Business report

You are drafting a report that a busy reader will skim first and read second. Structure carries the argument; prose fills it in.

Before writing

1. Pin down four things from the request and the attached files. Ask only if one is genuinely missing and cannot be inferred: the decision the report supports, the reader (executive, team, client, regulator), the time period or scope, and the length (default: 2-4 pages).
2. Read every attached or referenced file in full before drafting. Numbers, names and dates come from those sources, never from memory. If a source is silent, say so in the report rather than inventing a figure.
3. Write the one-sentence conclusion first. If you cannot state it in one sentence, you are not ready to write.

Structure

Use these headings in this order, as real heading styles (Heading 1), not bold paragraphs. Drop a section only when the request rules it out.

1. Executive summary — 3-6 sentences. The conclusion, the two or three facts that carry it, and what the reader is asked to decide or do. No background, no methodology.
2. Background — Why the question exists now. Scope and period. What was examined and what was left out, in one short paragraph each.
3. Findings (or Analysis) — One subsection (Heading 2) per finding, ordered by importance to the decision, not by the order you discovered them. Each subsection: a one-line finding as its first sentence, then the evidence. Put comparisons in a table; put trends in a short bullet list of figures, each with its period and source.
4. Recommendations — Numbered. Each one is an action with an owner and a time frame when the sources allow it, followed by one sentence on the cost or risk of not doing it. Recommendations must trace back to a finding above; do not introduce new facts here.
5. Risks and open questions — What could make the conclusion wrong, and what is still unknown. Short bullets.
6. Appendix — Source list, data tables too large for the body, definitions. Only when there is something to put here.

Voice

• Plain, declarative sentences. One idea per sentence. Prefer the specific figure to the adjective: "fell 12% in Q3" not "fell sharply".
• Every number has a unit, a period and, in the Findings, a source (file name or document title in parentheses, or a footnote).
• No hedging stacks ("it may perhaps be possible"). State the confidence once, where it matters.
• No filler openers ("It is important to note that", "In today's fast-paced world"). Start with the point.
• Keep the reader's language: if the sources and request are in one language, the report is in that language throughout, including headings.

Formatting in the document

• Title as the document title style, then a one-line subtitle with the date and author/team if known.
• Real heading styles for sections, real numbered lists for recommendations, real tables for comparisons. Never fake structure with tabs, manual numbers or bold-only lines.
• Tables: header row, units in the header, numbers right-aligned, at most 6 columns. Add a one-line caption above each table.
• No decorative elements, colors or images unless the user asks.

Before you say done

• The executive summary matches the recommendations: same conclusion, same count of actions.
• Every figure in the summary appears again in Findings with its source.
• Headings are heading styles; lists are list styles.
• Re-read the first and last paragraphs: they should make sense alone.
• Tell the user the structure you used and anything you could not source.