Tips to Make Writing Your Annual Report Easy!

07 Sep Tips to Make Writing Your Annual Report Easy!

Most business owners dread writing their annual reports. It’s a lot of work and can take up a lot of time. It’s a year-long process that entails compiling paperwork, documenting month-on-month performances, and recording milestones and targets. It’s tedious and laborious, but if you want to come out with an informative and well-written report, you’re going to have to put in the effort! If you stick with it, you’ll have a professional document that tells your readers exactly what they need to know about your company without sounding boring or stiff.

First things first.

When you’re writing your annual report, it’s important to keep your company’s mission statement in mind. This is your guiding light, and it should influence everything you write. Knowing and understanding fully your mission statement will help you layout your annual report to include the information you want your shareholders to know. Make sure that every paragraph and section of your report supports your mission statement and helps readers understand what your company stands for. If you can do this, you’ll be well on your way to writing a great annual report!

Narrow your focus.

Your readers don’t need to know every detail of every transaction that took place during the year; they just need an overview of what happened throughout the entire year.

To give a comprehensive overview of the company’s performance over the past year, it is important to include all relevant facts and figures. This may include graphs or charts that help to illustrate the data in a clear and concise manner. Additionally, it is important to elaborate on any pertinent points that you want to include in the body of the report. Doing so will help readers to have a better understanding of the company’s overall progress and trajectory. Once you’ve decided on the areas in which you’re going to present information, group them into clear headings and categories using subheads where necessary (for example, if financial data is included). You can also use photos and other visual elements to further what your report is communicating.

There are several annual report samples and outlines you can find on the web as a resource or reference, or you can check online design platforms like Venggage for annual report templates you can follow or use to help you with this undertaking.

Visualize your reader.

It’s very important that you keep your readers in mind when you’re writing an annual report. To do this, you must answer a few questions: Who is reading my annual report? Why are they reading it? What information do they need from me? You’ll also want to consider all kinds of elements, like age, experience level, and interests.

For example, if the reader is another business interested in partnering with yours or looking to invest in your company, then more details about financial statements will likely be necessary than if the readers are just curious community members who want some insight into what’s going on in your industry at large.

By answering these questions, it will be easier for you to determine how to structure and layout your report, and will help you write in an appropriate tone and style so you don’t lose your readers before they even get to the good parts!

Proofread carefully.

Be sure to proofread your annual report thoroughly before sending it out. This means you’ll want to double and triple-check that each section and paragraph flows well and makes sense in the order they’re presented in.

You will also want to pay extra attention when you’re checking your grammar and spelling. Don’t let any misspellings or grammatical errors anywhere on any of the pages slip through. Also, check that the figures included are agreeing with one another and have been calculated correctly. Ensure consistency throughout the document – from font size, font type, spacing between words to other elements, everything should be consistent in formatting from page to page.

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Do a final read-through – again.

Before you send your report out to shareholders, do one more read-through. Have a third, fourth, and even a fifth set of eyes to go through your report. You can ask a friend or family member to read it and give their honest opinion about what they liked and didn’t like. They may also be able to spot typos that you may have missed. 

When going over the document, look up any words that might not be familiar to your readers so you have a better idea of how well the information is coming across. If you still feel uneasy about your report, especially if this is your first time doing it, you can also just show it to an editor!

After all of the hard work that has gone into writing the annual report, you want to send it out with confidence knowing that everything is cohesive and makes sense.

Write your annual report!

By following the tips listed above, you’ll be able to successfully write an annual report that’s clear, concise, and easy to read for your readers. If you need more guidance or visual cues on how your annual report should look, visit Venngage and find templates you can use to write your own! Good luck with writing!