UNIT TWO

SOME COMMON TYPES OF REPORT

A report must present relevant facts accurately
and in a way that is both acceptable and
intelligible to its readers.
• A good report is expected to achieve these
three essential aims:
• to be read without unnecessary delay
• to be understood without undue effort
• to be accepted.
The most common types of report which
you may be required to produce are:
1. ACCIDENT REPORTS
• Balance speed with accuracy. The reason
for speed is so that all salient facts are
accurately recorded before details are
forgotten.
• The reasons for accuracy are to minimise
the risk of any possible recurrence, to
comply with the law and to be prepared
to face a possible claim for damages.
2. AGENDA FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS
An agenda is a list of items to be discussed
during a meeting. It must be drawn up in
advance.
There are two types of agenda:
• The standard agenda simply lists the subjects
to be discussed, and the order in which they
will be taken.
• The discursive agenda is designed to stimulate
thought before and comment at the meeting.
3. ANNUAL REPORTS
• An annual report lists the achievements and
failures of an organisation in a year. It is a
progress report in which every department is
accounted for.

• Make sure you gather relevant data from all

parts of your organisation. Use of standard
questionnaires is recommended.
4. APPRAISAL REPORTS
• Appraise a person’s performance in his/her
current job,
• identify methods of improving his/her
performance and highlight training needs,
• and often assess suitability for another job,
promotion, and/or a change in salary.
• Appraisal reports are very important because
what you write will have a direct effect on
people’s career prospects.
5. AUDIT REPORTS
There are two types of auditor:
• The external auditor- the role is laid down by
statute and in case law.
• External auditors are independent of the
companies on which they report. They are
required to report to the shareholders at
general meetings.
• The external auditor commits himself or
herself to a high degree of responsibility.
An external auditor’s report to management will include
any or all of the following sections:
• 1. Weaknesses in internal control and
recommendations on how they may be rectified.
• 2. Breakdowns in the accounting systems and any
material errors arising.
• 3. Additional audit time required as a result of either
section 1 or 2.
• 4. Unsatisfactory accounting procedures or policies,
and recommendations as to how they may be
improved.
• 5. Suggestions as to how financial and accounting
efficiency may be improved.
• 6. Constructive suggestions not necessarily related to
accounting procedures
• The internal auditor - also affected to
some extent by case law, is ultimately
what management wants it to be.
• Internal auditors are concerned with the
segregation of duties and the internal
control of the business for which they are
employed.
• it is for internal consumption.
6. COMPARATIVE TESTING REPORTS
Its purpose is to select a number of
standards, make comparisons of
these standards from item to item,
and then reach logical conclusions
and recommendations about which
are the best and/or which represent
the best value for money.
7. EXPLANATORY REPORTS
These are factual reports which provide an
account of something that has happened.
8. FEASIBILITY REPORTS
These discuss the practicality,
suitability and compatibility of a
given project, both in physical
and economic terms. They also
discuss the desirability of the
proposed project from the
viewpoint of those who would
be affected by it.
9. INFORMATIVE REPORTS
• These are more general than explanatory
reports (see above), but there is a degree of
overlap. The purpose of an informative report
is to increase the readers’ knowledge of an
event or to bring them up to date.
10. INSTRUCTIONAL MANUALS
• Instructional manuals and duty notes are
written to explain how a job or process (or
perhaps how a particular aspect of a job or a
process) is to be performed.
11. MINUTES
• Minutes can be defined as a written record of
the business transacted at a meeting. They
may well have some legal and authoritative
force.
12. PROGRESS REPORTS
• These are periodic reports which, as their
name suggests, describe how some activity or
process is progressing. They are often built up
from workers’ daily logs, supervisors’ reports,
and so on.
13. RESEARCH REPORTS
• The purpose of a research report is to extend our
understanding of the world by reducing
uncertainty and increasing our understanding of
it.
• Results alone are never enough. As you will see
from the typical format described below, you
must be able to assess and then evaluate the
reliability of the results. You must say precisely
how the work was carried out, what methods
were used to collect the data, and how it was
analysed. Conclusions and recommendations
must be drafted with great care.
14. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
• A scientific report consists of an account of a test or
experiment, of its findings, and of its conclusions.
15. SYSTEMS EVALUATION REPORTS
• A systems evaluation report serves one of these
purposes:
• To discover which system out of several alternatives
is most suitable for a particular application.
• To test an apparatus or system which it is intended to
employ on a large scale, or with multiple
applications, if the initial operation is deemed
worthwhile.
• To enquire into the causes of failures in an existing
operational system.
16. TROUBLE-SHOOTING REPORTS
• These reports aim to locate the cause of some
problem, and then suggest ways to remove or treat it.
In the main they deal with people, organisations or
hardware.
17. Writing Lab Reports and Scientific Papers
• Scientific research is a group activity. Individual
scientists perform experiments to test hypotheses
about biological phenomena. After experiments are
completed and duplicated, researchers attempt to
persuade others to accept or reject their hypotheses by
presenting the data and their interpretations. The lab
report or the scientific paper is the vehicle of
persuasion; when it is published, it is available to other
scientists for review.