:

Title: A clear and concise report title.

For example, in the Table of Contents (https://visme.co/blog/table-of-contents-

Let’s take a look at every section in detail. 1

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

On your title or cover page (https://visme.co/blog/report-cover-page/), be sure to

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Customize this report template and make it your own! 1

Edit and Download

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Write the body content (https://visme.co/blog/how-to-write-a-report/) as sections

Furthermore, use bullet points and data visualization as visual cues

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Close your report with a well-crafted conclusion (https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download 1

Top Report Writing Tips

Looking to create a stand-out visual report?

- Choose from dozens of professionally designed templates

- Create animated charts and creatively visualize stats and figures

- Customize anything to fit your brand image and content needs

Sign up. It's free. (https://www.visme.co/templates/reports/?vc=In-Text-Blog-

3. Review your writing skills (https://visme.co/blog/how-to-improve-writing-skills/)

4. Stick to the facts! Be clear and concise.

5. Use a grammar checker like Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com/). Even

Sample Report in Standard Report Writing

Customize this report template and make it your own!

Edit and Download

Create Stunning Content!

Try Visme for free

About the Author

RECENT FEATURES & ARTICLES

How to Create a Project Timeline: 10 Templates & Examples

(https://visme.co/blog/project-timeline-template/) More from our blog > (https://visme.co/blog/)

Terms of Service and Privacy (https://www.visme.co/terms_conditions/) Site Map (https://www.visme.co/sitemap/)