{"id":22301,"date":"2021-10-08T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/?p=22301"},"modified":"2022-02-10T15:58:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T15:58:37","slug":"writing-an-annual-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/en\/writing-an-annual-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing an Annual Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Reviewing the year<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a recent blog post we looked at how to construct a financial report. Now we outline what is required to produce an engaging and comprehensive annual report and how accounting software can be used to find the necessary financial data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many reasons why annual reports are so lengthy, one of which is that they don\u2019t just cover the financial performance of the organisation over the previous 12 months \u2013 they are also an opportunity to review significant developments and explain why certain decisions were taken as well as to look ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Listed companies are obliged to produce these documents, but small businesses may also choose to publish an annual report as part of their interaction with customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Setting the scene<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start by deciding the message you want to get across. The figures may tell their own story, but this doesn\u2019t stop you from making sure the points you want to make come across clearly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A typical annual report will include the following sections:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Statement from the head of the business<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Executive summary (no more than two pages highlighting the key messages you want the reader to take from the report)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summary of the company\u2019s achievements over the last 12 months<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Financial information including assets and liabilities, and income and expenditure<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think about what your audience would want to know. If this is being done for the benefit of customers you need to focus on different considerations than if it is targeted at potential investors, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The \u2018write\u2019 approach<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Financial reports are usually produced for specific purposes &#8211; such as an application for funding &#8211; so are not necessarily a regular publication. An annual report (as the name suggests) has to be published every year so it is worth settling on a consistent structure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are plenty of templates available online. A quick search online will also throw up examples of style guides that can be used to ensure consistency across each report and indeed all your business communication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spelling or grammatical errors will make a bad impression and suggest a slapdash approach. Because annual reports are usually produced by more than one person, a style guide will also help everyone use the same format for dates, titles, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Getting the facts<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As with an income statement, cash flow or balance sheet report, using a cloud based accounting package such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Big Red Cloud<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will make it easier to find the necessary financial data. However, you may also have to gather information from senior management so allow times for interviews and reviews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report can point the reader towards a certain conclusion but must be written objectively and accurately. Any attempt to \u2018bury bad news\u2019 will be poorly received.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, don\u2019t expect to get it right first time \u2013 in fact, you should plan for two or even three versions so you can work out what to include, reflect on the overall impression the report will make, and leave enough time for someone else to read over the document to ensure it is clear and coherent.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reviewing the year In a recent blog post we looked at how to construct a financial report. Now we outline&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advice"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Writing an Annual Report | Big Red Cloud<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn from the experts with our annual report tips. 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