Best practice when writing a management reporting pack

The purpose of this article is to provide guidance on producing a suite of management reports that are suitable for presenting to the organisation's Board. The 'best practice' approach should be used throughout and in particular, the use of Management Information (MI) will be considered.

To start with, it should be noted that a 'management reporting pack' does not mean:

A set of reports on the same subject. e.g. A monthly sales report, a weekly sales forecast and a daily sales summary all containing information about sales figures for products X and Y; or; a set of reports covering different aspects within one process or business area. e.g. a monthly sales report, a weekly sales forecast and an annual profit-and-loss statement all looking at sales figures for products X and Y; or a set of reports that include long term trends as well as short term (events) within the same subject area; or Reports that are simply reworked versions of the same report but in a different format.

A set of reports should avoid duplication and provide information that is easily accessible to all levels of management within the organisation, including the Board. A suite of reports must be linked to an overall reporting strategy and should satisfy users' requirements for effective decision making. Within this context, the following reporting guidelines should be adhered to:

All reports should use the same format and layout. Even if there is a dramatic increase in the amount of information that is being presented, duplicate reports are not required.

Include all pertinent information for decision making rather than just highlighting trends, especially if key performance figures are being used as a basis for decisions. For example, it is not sufficient to highlight only that the sales department's target has been exceeded when management need to know by how much and this figure will only be available once all of the sales invoices have been processed.

Any comments and explanations should be presented as part of the report rather than on separate sheets or in the appendices. This allows key points to be easily identified and read without having too many pages to wade through.

When presenting information, be consistent with formatting. Use of bold print, italics or underlining should only be used to emphasise key points. Unnecessary use of such formatting may also distract from the information that is being presented and is therefore, not recommended.

Use appropriate headings and sub-headings appropriately i.e. as a way to structure and simplify the report rather than just for decoration or effect. This will help comprehension by the reader and will also make it easier to find information within the report.

If using graphs in reports, ensure that they are simple and clear i.e. use of lots of extra lines or pie charts is discouraged as these may obscure key information from the reader. Presenting figures with a time period should be easy to understand without having to refer to notes.

If using tables, ensure that they are simple and clear i.e. use of lots of extra lines is discouraged as these may obscure key information from the reader. Design them with consistency in mind to make them easy for users to understand without having to refer to notes or additional sheets/appendices.

Any critical or important comments should be highlighted clearly, using phrases such as "CAUTION" or "NOTE". However, ensure that all critical comments are backed up by evidence e.g. if an employee is not meeting target deadlines on projects then a note stating: "Joe Smith has consistently missed his deadline of 10th April for project A and it is now 17th April. He has received verbal warnings and is being monitored closely to ensure timely completion of this project."

Any key assumptions on which the data in the report is based should be stated as part of the report. e.g. "All branches within the southern region have been included in this analysis". Also, any limitations that affect accuracy or reliability should also be stated as part of the report. e.g. "The figures are based on records held up to 31st March 2021 and may not reflect any changes that have occurred subsequent to this date".

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