Types of Business Report with Description

Business reports convey different types of the necessary information about a business e.g., facts, figures and a situation’s analysis. The main motive of reports is to provide a business the essential information for planning and major decision making like expansions and investments. Preparing business plans, budgets, advertising decision making, and many more things can be done based on a report’s information. Formatting different business reports are critical because you need to make the report easily and quickly readable and instantly recognizable without missing any important information.

Business reports are undoubtedly a very crucial part of every business. There are various types of business reports depending on the need and situation. The mentionable ones among them are mentioned below:

 Types of Business Report

• Informal Business Report
• Formal Business Report
• Informative Business Report
• Analytical or Interpretive Business Report
• Summarized Business Report
• Verbatim Business Report
• Fact Finding Business Report
• Problem Solving Business Report
• Technical Business Report
• Performance Report
• Ad-hoc Committee Report
• Standing Committee Report
• Majority Report
• Minority Report
• Annual Report
• Research Report

Each of the types is described below:

Informal Business Report

Informal business reports are made conveniently which will be useful to the reporter and can be presented to the demanded person immediately. You can present these reports in the form of a business letter or a memorandum too. These reports are called informal reports because no fixed format is maintained for these.

Formal Business Report

Formal business reports are prepared in a specified format and are presented to the appropriate authorities in a so far established manner. These reports are submitted to bodies or committees or heads of different departments or organizations. The reports formally give a description of a business, so they are called formal business reports.

Informative Business Report

These business reports are prepared to give information in a descriptive manner addressing an issue or a problem or a situation. These reports give information in a detailed and exhaustive manner that is utilized by the authorities for gaining an insight into the issue or problem or situation. So, these reports are called informative business reports.

Analytical or Interpretive Business Report

The analytical or interpretive or interpretative business reports provide facts, numbers, opinions or views for interpreting specific information or problem or situation. This report may also have reasons for a specific issue as to why a specific issue or an event occurred and what should be the course of action as well as a recommendation for the issue or event.

Summarized Business Report

The report which is prepared with the help of important details discussed in a business meeting is known as a summarized business report. These reports are prepared for sending it for the company’s shareholders or for the press release or for a specific institution’s member.

Verbatim Business Report

The business report made by secretaries or someone else that records word to word conversations made in a business meeting is known as a verbatim business report. For instance, a resolution of auditor appointment has passed in the business meeting and the resolution is recorded word to word as a verbatim report. Again, in voting where joint votes of separate members are considered, the verbatim reports contain names, ways of voting and the results. These reports are not the same as the meeting minutes which are the summary records of a meeting’s proceedings and decisions.

Fact Finding Business Report

An organization has several situations where finding a fact becomes necessary. For instance, the rivalry between the manager and associate or machinery’s breakdown in the factory premises. These situations need in-depth reasoning. In such cases, the fact-finding report is beneficial presenting facts from a third person view. These reports are submitted to the top management and they take necessary actions about the situation immediately based on the report.

Problem Solving Business Report

Problem-solving business reports assist to solve a problem by recommending or suggesting an action plan regarding a specific situation. The report also includes the reasons for such problems and the conclusion is made in several ways which can be applied for solving the problem. This report also includes ways of avoiding the problem in the future by taking specific steps.

Technical Business Report

As technology is ever-growing, the companies are continuously upgrading themselves with the newest technology. Whenever such a technological change happens in a company a technical business report is made to determine the technology level. These reports contain a detailed way to follow including money and time which will be required. This assists the top management in planning and deciding for the future.

Performance Report

The management wants to know each department’s performances regularly. Apart from this, the management also wants to know about the new branches, new employees or even the existing employees’ performance whose promotions are due. The performance report is prepared for analyzing these things. These reports are crucial for the management for arriving at a decision. So, the seniors of the departments or branches or respective people prepare these reports.

Ad-hoc Committee Report

The special committee report is another name of the ad-hoc committee report. It is quite clear from the name that a special committee is formed for dealing with the investigation and this committee is dismissed after the presentation of the report. Special committees are formed in specific or special cases such as accidents of employees during work or fire in office premises, etc.

Standing Committee Report

A committee appointed for a certain reason is known as a standing committee. The reason can be departmental assessment, employee assessment or financial assessment. The standing committee is required to submit a detailed report of these things and this report is called a standing committee report. Many organizations require submission of these reports at frequent intervals.

Majority Report

A committee’s members including the chairperson, generally make unanimous decisions amongst them. In these cases, a single report is made and submitted to the official committee. Otherwise, the majority of the members prepare their own report and submit to the appropriate authority. This report is called the majority report.

Minority Report

A special committee’s team is appointed for submitting a report based on a special subject’s investigation. 3 members can be selected to form the final committee and each one is the said committee’s chairman. If there is a difference of opinion among the members on the subject, the report may be separately submitted by the other members. The separate reports submitted by the dissenting members are called minority reports.

Annual Report

A report generated once a year containing the business’s yearly processes such as the sales, the turnovers and profits is known as the annual report. This report is presented to the corporate heads so that they can have a detailed study of the business year. 

Research Report

The most exhaustive among the types of reports are the research reports. Generally, these reports are needed when a company attempts to venture into new territories like to expand into a new geographical region or to offer a new product, etc. These are the most time-consuming and complex to prepare among all types of business report.