ITarian Business Reports:

KPIs track progress toward your business goals. Reports give you access to
the data that tells you how you're doing on those KPIs. Easy access to that
information helps you make the right decisions for your business on a
continuous basis. ITarian's Business Reports provide a single dashboard you
can use to drill down on key data for real-time, customizable metrics for every
KPI.

ITarian Business Reports help you:

 Create automated reporting workflows

  Get visibility to set realistic expectations
 Deliver real-time updates to continuously improve the quality of service

What is a Business Report?

A business report is a bunch of facts written in a systematic way related to a
specific business matter as per a set of standard protocols. It helps
concerned stakeholders to get a thorough knowledge of the problems and
how to overcome the problem.

Business reports are about showcasing a set of business-related information

like facts, analysis, figures, and such. The objective of business reports is to
give the information in an organized manner which helps to make major
decisions and plan for the future. Reports help businesses plan budgets and
decide on promotions and advertisements based on the drafted information.

When there are different types of business reports, formatting is a concern to

draft a report that makes it easy for the stakeholders to instantly read through
the data without missing out on anything.

Types of Business Reports

Analytical Reports

Analytical reports are critical for any company and help in times of crucial
decisions. It helps the management to get the relevant data with related
descriptions.
For instance, during the quarterly operations analysis, the report would
comprise the necessary activities taken by the executive team, the numbers
from sales revenue, and the net profit or loss for the quarter.

The analytical reports help the businesses to analyze the business operations
that have occurred during the first quarter of the year - this helps businesses
to make future decisions.

Informational Reports

Informational reports include non-specific facts that it does not explain the
“how to's” and “what ifs of the scenario. If you require any objective type
answers, then an information report is what you must look for. It gives
information on the number of employees, departments they work in, number
of employees, and what is the role of each employee in the organization.

The information of an organization can be showcased in different ways - it

can be in a graph, pie chart, or a table showing the employing details and so
on.

Research Reports

Research reports are comprehensive which are required when a company is

planning to venture into new areas, like launching a new product in the market
or planning an expansion of its office in a new geographical area. A research
report includes a specific information on relevant details and stats on a
specific topic.

Purpose of Business Reports

Reports are a key to communication in any organization. In big organizations,
there are no other options other than reports. It highlights the key points and
the purpose of business reports

Transmitting Information: Business reports are the best source to transmit

information from one person to the other. In large enterprises, where there are
complex data to handle reports comes in handy to managers to acquire
necessary information

Interpretation and Explanation of event: Reports helps the users to

understand the information easily. It explains and interprets the data to an
understandable format.

Making Decisions: A report is a tool to help stakeholders take decisions. A

report is the basic management tool for making decisions and to help solve
problems.

Communication with external stakeholders: It helps to communicate

information to not just the internal stake holders but also with external
stakeholders.

Development of knowledge base: Reports also help in establishing a rich

source of information base in an organization. It records all the activities of
the business operations permanently which are archived for future references.

Controlling: Reports provide the required information to enforce controlling

techniques.
Recommending actions: Reports not only provide information but also stands
a source to provide solutions to problems.

Importance of Business Reports

Gets everyone on the same page

Business reports are critical and important source of information to all the

stakeholders involved in the business. When there is a business plan, such
reports play a vital role and it outlines the business finances, strategies and
future plans and goals for future growth. It is a medium to communicate
about the progress of the business.

Ensures to make quality business decisions

Reports are critical to showcase analytics of the business data which is

crucial to take business decisions. There are effective software products
available which helps to access crucial data through few clicks

Helps to protects Your Interests

The data reports can be saved for future purpose in case of any security
breach or any other critical scenario. It is important to monitor backups on the
company's servers would serve u from any unpredictable mishaps.

Benefits of Business Report an it's

capabilities
Profitability analysis
Quickly see where your make and lose money based on profitability metrics
and true employee costs.

Meaningful metrics

Track SLAs, open ticket count, ticket backlogs, time to resolution, and project
hours spent on a per-project basis to maximize resource utilization.

