[Report title]

Replace the blue placeholders and delete the grey notes as you go. Make the title say what was studied, and the result if it fits. Write the summary last, but keep it at the top: many readers stop there.

Report number

[TR-YYYY-NN]

Prepared for

[Name, title, organization: the person who will act on it]

Prepared by

[Name, title]

Date

[Date of issue]

Version

[1.0, draft or final]

Distribution

[Who receives a copy]

Summary

About half a page. Lead with the recommendation or the main conclusion, then the main findings with their numbers and the conditions they were measured under, then why and how the work was done. It has to make sense to someone who reads nothing else.

[What you recommend, with its cost] [The main findings, with numbers and the test conditions] [What they mean] [Why the work was done and what you did, in one or two sentences]

See a filled-in summary

We recommend buying 30 spare batteries ($1,950), adding one battery swap at lunch to the freezer procedure and moving the chargers into the heated vestibule. In the Dock 4 freezer (−23 °C, one scan every 20 seconds, new batteries), a fully charged K-40 scanner lasted a median 4.1 hours, against 11.6 hours at room temperature (21 °C), so no battery lasted an 8-hour shift. Warming breaks plus a swap at lunch kept all 30 test runs going to the end of the shift. We tested 30 scanners over five days after pickers reported shutdowns mid-shift.

From an invented report, TR-2026-11; every figure is invented. The recommendation and its cost first, then the main measurement with its conditions.

Contents

List the numbered sections and the appendices once the report is final. Add lists of tables and figures in a long report.

  1. Introduction

  2. Method

  3. Results

  4. Discussion

  5. Conclusions

  6. Recommendations

Appendices: [A, B, C]

1 Introduction

1.1 Background. [The problem or the question, and how it came up, with any numbers that show its size]

1.2 Purpose. [What this work set out to find out or decide]

1.3 Scope. [What the report covers and what it doesn't]

2 Method

Enough detail for someone else to repeat the work. Write it down on the day, not afterwards.

  • Equipment and materials: [models, versions, quantities]

  • Conditions: [temperature, settings, locations, the conditions you compared]

  • Procedure: [what was done, in order]

  • Data: [what was measured, how and how often; sample sizes]

  • Changes from the plan: [anything that went differently, and when]

3 Results

What you measured, with units. No interpretation here; that goes in the discussion. Mention every table and figure in the text before it appears.

[One or two sentences that point to the table and give the headline numbers]

Table 1. [A title that says what the table shows]

Condition or item

Measure (unit)

Measure (unit)

Notes

[A]

[Value]

[Value]

[Note]

[B]

[Value]

[Value]

[Note]

[C]

[Value]

[Value]

[Note]

4 Discussion

  • What the results mean: [the explanation for the main finding]

  • How certain they are: [sample size, spread, repeat runs]

  • Limitations: [what could make the results wrong, and in which direction]

  • Compared with: [what was expected, earlier tests or the manufacturer's figures]

Name your limits yourself. Say which way each limitation bends the result. “The test used new batteries, so real runtimes are probably lower” is more useful than “results may vary.”

5 Conclusions

What is now known, in a few numbered statements. Each one should rest on a result above.

  1. [First conclusion]

  2. [Second conclusion]

  3. [Third conclusion]

6 Recommendations

Numbered actions. Each should trace back to a conclusion.

Action

Owner

Cost

By when

[What to do]

[Name or team]

[Amount, or none]

[Date]

[What to do]

[Name or team]

[Amount, or none]

[Date]

[What to do]

[Name or team]

[Amount, or none]

[Date]

See filled-in recommendations

  1. Buy 30 spare batteries at $65 each ($1,950), one per freezer scanner. Owner: IT asset team, by 20 November.

  2. Add a battery swap at lunch to the freezer picking procedure. Owner: shift leads, by 1 December.

  3. Move the chargers into the heated vestibule; the battery's specification sheet allows charging only between 0 °C and 40 °C. Owner: facilities.

  4. Repeat the freezer tests in February with batteries older than two years.

References

Every source cited in the report, in one citation style.

  1. [Author or organization, title, date, where to find it]

  2. [Author or organization, title, date, where to find it]

Appendices

  • Appendix A: [raw data]

  • Appendix B: [calculations, scripts or test procedures]

  • Appendix C: [drawings, photos or supporting records]

Before you send it

  • The summary gives the findings with numbers and the recommendation, and stands on its own

  • The method is detailed enough for someone else to repeat

  • Results report what was measured, with units, and no interpretation

  • Every table and figure is numbered, titled and mentioned in the text

  • The discussion names its limitations and which way they bend the result

  • Every recommendation traces back to a conclusion and has an owner

  • Numbers match everywhere they appear: summary, results and conclusions

  • The report number, date and version are on the title page