how to write a business report uk

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How to Write an Expense Report

Expense reports are used to track all of the expenses that should be reimbursed. A typical example of this is an employee paying for a business-related expense out-of-pocket. Afterwards, the employee fills out the expense report to document the details and request the reimbursement.

Important Contents of an Expense Report

Whether you’re a sole proprietor or have a business with multiple employees, expense reports are important to keeping track of all tax deductible items. Before you start filling out an expense report template, you’ll need to have some important items ready. This will include details of the expenses, like the date and reason for the purchase. The report will also detail how much you expect to be reimbursed, along with space for the person approving the request to sign.

In addition, you’ll need to have the original receipts to the purchases. These are typically attached to the expense report.

Find an Expense Report Template

If you’re a business owner and need to generate an expense report, you can start by downloading a template. If you use Microsoft Suite software, consider downloading a template for Office or Excel.

The expense reports might be a general form for any expense, while companies that reimburse employees for travel may have different reports for each purpose. Travel expense reports can have columns for airfare, lodging and meals.

How to Write a Mileage Expense Report

A mileage expense report helps businesses keep track of all of the employees’ driving. This is essential, considering that the miles can add up. Typically, a business will reimburse their employees based on a set rate per mile. For each trip, you need to fill out the blank expense report template with trip information. This includes the date, travel to and from addresses, the reason for the trip and the number of miles traveled.

Managing Expense Reports

Once the employee submits an expense report, a bookkeeper or whoever completes the accounting should check the report for accuracy. This includes making sure that the receipt is attached. From there, add in the expense codes and process the reimbursement check.

Business Expense Report Software

There are many options available for businesses that process a large volume of expense reports. These include SutiExpense, Zoho Expense and AvidXchange. Software can automate processes and speed up the reimbursement. Plus, it can ensure that your bookkeeping is being done accurately.

For example, the Zoho Expense software offers a phone app that you can use to scan receipts, track mileage and connect business debit or credit cards. Corporate cards can then be reconciled automatically and you can set spending limits for employees.

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• Writing Tips

5 Tips for Writing a Brilliant Business Report

4-minute read

• 9th May 2021

Companies use business reports to analyse information and inform decisions. But how do you write an effective business report? We have a few tips to share:

• Plan your business report based on what you want to achieve.
• Structure your report carefully so that it is easy to follow.
• Make your report easy to skim read and include an executive summary.
• Use a professional, authoritative tone throughout.
• Proofread your report to ensure it is error free.

For more on all the above, read our full guide below.

1. Decide Which Type of Report You Need

Before you start, you need to be clear about the type of report you need. This will depend on what you’re trying to achieve. Some common report types include:

• Recommendation reports – Recommendation reports weigh up potential courses of action with the aim of recommending the best option available.
• Compliance reports – These reports analyse whether an organisation is following all relevant laws, standards, and regulations. The aim is to highlight areas where the company is performing well, but also areas for improvement.
• Feasibility reports – A feasibility report or study explores the risks, costs, and benefits of a plan or proposal to determine whether it is realistic.
• Progress reports – A progress report examines an organisation’s or team’s progress in meeting a specific goal, aiding project management.

Once you know what you’re trying to achieve, you can plan your report accordingly.

2. Structure Your Business Report

A business report should be structured logically to make it easy to follow. This means breaking the information down into distinct sections with clear headings.

Most business reports contain some or all of the following sections:

• Title page – A page setting out key details, such as the report title, the name(s) of who it is for and who prepared it, and a date of completion.
• Table of contents – Include a list of contents for any report more than a few pages long. You could also include a list of tables and charts if relevant.
• Introduction – A section setting out the report’s subject matter and scope.
• Methods and findings – Details of how you conducted your research and the key findings achieved. Use charts and graphs to present key data.
• Conclusions and recommendations – A section (or two) to show what you have learned from your findings and the course of action you recommend.
• Bibliography and appendices – If you have cited any sources in the report, make sure to include a bibliography at the end of the documents. You can also include appendices for in-depth data or extra documentation.

For more information on structuring a business report, see our post here .

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3. Make Your Report Easy to Skim Read

If time is money in the business world, you’ll want to make your report easy to skim read. There are a few ways you can do this, including:

• Make sure each section has a clear, descriptive heading.
• Write in clear, concise language , avoiding unnecessary jargon.
• Vary sentence length, and avoid long run-on sentences where possible.
• Use lists and bullet points to set key information apart from other text.
• Break up big blocks of text into shorter paragraphs to boost readability.

In addition, think about including an executive summary . This is a document that presents the key details of your report in an easily digestible fashion.

