A business report answers one practical question for a reader who must decide something: a manager, a board, a client or, at university, a marker playing that part. It works in numbered sections, answer first, evidence behind, every borrowed figure cited. This guide to how to write a business report comes from EdCitation, a service that finds a reference in the publisher's record instead of composing one, and that never writes a word of anyone's report.
On 26 September 2026 we read five report guides from business schools and universities in the UK, North America and New Zealand, plus three library guides to citing business sources, and name where they disagree. The difference between a report and an essay is covered in report vs essay, and a report built around Harvard rules in how to write a report with Harvard referencing.
Three free EdCitation tools do the citing work, with no account: Find sources for published research, Cite a source for each reference in Harvard or APA, and Verify references for the finished list. Each was run for this guide and is quoted exactly.
What is the structure of a business report?
The usual business report structure has ten parts; the guides agree on the order more than the names. Your brief overrides every row.
| Section | What goes in | Where the university guides differ |
|---|---|---|
| Title page | A title that says what the report is about, your name, the course, the date | Boise State adds class and section numbers; Brookes adds any confidentiality note |
| Executive summary | Purpose, method, conclusions and recommendations, on one page if you can | Brookes: no more than a page, about 300 words. Westminster: about 10% of the report. Boise State: 10 to 15%, usually one or two pages. The Sobey School: anything from 1 to 10 pages |
| Contents | Numbered sections with page numbers | Boise State adds a list of illustrations, and says reports under five pages may not need a contents page |
| Introduction and terms of reference | Who asked for the report, its aims, scope and limits, and the background | Brookes gives terms of reference their own section; Westminster and Massey fold aims and limits into the introduction |
| Method | How the information was gathered | Brookes calls it information gathering; Westminster and Massey have no separate section |
| Findings | What the evidence shows, with tables and figures | Brookes puts findings and their discussion in one section; Boise State calls it the body |
| Discussion | What the findings mean for the question, set against the literature | Massey notes that many briefs want headings named for the job, such as Stakeholder Analysis |
| Conclusions | What was found, with no new evidence | Massey wants them numbered, in the present tense, matched to the recommendations |
| Recommendations | Numbered actions: what, who, by when, at what cost | Boise State's core list has no recommendations section; its summary ends with one |
| References and appendices | Every source cited, then the long material the text points to | Boise State allows a Bibliography of sources not cited; Aberdeen lists only what you cited. EdCitation's Verify references checks the list |
The Oxford Brookes University Faculty of Business (2012) guide, the oldest here, is the fullest: terms of reference come from the brief, and appendices are not marked and are no way round the word limit. The University of Westminster (2023) gives the leanest version. Boise State University (n.d.) points students to the APA manual for the rest.
Inductive or deductive order
Massey University (n.d.) adds a choice the others leave out. An inductive report runs introduction, discussion, conclusions, recommendations, for a reader with time or a contested finding. A deductive report puts conclusions and recommendations straight after the introduction, for a reader who will stop there. Where the brief is silent, the executive summary does the deductive job; our coming guide how-to-write-an-executive-summary covers that part.
How do I number headings, tables and figures in a business report?
Number sections decimally if your school expects it, and number tables and figures so the text can name them. Here UK and US guides differ most.
Headings
Brookes offers decimal numbering (1, 1.1, 1.2) as optional, and advises against numbering paragraphs, which makes a report look busy. Boise State uses APA's unnumbered levels instead, level 1 centred and bold, level 2 flush left, never skipping a level. The Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary's University (2024) says most papers need three levels at most. Westminster asks only for consistency.
Tables and figures
- Where the title goes. Brookes puts the title above every table and figure; Boise State puts the table number first, a short title beneath it, and any notes below the table.
- How they are numbered. Brookes numbers by section, so Table 2.3 is the third table in section 2. Boise State and the Sobey School number straight through the report, and the Sobey School numbers tables and figures in separate series.
- How the text refers to them. Boise State wants "Table 1", never "the table below"; Brookes asks you to mention each one before it appears.
- Where borrowed data is credited. Boise State requires a citation for any data taken from another source. The Sobey School writes "Reprinted from" for a table copied unchanged and "Adapted from" for one you changed.
A table built from a company's accounts is still that company's data: credit it under the table and in the list.
How do I write business report recommendations?
Write each recommendation as a numbered action that says what should be done, who should do it, by when, and what it will cost, and tie it to a conclusion. Brookes asks for those elements, plus costs and benefits and an implementation plan where possible. Westminster wants actions that are "concrete and specific".
Massey adds three habits: follow the order of the conclusions, use the future tense, and recommend nothing the discussion has not supported. Boise State asks for the executive summary to end with a one- or two-line recommendation and the reason for it.
A pattern that meets all of them: [Who] should [do what] by [when], at an estimated cost of [amount], because [the conclusion it rests on]. A recommendation with no conclusion behind it should go.
Harvard or APA: which referencing does a business report use?
