Executive summary: [Report title]

For

Date

From

Full report

Bottom line

Your finding and recommendation, with the cost and the payoff. Write it last.

Decision needed:

See an example

Bottom line: Moving customer support onto one help-desk tool would cut our first-response time by about a third and save $86,000 a year from the second year. I recommend we switch in the third quarter, for a one-time cost of $42,000.

Decision needed: approval of the $42,000 budget by the leadership team by June 14, so the migration can start on July 1.

Situation

The problem, who it affects and what it costs today.

Key findings

Most important first, each with the number behind it.

Recommendation

What should happen, who does it and by when.

Option

Cost

Timing

Trade-off

Do nothing

Risks

Each risk, and how it will be handled.

After approval

What you need to start, and the first steps.

Before you send

  • It fits on one page, and the bottom line makes sense without the full report

  • Every number matches the full report

  • The decision, who makes it and by when are in the Bottom line panel

  • The grey hints, the example and this checklist are deleted