4. Use a Professional, Authoritative Tone

A business report should be professional and authoritative in tone. To achieve this:

• Read and follow your company’s style guide (if they have one).
• Use formal English , including standard spelling and punctuation.
• Try to maintain an objective, impersonal voice .
• Minimise use of hedging terms , such as ‘seems’ or ‘feels’.
• Use full names and titles when referring to individuals.
• Back up claims with data wherever possible.
• Reference any sources you have used clearly and consistently.

This can give your analysis and recommendations more weight.

5. Proofread Your Business Report

Finally, never settle with a first draft! When you are done, take a break to gain some distance, then reread your report to look for issues such as:

• Spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
• Unclear or overly complex language that your reader may struggle with.
• Big blocks of unbroken text that could be presented more clearly.
• Inaccurate or misleadingly presented data.
• Missing or inconsistent citations and references.

It is also a good idea to get your report proofread professionally, and Proofed has expert editors on hand who can do just that. You can even get a 500-word document checked for free , so why not sign up for a free trial of our services today?

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Library Guides

Report writing: business reports.

• Scientific Reports

Business Reports

Generally, business reports can be written to inform, solve a problem or make a proposal. They carry information and analyse it. Sometimes you can analyse applying a theoretical framework (e.g., SWOT, PESTLE, Porter's diamond etc.). Sometimes you have to devise your own analytical questions, breaking down the issue into its components, studying them closely, and seeing how they interact with (influence/ are influenced by) other components. 

The structure and conventions you should use in your report will be based on your department or subject field requirements. Therefore, it is always best to check your departmental guidelines or module/assignment instructions first. 

The following is a general structure for a typical business report:

You should follow any guidelines specified by your module handbook or assignment brief in case these differ, however usually the title page will include the title of the report, your number, student ID and module details.

• Executive summary

It is often best to write this last as it is harder to summarise a piece of work that you have not written yet. An executive summary is a shorter replica of the entire report. Its length should be about 10% of the length of the report.

• Table of contents

Please follow any specific style or formatting requirements specified by the module handbook or assignment brief. The contents page contains a list of the different chapters or headings and sub-headings along with the page number so that each section can be easily located within the report. Keep in mind that whatever numbering system you decide to use for your headings, they need to remain clear and consistent throughout.

• Introduction

This is where you set the scene for your report. The introduction should clearly articulate the purpose and aim (and, possibly, objectives) of the report, along with providing the background context for the report's topic and area of research. A scientific report may have an hypothesis in addition or in stead of aims and objectives. It may also provide any definitions or explanations for the terms used in the report or theoretical underpinnings of the research so that the reader has a clear understanding of what the research is based upon. It may be useful to also indicate any limitations to the scope of the report and identify the parameters of the research.

This section is where the data gathered and your results are truly put to work. It is the main body of your report in which you should critically analyse what the results mean in relation to the aims and objectives (and/or, in scientific writing, hypotheses) put forth at the beginning of the report. You should follow a logical order, and can structure this section in sub-headings.

The conclusion should not include any new material but instead show a summary of your main arguments and findings. It is a chance to remind the reader of the key points within your report, the significance of the findings and the most central issues or arguments raised from the research. The conclusion may also include recommendations for further research, or how the present research may be carried out more effectively in future.

• Recommendations

You can have a separate section on recommendations, presenting the action you recommend be taken, drawing from the conclusion. These actions should be concrete and specific.

Similar to your essays, a report still requires a bibliography of all the published resources you have referenced within your report. Check your module handbook for the referencing style you should use as there are different styles depending on your degree. If it is the standard Westminster Harvard Referencing style, then follow these guidelines and remember to be consistent.

The appendices may include all the supporting evidence and material used for your research, such as interview transcripts, surveys, questionnaires, tables, graphs, or other charts and images that you may not wish to include in the main body of the report, but may be referred to throughout your discussion or results sections.

Writing a business report

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• Last Updated: Jan 19, 2023 10:14 AM
• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/report-writing

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Report writing

What is a report and how does it differ from writing an essay? Reports are concise and have a formal structure. They are often used to communicate the results or findings of a project.

Essays by contrast are often used to show a tutor what you think about a topic. They are discursive and the structure can be left to the discretion of the writer.

Who and what is the report for?

Before you write a report, you need to be clear about who you are writing the report for and why the report has been commissioned.

Keep the audience in mind as you write your report, think about what they need to know. For example, the report could be for:

• the general public
• academic staff
• senior management
• a customer/client.

Reports are usually assessed on content, structure, layout, language, and referencing. You should consider the focus of your report, for example:

• Are you reporting on an experiment?
• Is the purpose to provide background information?
• Should you be making recommendations for action?

Language of report writing

Reports use clear and concise language, which can differ considerably from essay writing.

They are often broken down in to sections, which each have their own headings and sub-headings. These sections may include bullet points or numbering as well as more structured sentences. Paragraphs are usually shorter in a report than in an essay.