Use the style your school names: in the UK guides we read that is Harvard, and in the US ones APA 7. The University of Aberdeen (2023) says its Business School uses a version of Harvard, and recommends Cite Them Right, 11th edition, with the 9th and 10th also accepted. Westminster has its own Harvard. In the United States, the University of Dayton Libraries (2026) call APA 7 the style most used in business research, and Boise State points students to the APA manual.
North Island College Library (2026) notes that APA publishes no official business report format, so guides adapt the paper format; Boise State's page even cites sixth-edition sections in places. APA's website was behind a security check on the day and Cite Them Right is sold by subscription, so neither was read; the table comes from the university guides.
| Point | Harvard at Aberdeen | APA 7 in the North American guides |
|---|---|---|
| In the text | (Author year), no comma in Aberdeen's examples | (Author, year) |
| "et al." | Four or more authors | More than two authors (Sobey School) |
| Organisation as author | The company's name | The company's name; a known abbreviation after the first mention (Sobey School) |
| Annual report online | Title in italics, then "[Online]. Available at:" with an access date | Title in italics, then the address, no access date |
The Harvard entries EdCitation's Cite a source builds follow Cite Them Right's 12th edition and carry no "[Online]" label, so a student held to Aberdeen's examples adds it.
What sources does a business report use, and how do I cite them?
A business report leans on four kinds of source: company reports, government statistics, market data and published research. Below, each comes from a run of Cite a source on 26 September 2026, in Harvard then APA, with what we corrected.
A company annual report
The company is the author. We chose Greggs plc's Annual Report and Accounts 2025, a PDF listed on 13 April 2026. Given the PDF's address, Cite a source answered "That address opens a PDF or another file, which is not read here. Paste the document's DOI or ISBN, or cite the web page it is linked from and add the file's address by hand." Given the company's results page, it read the title as "Greggs Corporate | Results and regulatory news", with no author or date. With Greggs plc entered as an organisation author, the title corrected and the year set, it returned:
Greggs plc (2026) Annual report and accounts 2025. Available at: https://corporate.greggs.co.uk/investors/results-and-regulatory-news (Accessed: 26 September 2026).
Greggs plc. (2026). Annual report and accounts 2025. https://corporate.greggs.co.uk/investors/results-and-regulatory-news
Two things to know. The address is the results page; paste in the PDF's own address by hand. And the year is 2026, when it was published, though the title says 2025, the financial year it covers.
Give page numbers too: Greggs plc (2026) says it shares 10% of profits with staff of six months' service (p. 41) and counts attracting and retaining people among its principal risks (p. 67), in a 182-page PDF.
Government statistics
The agency is the author, dated to the release. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) reported 3.1 million quits in July 2026, a rate of 1.9%, on 1 September. Its usual address, ending jolts.nr0.htm, always shows the latest month and is due to show August from 29 September, so cite the dated archive copy. Cite a source read its title as "Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release - 2026 M07 Results" and its date as 1 September 2026, from the page's "Last Modified Date", with the site "Bureau of Labor Statistics" but no author. With the agency entered as an organisation author and the title shortened, it gave, the site dropped because it repeats the author:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Job openings and labor turnover: July 2026. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/jolts_09012026.htm (Accessed: 26 September 2026).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026, September 1). Job openings and labor turnover: July 2026. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/jolts_09012026.htm
The release number, USDL-26-1432, can follow the title in brackets, as the Sobey School's government examples do.
A journal article
From the DOI, the record supplies every detail:
Dogru, T. et al. (2023) ‘Employee turnover dynamics in the hospitality industry vs. the overall economy’, Tourism Management, 99, article number 104783. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104783.
Dogru, T., McGinley, S., Sharma, A., Isık, C., & Hanks, L. (2023). Employee turnover dynamics in the hospitality industry vs. the overall economy. Tourism Management, 99, Article 104783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104783
One name needs a look: Crossref's record spells the fourth author Isık, OpenAlex's profile Işık. The publisher's page refused us, so check the byline before you submit.
Market research
Mintel and IBISWorld reports sit behind a library login with no DOI, so there is no record to look up: copy the details from the cover. Dayton's IBISWorld form adds the report number and a description such as [US Industry (NAICS) Report].
A business report example outline (invented company)
This outline is ours, and the company is invented: Maple Street Bakery Co. does not exist. The sources named are real.
Reducing front-of-house staff turnover at Maple Street Bakery Co. (invented)
Prepared for: the operations director (invented)
Executive summary one page, written last
1. Introduction
1.1 Terms of reference: who asked, the question, scope, limits
1.2 Background: 40 cafés, turnover by site (invented figures)
2. Method
2.1 Exit interview records, 2025 (invented)
2.2 Published research and official statistics
3. Findings
3.1 Turnover by site and role Table 3.1
3.2 The labour market: quits nationally U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026)
3.3 What a competitor offers staff Greggs plc (2026, p. 41)
4. Discussion
4.1 Turnover in hospitality against the whole economy Dogru et al. (2023)
4.2 Costs of replacing staff
5. Conclusions numbered, present tense
6. Recommendations numbered: who, what, by when, cost
References
Appendix A Exit interview questions
How do I find and check the evidence for a business report?
