There is a large amount of information which needs to be conveyed in every business and business report to just that. business reports are the formal way to present a piece of information which needs to be communicated in a business.
The information may be facts figures or a detailed analysis of any situation. Businesses make important decisions and plan for the future of the company based on these reports and hence the importance of such reports is self-established. Major decisions like investments and expansions are based entirely on Business reports.
Thus, business reports form a very important part of every business. There different types of business reports based on their need and the situation.
Types of Business Reports used by Organizations
1) Formal Business Reports
These reports are prepared in a given format and they are presented to the authorities in an already established manner. They are submitted to committees and bodies or heads of various departments or organizations. Since the report talks only about business in a formal way they are termed as, formal business reports.
Formal reports of other classified into the statutory report and non-statutory report.
2) Informal Business Reports
These reports are prepared in a convenient format which is convenient to the reporter and presented to the required person immediately after demand. These reports can also be presented in the form of a memorandum or a Business Letter. Since there is no fixed format for these reports it is termed as informal reports.
3) Informative Business Report
These are types of Business reports which are prepared with the intention of providing information in a descriptive way which address is a particular issue or situation or a problem. They provide information in an exhaustive and detailed manner which is used for the by the authorities to gain an insight on the matter that is why they are termed as informative reports.
4) Interpretative Business Report :
Unlike informative report which contains only information, the interpretative report contains facts opinions views or numbers which help to interpret a certain information situation or a problem. The interpretative report may also contain reasons for a certain issue as to why a certain event or an issue occurred and what would be the course of action along with a recommendation for the same.
5) Verbation Business Reports
The report which is prepared by secretaries or any other individual which record word to word discussions that are made in the meeting are called Verbatim reports. For example, in case of auditor appointment resolution has passed in the meeting and that reservation is recorded as word to word as Verbation report. Also, in the case of voting where joint votes of different members are taken into consideration, the verbation reports include names and manners of voting along with the results. These types of business report should not be confused with minutes of the meeting which is a record of proceedings and decisions a summary of the meeting.
6) Summarized Business Reports
The report that is made with the assistance of important details that have been discussed in the meeting is called a summarized report. These types of business reports are made with the intention of sending it for the press release or for the shareholders of the company or a member of the certain institution.
7) Problem Solving Business Report
As the name suggests, problem-solving business report help to solve a problem by suggesting or recommending a plan of action regarding a certain situation. The report also contains causes of such problems and the conclusion is done in various ways that can be adopted to solve the problem. The report also contains ways in which that problem can be avoided in the future by implementing certain steps.
8) Fact Finding Business Report
There are numerous situations in an organization where a finding of a fact is required. For example, the breakdown of machinery in factory premises or rivalry between associate and the manager. The situations require in-depth reasoning for the situation that has arisen. In those cases, the fact-finding report comes in handy which presents facts in the report from a third person view. These reports are presented to the top management based on which they can take action about the situation at hand.
9) Performance report :
The management likes to know the performances of each department on a regular basis. Not only that but also about the newly opened branch, newly appointed employee or even the performance of existing employees who are due for promotion are analyzed by the management for which the performance report is generated. These reports are important for the management to arrive at a decision and hence these reports are prepared by the seniors of the respective people.
10) Technical Business Reports
Technology is advancing faster than the speed of light and that is the reason why companies upgrade themselves with new technology is from time to time. Whenever such a monumental change and Technology is taking place in an organization a Technical Business Report is prepared to assess the level of Technology. These reports include a detailed way to undergo the change including time and money that will cost, which helps the top management to take a decision.
11) Standing Committee Report
A committee which is appointed for a specific reason is called standing. The reason may be financial assessment, employee Assessment, or departmental assessment, the standing committee is expected to submit a detailed analysis of these things. The report submitted by the committee is known as a standing committee report. In many organizations please reports are submitted at frequent intervals.
12) Ad-hoc Committee Report
Adhoc reports are also termed as special committee reports. As the name suggests special committee is appointed to deal with the investigation and that committee is dissolved as soon as the report is presented. Special communities are found in special cases like fire in factory premises are employee accidents during work.
13) Minority Report
A team of the special committee is appointed to submit a report which will be based on an investigation of a special subject. 3 members may be selected to form the committee one of each is the chairman of the said committee. If members have a difference of opinion on the subject the other members may submit the report separately. This separate report submitted by dissentient members is called minority report.
14) Majority Report
The members of a committee which including the chairman, usually have unanimous decision amongst them. In such cases, only one report is prepared and presented to the official committee. If that is not the case then the majority of the member from their own report and submitted to the examining authority. Such a report is termed as majority report.
15) Annual Report
A yearly report, which consists of the yearly processes of the business including the sales profits and the turnovers is called the annual report. Such a report generated only once a year and is submitted to the corporate heads for studying the business year in detail. Majority of crucial decisions like investments, product portfolio changes, marketing strategies, marketing campaigns etc. are planned on the basis of the Annual report. Pre-decided plans may be modified or changed based on Annual reports.