Both essays and reports are examples of academic writing. You are expected to use grammatically correct sentence structure, vocabulary and punctuation.

Academic writing is formal so you should avoid using apostrophes and contractions such as “it’s” and "couldn't". Instead, use “it is” and “could not”.

Structure and organisation

Reports are much more structured than essays. They are divided in to sections and sub-sections that are formatted using bullet points or numbering.

Report structures do vary among disciplines, but the most common structures include the following:

The title page needs to be informative and descriptive, concisely stating the topic of the report.

Abstract (or Executive Summary in business reports)

The abstract is a brief summary of the context, methods, findings and conclusions of the report. It is intended to give the reader an overview of the report before they continue reading, so it is a good idea to write this section last.

An executive summary should outline the key problem and objectives, and then cover the main findings and key recommendations.

Table of contents

Readers will use this table of contents to identify which sections are most relevant to them. You must make sure your contents page correctly represents the structure of your report.

Take a look at this sample contents page.

Introduction

In your introduction you should include information about the background to your research, and what its aims and objectives are. You can also refer to the literature in this section; reporting what is already known about your question/topic, and if there are any gaps. Some reports are also expected to include a section called ‘Terms of references’, where you identify who asked for the report, what is covers, and what its limitations are.

Methodology

If your report involved research activity, you should state what that was, for example you may have interviewed clients, organised some focus groups, or done a literature review. The methodology section should provide an accurate description of the material and procedures used so that others could replicate the experiment you conducted.

Results/findings

The results/findings section should be an objective summary of your findings, which can use tables, graphs, or figures to describe the most important results and trends. You do not need to attempt to provide reasons for your results (this will happen in the discussion section).

In the discussion you are expected to critically evaluate your findings. You may need to re-state what your report was aiming to prove and whether this has been achieved. You should also assess the accuracy and significance of your findings, and show how it fits in the context of previous research.

Conclusion/recommendations

Your conclusion should summarise the outcomes of your report and make suggestions for further research or action to be taken. You may also need to include a list of specific recommendations as a result of your study.

The references are a list of any sources you have used in your report. Your report should use the standard referencing style preferred by your school or department eg Harvard, Numeric, OSCOLA etc.

You should use appendices to expand on points referred to in the main body of the report. If you only have one item it is an appendix, if you have more than one they are called appendices. You can use appendices to provide backup information, usually data or statistics, but it is important that the information contained is directly relevant to the content of the report.

Appendices can be given alphabetical or numerical headings, for example Appendix A, or Appendix 1. The order they appear at the back of your report is determined by the order that they are mentioned in the body of your report. You should refer to your appendices within the text of your report, for example ‘see Appendix B for a breakdown of the questionnaire results’. Don’t forget to list the appendices in your contents page.

Presentation and layout

Reports are written in several sections and may also include visual data such as figures and tables. The layout and presentation is therefore very important.

Your tutor or your module handbook will state how the report should be presented in terms of font sizes, margins, text alignment etc.

You will need good IT skills to manipulate graphical data and work with columns and tables. If you need to improve these skills, try the following online resources:

• Microsoft online training through Linkedin Learning
• Engage web resource on using tables and figures in reports

How to write a business report that anyone can understand

Writing a business report everyone can understand comes down to structure and visuals. Here are some practical tips.

Types of business report

Small business reporting has typically focused on the big budget items – profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow. Performance reports are getting more popular too, now that technology is making key performance indicators (KPIs) easier to measure.

The goal of all these reports is to show how the business is doing. Is it making progress compared to last year? Is it achieving the goals you set? Business reports aim to step back from the weekly ups and downs of the organisation and look at these long-term trends.

As the person who’s producing the report, you can show this big picture in broad strokes, or minute detail. A good report mixes the two.

Business report format – the layer cake

It’s good to be precise, detail focused and comprehensive when pulling together a business report. It’s just that not everyone will want to see all of your work.

Rather than force-feeding them everything, make your report a layer cake, where readers can choose how deep to go. For each section of your report, include:

• graphs or charts that tell the high-level story, then
• drill down to the tables and figures that support those visuals, and finish up with
• a written report that digs into the detail

This layered business report format allows people to get their head around the trends quickly – and go for more context only where and when they need it.

Think about your audience

If you really want to know how to write a good business report, you need to think about who’s reading it. While you might be detail focused, not all your clients will be wired that way. And remember that not many small business owners come from a financial background, so they could be put off by raw financial data.

A layer-cake report format allows you to cater to all types. It will also help your client communicate with their wider circle of stakeholders. They’ll be able to share the report with silent partners, investors, family members, or employees knowing that those people will be able to get what they need out of it.

