Whether you are a student or a practicing professional, there is no doubt that you will need to create a consulting report at some point in your life. While some government organizations or top-notch companies may be able to create their own consulting report template, many hiring managers opt to get templates from the internet to quickly and easily prepare a consultant report without having to grapple with the grammar and syntax of the document.
What is a consulting report?
A consulting report is a document that provides advice and recommendations on a specific issue or problem. Consultants often prepare reports at the end of assignments, but they may also provide interim reports when they have made significant progress in their work.
Consulting reports are often considered to be more persuasive and factual than other types of documents because they are intended to persuade the reader to take action. They may include recommendations for change and suggestions for implementation, depending on the purpose of the assignment. For example, suppose a company hires a consultant to analyze its business operations and make suggestions for improvement. In that case, the consultant will likely present many findings in a report recommending specific changes and ways to implement them.
In contrast to an academic or technical report, which focuses primarily on research results but does not provide recommendations, a consulting report includes findings and recommendations.
Consulting Report Templates
Consulting report templates are pre-designed documents that provide a structured format for consultants to present their findings, analysis, and recommendations to clients. These templates offer a convenient and professional way to organize and communicate the results of a consulting engagement, ensuring clarity and effectiveness in delivering key insights and actionable recommendations.
Consulting report templates typically include sections that address important aspects such as the project background, research methodology, data analysis, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations. They may also incorporate sections for visual representations of data, charts, graphs, and appendices for additional supporting information.
Using a consulting report template helps consultants present their findings and recommendations in a structured and comprehensive manner. The template provides a consistent format that streamlines the report creation process and ensures that all critical information is properly documented and communicated.
Structure of a consulting report
Consulting reports are often a key part of the consultant’s toolkit. Consulting reports are used to communicate ideas and findings to clients. Consulting firms can also use them internally to communicate with one another about their projects.
Consulting reports typically follow a standard format that includes some combination of these elements:
Title
The title page of a consulting report contains the name and address of the organization that commissioned the report, along with the date. It also lists the names of all people involved in conducting research, writing, and editing. A good consulting report template should also include a disclaimer stating that no legal or medical advice was given during the course of the project.
Table of contents
The table of contents lets readers quickly find specific topics within your document. It should be listed at the beginning of your report so that readers can quickly find what they’re looking for without reading through an entire document.
Executive summary
The executive summary is an abbreviated version of your consulting report highlighting its key findings and recommendations. It’s usually only one or two pages long and contains no extraneous information that takes away from its purpose — to provide an overview of what your final report says.
Introduction
It’s a summary of the problem, your analysis, and recommendations. You should put in as much information as possible here because it’s likely that the client will read this before moving on to the rest of your report.
Analysis
This is where you explain the problem and how it came about. You also have to show your understanding of the customer’s business and how their industry works. It’s essential to be as thorough as possible, but stay moderate with information that doesn’t pertain to the task at hand.
Recommendations
This part should be as detailed as possible so that it’s easy for your client to understand what you mean without asking too many questions or doing too much research on their own.
Conclusion
The conclusion should summarize what you’ve just covered in each report section and tie everything together in one neat package. You should also include any additional information that was not covered in any other section of the report.
Appendix
The appendix section is usually reserved for extra information explicitly related to your topic or client.
Why Create a Consulting Report Template?
This type of template is used to create reports that offer information about a specific product, service, or process. A report template can serve as an internal document that employees can use when they need to produce a report. This type of template is typically created by an employee or team member who has access to the company’s data and system.
The report template will include all the necessary elements needed to create the final document. For example, in some cases, a consultant will be asked to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular product or service. In this case, the consultant will need access to the data and systems used to produce the final report. In other cases, consultants may be asked to provide recommendations for improving specific aspects of an organization’s operation or performance. Managers use some consulting reports to hire new employees, while managers may use others to make decisions related to personnel management or training programs.
How to Create a Consulting Report ( Step by Step)
The following steps will help you create a great consulting report:
Design a spot-on cover page
The first thing that needs to be done is to design your cover page. You will want to include your name and company logo on this page. Your title should be clear and concise so that readers immediately know what they are getting into. Also, include professional contact information such as email address, phone number, and website address.
Include the table of contents in the report itself
Include a table of contents in your report so that it is easy for readers to navigate through its content. This way, they can quickly find what they are looking for without having to flip through several pages of text.
Executive summary
The executive summary is the vital thing that your clients will see. It is often the most critical section of the report because it introduces you and describes your purpose. The executive summary should be concise and contain only necessary information without going into too much detail. For example, if you are writing about a new product, include a brief description of what it does and how it works. If there are any risks or concerns with the implementation, include them in this section as well.
Background section
The background section describes how you came across this project, which you consulted with and why they were chosen to be on the team. It also provides an overview of how long it took to complete the project and any challenges that were encountered while doing so (in addition to any solutions).
Write the analysis
Another step in creating a consulting report is to write down all of your findings, including any new insights and data gathered during your research. Ensure that each section is detailed enough to be understood by all audiences. If you have included any recommendations or suggestions, make sure they are clearly stated and easy to understand by anyone who reads them.
Enlist recommendations
If there are any recommendations or suggestions within your findings, ensure they are consistent with what has already been said about this topic in other reports or through interviews with experts in this field.
Conclude your report
The end of the report is an excellent place to summarize the key points of your findings. This can include anything from top-performing areas to the most important recommendations and action items.
Include the appendix
The appendix is another good place for you to include any additional information that may be relevant to your audience. For example, if you were writing a report on a particular technology, you could include sample code or web pages demonstrating how that technology works.
How long should a consultancy report be?
The length of a consultancy report varies depending on the type of consultancy.
A short report (10-12 pages) is usually used for small project reviews and to provide an overview of the findings. A long report (20-30 pages) can be used for more complex projects, such as software development or large-scale system implementations.
The number of pages depends on how much information you want to put in your report and how many different types of reports you want to write.
Final Thoughts
The best consultancy reports are short, sharp, and to the point. They do not bombard readers with technical minutiae or unnecessary data; they get straight to the point and provide practical and viable recommendations. When your reports are clear and concise, clients will be more positive, and you will certainly garner repeat business.
FAQs
What does a consulting report include?
A consulting report will include an overview of the project, approach taken, insights from analysis, recommendations with rationale, implementation guide, and supporting data/material in an appendix.
How many pages is a consulting report?
The length of a consulting report can vary greatly depending on the project scope. Typical lengths range from 15 pages for a concise report up to 100+ pages for extensive projects. Most aim to keep under 50 pages without appendices.
How long is a consulting report?
Consulting reports tend to be between 5-100 pages on average. Very brief reports could be 5 pages. Large, complex projects may warrant reports up to or exceeding 100 pages. Target length will depend on the engagement goals, requirements, and amount of information to convey.
How do you structure a consulting report?
A typical consulting report structure includes:
- Executive summary
- Scope and objectives
- Methodology
- Key findings and analysis
- Recommendations
- Implementation roadmap
- Appendix