Sales forecasting

See which opportunities are likely to close and how much you can expect to
make for more accurate forecasts and to estimate potential ROI by
opportunity and by employee.

NEW
What is a Business Report? (Definition)
A Business report is defined as an official document that contains factual
information, statistical data, research findings, or any other form of
information relevant to the course of the job.

This report is a formal document written to-the-point to convey information

in a concise yet clear manner. Business reports are majorly used for internal
communication within an organization.
Objectivity is a major element while writing business reports. Whatever you
say should be supported by data and facts, not opinion and perspective. For
example, instead of saying ‘ sales in the last quarter were very low’, you show
it by means of data.

The report can vary from one page to several pages depending on the
purpose and type of report, which brings us to the second part: Types of
Business reports.

 
Types Of Business Reports
There are many types of business reports used in an organization for various
purposes. Obviously, you cant use the same report to analyze employee
performance and sales in the last quarter, right?

Here are some common types of business reports:

1. Informational reports

You use this report when your boss asks for data that is purely objective i.e.,
just plain facts without any reasoning or potential outcomes. For instance, a
workforce report stating the number of employees in the company, their
duties, department of work, and responsibilities.

Read more: How to Write Project Reports that ‘Wow’ Your Clients?

(Template Included)

2. Analytical Report

As the name suggests, this report is used when some critical company data
has to be analyzed in order to make informed decisions.

For instance, analyzing the sales drop in the last financial year. This report
consists of sales numbers, a comparison of those numbers with earlier years,
and finding reasons for the fall. The report will also indicate possible
measures the company can take to solve this problem.

3. Research Report

You use a research report when something big is coming up! It could be a
potential merger, or a new product line, or a shift in the current way of
working.

A big change requires a comprehensive report studying all its implications.

For example, if the company wants to introduce a new product, the research
report will consist of elements like target audience, marketing
communication strategy, advertising campaigns, etc.

4. Explanatory Report

You use this report when you want to explain your individual project to the
entire team. Let’s suppose you performed research.

An explanatory report will showcase the facts, list the findings, and
determine the conclusion of the research. It should be written in very simple,
concise, and clear words. Although the readers are mostly peers of the same
industry, jargon should be avoided.

5. Progress Report

This is a small report used to notify updates in a company.

How was the previous week?

How is the sale for this quarter coming along?

What is the percentage change in conversions since the last week/month?

Questions like these are answered in a progress report. It does not contain
analytics. Only information and changes.

Progress reports are a good medium for companies to track their day-to-day
work and come up with new ideas for growth and expansion.

Still not convinced? Here are 4 compelling reasons why business reports are
important for efficient workflow in an organization.

Read more: What is a Progress Report and How to Write One?

Importance of Business Reports

1. Mode Of Communication

You know how you text or call in daily life to communicate? In businesses,
reports are prepared for it. We can say that business reports act as a
medium of communication in an organization.
But why is it done?

Well, in big companies, there is an entire line of workflow that takes place. It
is also known as a delegation of duties. In this workflow, there are branches,
sub-branches, departments, and niche specific zones. If communication is
done verbally, information may get lost or contaminated.

So for every important piece of communication, a written report is created.

Anyone who needs access to that information can read the report and equip
themselves with first-hand data.

2. Decision making

Thinking about launching a new product line? Prepare a report.

Aiming to cut company costs? Prepare a report.

From deciding the target audience to laying off employees, every decision is
taken on the basis of detailed reports prepared with facts and stats.

Reports are transferred two-way in an organization. Employees create

business reports and send them to higher management for decision making.
Upper management creates reports to circulate information, tasks, etc.
among the workforce.

3. Crisis management

In case of a crisis, chaos, and panic outbreaks, everyone has an opinion on

the matter, and the transfer of thoughts verbally gives rise to workplace
gossip.

In such a situation, business reports are created to get everyone on the same
page and then factually analyze the problem.
Crisis management reports comprise of the cause of the issue, steps to take
for damage control, and policies suggesting future protection from such
crisis.

