Managament accounting

the following questions should you ask yourself before writing a report:

(a) Who is the user? (b) What type of report will be most useful to them? (c) What exactly do they need to know, and for what purpose? (d) How much information is required, how quickly and at what cost? (e) Do you need to give judgements, recommendations (or just information)?

We are going to look at three main types of report. (a) The short formal report (b) The short informal report (c) The memorandum report

The short formal report

The short formal report is used in formal contexts, such as where middle management is reporting to senior management. It should be laid out according to certain basic guidelines. It will be split into logical sections, each referenced and headed appropriately.

Format: TITLE (At the top of every report (or on a title page, for lengthy ones) appears the title of the report (its subject) and, as appropriate, who has prepared it, for whom it is intended, the date of completion, and the status of the report ('Confidential' or 'Urgent').

I. TERMS OF REFERENCE or INTRODUCTION (Here is laid out the scope and purpose of the report: what is to be investigated, what kind of information is required, whether recommendations are to be made etc.)

II. PROCEDURE or METHOD (This outlines the steps taken to make an investigation, collect data etc. Telephone calls or visits made, documents consulted, computations made etc should be briefly described, with the names of other people involved.)

III. FINDINGS (In this section the information itself is set out. The content should be clearly structured in chronological order, order of importance, or any other logical relationship.)

IV. CONCLUSIONS (This section allows for a summary of main findings.)

V. RECOMMENDATIONS (Here, if asked to do so in the terms of reference, the writer of the report may suggest the solution to the problem investigated so that the recipient will be able to make a decision if necessary.)