Showing rather than telling

Top-layer graphs will really make business trends jump off the page for your audience. Adding them used to be an ordeal. You had to transcribe data into a separate piece of software and then copy those graphs back into your main report. You have two far simpler options nowadays:

• You can use the basic visual reporting tools that come with most accounting software
• Or you can plug a special app into your accounting software for really polished reports

How business reporting tools can help

A reporting app can pull data straight from your accounting software, so you won’t need to transcribe anything. You’ll see dozens of report templates when you open the apps and that can be daunting, but just start with what you know. You may never need any more than that.

There are two well-known small business reporting tools:

Set up report templates to save time and energy

If you want to take reporting tools to the next level, use their industry templates. They come with standard industry KPIs and, of course, you can add more KPIs if you like. Once you’re happy with the template, you can roll it out to all your clients in the same industry.

Layer-cake business reporting is good for clients and your practice

Layering a highly visual story over the top of your more technical reporting will be a game changer for a lot of clients. It will allow them to look under the hood of their business and literally see what’s going on. They’ll love that.

When you know how to write a business report like that, you’re going to win fans. Clients will actually understand the work you’re doing for them, and they’ll be more likely to act on your insights. It all leads to a happier, more engaged business owner.

You don’t need to turn every report into a visual masterpiece. Start out with modest graphs and charts and see how your clients respond.

Xero does not provide accounting, tax, business or legal advice. This guide has been provided for information purposes only. You should consult your own professional advisors for advice directly relating to your business or before taking action in relation to any of the content provided.

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• Writing Tips

How to Structure a Business Report

4-minute read

• 4th November 2018

The content of a business report will depend on what you are writing about. Even the writing style may vary depending on who you are writing for (although clear, concise and formal is usually best).

However, there is a general structure that most business reports should follow. Read on below to find out what you need to include in your business report and how you should present it.

1. Title Page

Every business report should feature a title page . The title itself should clearly set out what the report is about. In addition, you would usually include your name and the date of the report on the title page.

Most reports begin with a summary of the key points within, including:

• An overview of what the report is about
• Data collection and analysis methods used
• The findings of the report
• Any conclusions or recommendations

In a short report, a paragraph or two should be enough. In a longer business report, though, you may want to include a full executive summary .

3. Table of Contents

Short reports may not need a table of contents, especially if you have included a summary. But any longer business report should set out the structure and what each section contains. Make sure that the headings here match the ones used in the report. You may also want to number the sections.

4. Introduction

This will set out the brief you were given when asked to write the report. Typically, this section should include:

• Background information (e.g. the business history or market information)
• The purpose of the report (i.e. what you hope to find out or achieve)
• Its scope (i.e. what the report will cover and what it will ignore)

Collectively, these are known as the ‘terms of reference’ .

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5. Methods and Findings

If you are conducting original research, include a section about your methods. This may be as simple as setting out the sources you are using and why you chose them. After this, you will need to explain your findings. This section will present the results of your research clearly and concisely, making sure to cover all of the main points set out in the brief.

One tip here is to break the findings down into subsections, using headings to guide the reader through your data. Using charts and illustrations , meanwhile, can help get information across visually, but make sure to label these clearly so that the reader knows how they relate to the text.

6. Conclusions and Recommendations

The last main sections of your report will cover conclusions and recommendations. The conclusion section should summarise what you have learned from the report. If you have been asked to do so, you should also recommend potential courses of action based on your conclusions. If you are not sure what to suggest, think back to the objectives set out in your brief.

7. References

If you have used any third-party sources while writing your report, make sure to list them in a bibliography . This could include other business reports, academic articles or even news reports. The key is to show the reader what you have based your findings and conclusions upon.

8. Appendices (If Applicable)

Finally, you may have gathered extra documentation during your research, such as interview transcripts, marketing material or financial data. Including all of this in your main report will make it too long and unfocused, but you can add it to an appendix (or multiple appendices) at the end of the document. It will then be available should your reader need to see it.

Summary: How to Structure a Business Report

If you are writing a business report, aim to structure it as follows:

• Title Page – Include a clear, informative title, your name and the date.
• Summary – A summary of what the report is about, the data collection methods, the findings and any recommendations you want to make.
• Table of Contents – A list of the sections in the report.
• Introduction – A short section setting out the brief for the report.
• Methods and Findings – A description of any data collection and analysis methods used in the report, as well as the findings of your research.
• Conclusions and Recommendations – Any conclusions that you reached, plus recommendations for what to do next (if required).
• References – A list of any sources used in your report.
• Appendices – If you have used any supporting material (e.g. interview transcripts, raw data) while writing your report, you can include it in an appendix at the end of the document.

And don’t forget that a business report should be clear, concise and formal in tone. So if you would like help making sure that your business writing is easy to read and error free, just let us know .

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