Arrangement of Contents in Letter Report
The general format of letter report is like a letter. It is usually typed on the company’s letterhead. Depending on the subject, its length may range from two to five pages. Contents of a letter report are arranged in the following sequence:
- Date: Letter report begins with the date of submitting the report. A date is mentioned on top of the page either at the left or right margin.
- Inside address: Inside address is written two spaces below the date. It contains the address of the person or authority to which the report is submitted.
- Subject line: Subject line mentions the subject of the report in a few words. It is placed one or two space below the inside address.
- Salutation: There must be solutions depending on the relationship between the report writer and the person receiving the report.
- Body: Body is the most important part of any report. An arrangement of information in the body depends on whether it is written in the direct or indirect order. Usually, letter reports follow the direct order of presentation. When such order is followed, the report begins with recommendations and conclusion. After that, authorization, purpose, sources of data and findings are presented.
- Signature: Since a letter report follows the letter format, it ends with the signature, name and address of the report writer.
- References section: Letter report may contain a reference section if it consults or reviews secondary sources of information.
Arrangement of Contents in Memo Report
Memorandum report takes the form of a memo. This report is written in simple and day to day business matters. It may move horizontally or vertically. Whatever may be the direction of movement, a memo report is less formal, less detailed and less structured. It concentrates on the following contents:
- Date: The first content of memorandum report is the date on which the report is submitted. Date is mentioned on top of the page either at the left or right margin.
- Inside address: Inside address is written two spaces below the date. It contains the address of the person or authority to which the report is submitted. When memo report is written informally, only the name of the recipient is mentioned.
- Address of the writer: Below the inside address, memo report contains the address of the report writer. Since memo report is usually used for internal use, full particulars of the writer are hardly present.
- Body of the report: In the body of the memo report, required information is directly presented. It does not give detail introduction of the reported problem.