PREFATORY SECTION OF A LONG (FORMAL) REPORT

WHAT IS A LONG REPORT? DISCUSS THE PREFATORY SECTION OF A LONG REPORT.

A) A LONG REPORT

A long report is simply an expansion of a short report. A short report needs less detailed introductions and visual aids. Short reports may be formal or informal. Long reports are usually formal. A long report involves a deeper discussion and is more complex in nature than a short report. A short report includes introduction, body and terminal section, whereas, a long (formal) report includes preliminary section, a body and supplementary material. Planning is the first step towards writing a long report. Planning would comprise the following:

1) AUDIENCE RECOGNITION

What is the target audience? What action needs to be taken? Who is going to read? my report? Categorize different types of document readers.

2) WRITING PURPOSE

Why am I writing? What was the situation that led to the need for this document? What was the purpose of writing the report? What I want to achieve with my writing?

3) ORGANIZATION OF REPORT

What is the central idea that I am focusing upon? How I am going to present my ideas? What are the things I want to include?

4) USE OF VISUAL AIDS

What visual aids will be used? To what extent these visual aids will be used? Will these help in making message more precise and clear? Will the document reader be able to understand the visual aids?

5) WRITING STYLE

What is the writing diction that will be followed? Which writing style will be the most effective?

B) THE PREFATORY SECTION OF A LONG REPORT

The prefatory section of a long report comes before the body of the report. A prefatory section comes first in a long report but may be designed in the last. It has four parts:

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1) THE TITLE PAGE The title page includes the title, the name of the person writing the report, his rank or position, and the date of submission. The title should be appropriate, clear, specific and concise. It should be eight to ten words long. A report title covers briefly what the report covers. A five W’s (who, when, where, what, why) approach should be followed while writing the cover page. In case of highly technical reports, the contact details of author and his project members are also included.

2) THE COVER LETTER The cover letter or letter of transmittal is used when the report is being sent outside the organization. A cover memorandum is used when the report is being sent inside the organization. In a cover letter, the receiver of the report is addressed. A cover letter discusses the authorization for the report, or the occasion for writing the report. It also covers the scope of the report. In the end, courteous close and any acknowledgements can be added.

3) THE ABSTRACT OR EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAn executive summary is a summarized version of a report. It is a very quick and accurate overview of what is contained in the report. It is usually written in the end. It should not be more than one or two pages. An abstract is helpful for top level executives who have to read hundreds of pages daily. Most of the business executives do not read the complete report. They go for the abstract in order to save their time. A synopsis helps out in managerial decision making. An abstract should be very clear, precise, to-the-point, and catchy, as it is a condensed version of a long report.

4) THE TABLE OF CONTENTSA table of contents shows where the report contents are in the report. It is preferred to prepare table of contents in the end. It comes in the preliminary section of a report but is prepared in the end. After all the document has been considered and revised, all the page insertions are done and the document is well formatted. A table of contents lists the sections in a report. Some report formats allow table of contents to come before the executive summary. The numbering starts with the chapter one. The pages before that are numbered using Roman numerals like I, II, III, and so forth. English alphabet letters are used for appendices. For example, Appendix A, Appendix B, and so forth. Appendices, cover letter, executive summary, bibliography, references and acknowledgements are made italicized (sometimes) in table of contents. A table of illustrations includes an overview of illustrations, images, visuals or appendices within the report.

OPTIONAL PREFATORY PARTS OF A LONG REPORT5) RELIGIOUS LOGO

Many Muslims start their projects with a religious wording

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like . Hindu writers usually write “Om” or use

in the beginning.

6) AN APPROVAL PAGE

An approval page contains names and signatures of project supervisors, and examiners along with the date.

7) DEDICATION

Most of the projects include a dedication page. It includes names of those to whom the project is being dedicated.

8) SPONSORSHIP LETTERS

If the project is sponsored, then it contains the name of the organization that sponsored the project, location and sponsorship date.

EXAMPLES OF SOME PARTS TAKEN FROM A LONG REPORT

The following are examples of a title page, acknowledgements, executive summary and a partial table of contents.

The title page looks like: (A logo of the organization/university may be inserted)

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Entrepreneur Accounts Management Software:Developed For Accounts Maintenance Purpose

Submitted To:Department of Computer Science

Bahria Institute of Management & Computer Sciences

Prepared By:Ms. Sadaf Fayyaz

CS Student, Bahria UniversityEnrollment No. 1313454-023

July 26th, 2005

Acknowledgements page looks like:

An Executive Summary looks like:

ABSTRACTENTREPRENEUR ACCOUNTS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

This project is designed for accounts maintenance purposes. It was sponsored by XYZ Corporation. It is a modern inventory system which makes manual system computerized. The project took almost six months to complete. It was designed using SQL server 2000 and VB.net. Day-to- day transactions are performed. Voucher entries are made, processed and saved in a back-end database. Any person having a good knowledge of accounts is eligible to use it. It is following the format of “PEACHTREE SOFWARE”. Different statements like income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet are generated. Further reports include Trial balance sheet, Chart of Accounts report, General Journal and General ledger. The system provides security and authentication as well. Multiple users’ access is not allowed. For an authorized user, transaction processing can be done. For other unauthorized users, it is read-only. The project analysis, prototyping and design were a difficult task. A flexible prototype model was developed. Finally, the XYZ Corporation will start using it after three months.

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ACKNOWLEDEMENTS

All my heartiest thanks to Almighty Allah, whose mercy and blessings helped me to complete this report. I express my deepest gratitude to my project supervisor, Mr. Nadeem M. Khan, for his help and guidance. I would also like to thank Mr. Zia Lughmani for his technical support.

A partial table of contents looks like:

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CONTENTS

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Acknowledgements………………………………………………………….iExecutive Summary…………………………………………………………iiIntroduction…………………………………………………………………iiiChapter 1 Present System…………………………………………………...

1.1 Working of the present system ………………………………. 1.2 Problems in the current system……………………………….1.3 How to overcome the problems……………………………….

1.3.1 By ensuring data security………………………..1.3.2 By making system computerized………………..

Chapter 2 System Modeling………………………………………………… 2.1 Entity Relationship Diagrams………………………………… 2.1 Decompositioning…………………………………………….. 2.3 Data Flow Diagrams…………………………………………..

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.. Appendix A: Questionnaires……………………………………………….. Appendix B: Interview questions…………………………………………… Bibliography………………………………………………………………… References…………………………………………………………………… Glossary …………………………………………………………………...... Index………………………………………………………………………. .