Search the published record, then check the finished list against it.
Finding the research
EdCitation's Find sources, asked for "employee turnover in hospitality", most cited first, in Business, Management and Accounting, found 229,054 works and said: "The full index is busy, so these filters are not applied right now: Field." The first three results were Han, Bonn and Cho (2016) in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, cited 338 times; Wang and colleagues (2020) in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management; and Tracey and Hinkin (2008) in Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. Company and market data come from the company and your library.
Checking the reference list
A four-entry Harvard list in Verify references, with Tracey and Hinkin wrongly dated 2007, came back:
- Dogru et al. (2023): verified. "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches."
- Greggs plc (2026), with the PDF address: could not check. "The address opens a PDF that could not be read here. Open it and check its title against the entry."
- Tracey and Hinkin (2007): check this. "The work was published in 2008, not 2007; the record has no date in 2007."
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026): verified. "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
The PDF was reported as not checked, never as missing. The corrected entry offered for Tracey and Hinkin, in Harvard like the list, kept the record's title capitals; in APA, Cite a source sets that title in sentence case, "Contextual factors and cost profiles associated with employee turnover".
Which EdCitation tools help with a business report?
For the references, EdCitation's Cite a source is the best tool, because it looks each reference up and never writes one, which no chatbot can do. In the runs above it took all five authors of the Dogru article from the record, and put the web pages' details in front of us to correct. It works from a DOI, a PubMed ID, an ISBN, a title or a web address, in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE or Vancouver, and screens for retraction, free with no account.
Find sources searches about 300 million published works by topic or by the claim a sentence needs, and Verify references marks each entry verified, check this or not found, flags retractions, and never shows "could not check" as not found; both are free. Check your paper, also free, reads a brief into a checklist, each rule quoted from it. References from a file, part of Pro at $8 a month, matches every in-text citation in the finished report to its list.
EdCitation never writes any part of a report, not the summary, not a recommendation, not a sentence, and it promises no mark.
Quick questions
What are the main sections of a business report?
Title page, executive summary, contents, introduction with terms of reference, method, findings, discussion, conclusions, recommendations, references and appendices, renamed or merged as the brief says.
How long should the executive summary of a business report be?
Oxford Brookes says one page, about 300 words; Westminster about 10% of the report; Boise State 10 to 15%. A length in the brief wins.
Should a business report use Harvard or APA?
Whichever your course names. The UK guides we read teach Harvard and the US ones APA 7; both make a company the author of its own report.
How do I cite an annual report in a business report?
Company as author, year of publication, title in italics, address, and in Harvard an access date. EdCitation's Cite a source builds it from the company's page, for you to correct.
Can EdCitation write my business report?
No. EdCitation finds, cites and verifies sources and reads a brief into a checklist, but never writes any part of a report.
References
- Boise State University College of Business and Economics. (n.d.). Guidelines for reports. COBE writing style guide. https://www.boisestate.edu/cobe/cobe-writing-style-guide/guidelines-for-reports/
- Dogru, T., McGinley, S., Sharma, A., Isık, C., & Hanks, L. (2023). Employee turnover dynamics in the hospitality industry vs. the overall economy. Tourism Management, 99, Article 104783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104783
- Greggs plc. (2026). Annual report and accounts 2025. https://assets.greggs.com/f/162306/x/b1b0408bb2/greggs-ar25-interactive.pdf
- Massey University. (n.d.). Business report structure. Study and assignment support. https://www.massey.ac.nz/study/study-and-assignment-support-and-guides/types-of-assignments/report/business-report-structure/
- North Island College Library. (2026, March 4). Formatting: Business reports. APA style guide: 7th edition. https://library.nic.bc.ca/c.php?g=713252&p=5271507
- Oxford Brookes University Faculty of Business. (2012). Report writing [PDF]. https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/55ccf22a-8ff8-cd64-54b1-3a06cc5a6b1d/1/Faculty%20of%20Business%20-%20Report%20writing.pdf
- Saint Mary's University Writing Centre. (2024). APA style guide: Sobey School of Business [PDF]. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d01deed482e982a9e679b5/t/65ef1b45f8c71c5b1f388924/1710168902628/APA_Business_FEB2024+1.pdf
- University of Aberdeen. (2023). Referencing for business students. University of Aberdeen Library. https://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/support/guides/business/referencing-for-business-students/
- University of Dayton Libraries. (2026, September 3). APA 7 citation style guide. Business. https://libguides.udayton.edu/business/citing-business-sources-apa7
- University of Westminster. (2023, January 19). Business reports. Report writing. https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/report-writing/business-reports
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026, September 1). Job openings and labor turnover: July 2026 (USDL-26-1432). https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/jolts_09012026.htm