Many private businesses and public institutions (eg government agencies) must produce economic and financial reports for both internal and external users.
Reports in economics and finance have very specific kinds of content. Annual reports typically include industry and business overviews, audited financial statements for the past year and extensive explanatory notes on their interpretation, discussion of management and analysis of business trends, lists of directors and officers, and reports from the chairperson and directors. Budget papers include overviews of the entity’s past and future economic performance, as well as financial statements and a discussion of key budget measures.
When preparing financial reports, pay attention to issues such as:
- numerical correctness
- legal requirements
- some sections may be flexible, but others may have formats fixed by regulations
- some content may need to be signed off by certain officers (eg the chief financial officer, an auditor)
- there may be reporting periods that must be met (ie the report has a hard deadline)
- stakeholder engagement (eg who should review the report before publication)
- accepted conventions for document structure (eg expected sections, heading levels, formats)
- disclosure of information (eg what must be disclosed for legal or regulatory requirements, what must not be disclosed for commercial-in-confidence and similar reasons).
See Books and reports for more information on writing and structuring such publications.
