A Beginner’s Guide to Writing a Professional Business Report

professional business report writing
3 min Read

Writing a professional business report for the first time is a daunting task. It will leave you asking, “Where do I start?” “What do I need to write?” “How do I know if my readers will understand my report?

While it may take lots of time to create a compelling business report, know that there’s always an easy way to do it. Let this guide from AlliedWriters help you write like a pro.

1. Understand the purpose of a business report.

Creating a business report is different from writing formal letters or emails. Basically, it  tackles a present or past situation objectively—facts and not opinion. While you may be asked to give your thoughts sometimes, you should do it in one section of the recommendations only. Remember that it’s not an essay but all about facts.

2. Be clear and concise.

Don’t stray from your point and don’t use unnecessary jargon or dense language. While simple words should be used, try not to be boring either.

3. Check your  spelling.

For professional writers, spellcheck is one of the most useful discoveries. However, it can’t find all the mistakes written on your report. Thus, you may use special sites such as SpellCheck and Respelt to help you with your content. Another way to avoid misspelling is to avoid using words you’re not sure of the spelling or synonyms.

4. Use a neutral tone.

Whether your reader is of higher position or not, use a neutral tone. In writing a professional business report,  here are two language tricks that can help you achieve a formal tone:

a. Passive voice
Use the passive voice to shift focus from the person doing the action to the action itself.

Example:
Recommended (Passive): Errors were found in the self-audit, but steps have been taken to correct them.

Not recommended (Active): We found errors in the self-audit, but we have corrected them.

When writing a professional business report, it’s best to focus on the action itself and not on the person performing the action. Why? Because it makes the tone more formal and impersonal.

b. Compound nouns
Use compound nouns when writing a professional business report to help achieve a formal, business-like tone. In this way, too, you will make your writing clear and direct to the point.

Examples:
– Customer satisfaction (not “the satisfaction that customers feel”)
– Complaints procedure (instead of saying, “procedure for dealing with complaints”)
– Customer service manager (rather than “manager in charge of the services provided to customers”)

5. Make it reader-friendly.

Here are a few formatting tips to make your professional business report a comprehensive one:

a) Put a standard top section. Top sections in business reports allow the readers to see at a glance who are the sender and recipient of the document. Likewise, it shows what it is about and when it was written.

b) Include headings. Headings are like subtitles of the different sections of your report: they summarize the main ideas of a section.

c) Use bullet points. Besides structuring the information more clearly, using bullet points also  help with reading speed.

6. Proofread your report at least twice.

Never submit a report without proofreading it at least twice. Why twice? Because it’s hard to concentrate on more than one type of mistake at a time. Focus on the vocabulary and grammar errors first. Then, proofread your report for spelling mistakes. Moreover, be mindful for double subjects, terms similar to words in your native language but spelled differently, and words that don’t fit into the context.

Being able to write a professional business report means you understand the topic and can logically share that information with other people. Likewise, it can help you create a good impression of both your business competence and writing skills. Yet if writing is not your forte and you need help in creating a professional business report, hire us! Visit this site for details.

Sources:
www.fluentu.com
www.monster.ca
www.uvic.ca
www.smallbusiness.chron.com
www.study.com
Image courtesy of dfrsce at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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