4. Effective management

The delegation of duties is done via reports. Every employee has their own
to-do tasks with an assigned deadline. This helps in more sound and effective
management of the company.

All the information is in viable written documents, decisions are taken upon
careful analysis, and the overall functioning of the company is better using
business reports.

So now that we know that we HAVE TO prepare business reports to survive in

the corporate world, let’s move on to the next and probably the most
important section where we teach you how you can get started on writing a
proper report.

Read more: Business Requirements Document (BRD): What, Why, and

How to Write?

How to write a business report? (Steps and Format)

Follow this step-by-step guide to create your powerful business report:

Step 1: Create a plan of action

You are writing a business report, not a school essay. You can’t base your
report on thoughts as and when they come. Before starting the report,
identify its purpose.

Define what you aim to achieve with the report and how you plan to present
it. Do not beat around the bush! This will help you write a clear and concise
report.
 

Step 2: Check for an in-house format

Your company may have a specific format for writing reports. Ask your
supervisor or check the company’s handbook to find it. Do not blindly trust
the internet.

However, if no such format is specified, you can use the standard global
format listed in the following steps.

Step 3: Add a title

The title of the report may be specified in the brief you received from your
supervisor. If not, you may write your own title. It should be clear, crisp, and
be able to convey the purpose of the report.

You should avoid using very long and complicated titles. For instance, use
‘Sales report for FY 2020-21’ instead of ‘Analysing the customer interaction
with the company in the last 12 months in comparison to previous years’.
People will yawn and leave the room at the start of your report!

Also, add your name and the names of other people involved in making the
report. Portraying someone else’s background hard work as your own is
highly unethical in the workplace.

Step 4: Write a table of contents

You should include a table of contents page only if the report is long and
contains sub-sections.

If this page is added, make sure to write contents exactly in the manner
headings are written inside the report. All the contents should be properly
numbered for the reader to easily navigate through the report or jump on a
specific section.
 

Step 5: Add a Summary/ Abstract

This is a very important page in any report. You should write the abstract in
such a manner that even if a person does not read the entire report, this
page can give them a clear and detailed idea of the entire thing.

It should contain your title, issue, key findings, and conclusions. You should
basically summarise everything you wrote in the report to fit in the abstract.

Step 6: Write an introduction

Now begins your actual report. On this page, specify the purpose of writing
the report along with a brief idea of the main argument.

You can also include some background of the topic on this page.

Step 7: State your methodology

On this page, tell the readers how you created this report. It includes the
sources of information, type of data (qualitative or quantitative), channels of
receiving information, etc.

This is to equip your readers with the process you went through or, as we
can say in the urban slang, the BTS of the report. It makes your report more
credible.

Step 8: Present your findings

This is the main section where you present your findings. It should convey
that you have done thorough research. So include stats, facts, and graphs to
portray the information.
To prevent it from getting messy, align the data into various headings and
subheadings. Use pointers, bulleted, or numbered whenever required.

Step 9: Give a conclusion or recommendation

End your report with a compelling conclusion. This should be drawn from
previously stated findings.
You can also give recommendations for change or improvement in a policy,
supported by valid documentation. The conclusion should come off strong,
based on factual data, not biased views or opinions.

Step 10: Add bibliography and references

Adding this section is a legal compulsion in any report wherein the data is
taken or inspired from previously published sources.

Let us explain it simply. If you have added any data or statistics in your
report, you must give due credit to the original author. Else, it counts as
plagiarism, which is a punishable offense.

Also, note the difference between references and bibliography, and don’t
confuse the two!

Here’s an example:

Suppose you read a business report online and got inspired by it. Although,
you didn’t use any of its data in your own report. In this scenario, you will list
that report under the bibliography section.

However, if you took data from that report to directly include in yours, you
will list that in the reference section.

Step 11: Proofread

Proofreading or revising is very important before finalizing a report. In this

section, check for any spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, or punctuations.
These are small mishaps that can make a very bad impression.

Also, while proofreading, check the citations, footnotes, appendices, etc,

according to the company standards. There may be guidelines you missed
while writing the report!