Types of

ReportJOLONGBAYAN, APRIL JOY S. MARIENTES, NIKKA A.REFOL, MARK CHRISTIAN C. SANTIAGO, DANA LALYN C.

Report• an account or statement describing in detail 

an event, situation, or the like, usually as the result of observation, inquiry, etc.

• A document containing information organized in a narrative, graphic, or tabular form, prepared on ad hoc, periodic, recurring, regular, or as required basis.

• Reports may refer to specific periods, events, occurrences, or subjects, and may be communicated or presented in oral or written form.

Report• A document that presents

information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents.

1. Structural Engineers 2. Electrical 3. Demographic 4. Sales

5. Trade 6. Service 7. Operation 8. Periodic

9. Construction 10. Failure 11. Student-Laboratory 12. Work

13. Evaluative 14. Completion 15. Examination 16. Inspection

17. Information 18. Special 19. Case Study 20. Memorandum

21. Incident 22. Accident 23. Feasibility 24. Industrial-Research

25. Recommendation 26. Progress 27. Proposal 28. Oral

Types of Reports

H U R T Q E V I T A U L A V E R L T H ES P O D E M O G R A P H I C E A C X I ST I N F O R M A T I O N I C S O W N T SR E X L O V E W H Y H V O O N J D U I EU A C C I D E N T Q R M P S B U D C N RC E H E A R T R Z E M O T Z S E M I S GT X L I Z A A I S E R R Q T N U C N P OU A M Q W D R M N P U D R T D B L C E RR M A J E I B D G C F I L N G O E I C PA I R F O J A Y T H A A A C V N I D T EL N K E Z T Z I H L B R Y O J I N E I LE A R D I N O P R O O L O V E J A N O EN T L O U N I E R M P K S H G K D T N CG I N A Y T S A E R U L I A F W E R L TI O Q W R E T M B V C X Z S L G O A T RN N M O A O P E R A T I O N D E I R Y IE A P R R Z N O I T E L P M O C S H K CE E C Y T I L I B I S A E F E L P O U AR H F C A S E S T U D Y V P K E C I V LS Z X P E R I O D I C Q S U P E R M A N

Structural Engineers Electrical Demographic SalesTrade Service Operation PeriodicConstruction Failure Student-Laboratory WorkEvaluative Completion Examination InspectionInformation Special Case Study MemorandumIncident Accident Feasibility Industrial-ResearchRecommendation Progress Proposal Oral

TYPES OF REPORTS

Structural Engineers Report

• It is a visual property inspection carried out by a chartered structural or civil engineer. 

Electrical Report• It is a report document that refers to

the in service condition of the electrical installation of the buildings.

• The purpose of the report is to establish if the electrical installation is in a satisfactory condition for safe and continued service and the financial costs of electrical works required before the purchase of a property.

Demographic Report• Demographics are a statistical view of a population,

generally including age, gender, income, schooling, and occupation and so on. Demographic Report is not only used for research purposes, rather it is also a major factor and contribution in business venture.

 • Understanding the demographics of the target

customers is critical for the success of the business. Not only do the business owner need to understand them in order to decide exactly what the product and services mixes will include, but this information will also affect pricing, packaging, promotion and place.

Demographic Report• In order to properly evaluate a community or

neighborhood for the best location for the business, the owner must know the demographic profile of his potential customers. To see if the community he’s considering offers a population with the demographic traits necessary to support his business, look at the community's:

•  • Purchasing power. • Residences. • Means of transportation.• Age ranges. • Family status. • Leisure activities. 

Sales Report• A record of calls made and products sold

during a particular time frame kept by a salesperson or their management. For example, a typical sales report might incorporate data on (1) sales volume observed per item or group of items, (2) how many new and current accounts were contacted and when, and (3) any costs that were involved in promoting and selling products.

Trade Report•The practice of announcing the trade or issue of a security to the appropriate  regulator. •Trade reporting is mandatory and serves to increase transparency in the market. It also helps keep the regulator abreast to what is happening, which may help it find. 

Service Report• It reports on the results achieved both operationally

and strategically and on any developments related to Service Level Agreements such as hitting various targets, like availability.

• Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a part of a service contract where a service is formally defined. Particular aspects of the service – scope, quality responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user.

• Its purpose is to provide information to both the service provider and the service user in order for informed decisions to be made. 

Operation Report• Operational reporting is reporting about

operational details that reflects current activity. Operational reporting is intended to support the day-to-day activities of the organization. "Examples of operational reporting include bank teller end-of-day window balancing reports, daily account audits and adjustments, daily production records, flight-by-flight traveler logs and transaction logs."

Operation ReportOperational Reporting solutions should deliver the following

benefits:• Real Time Reporting – To be of benefit, Operational

Reporting needs to provide current information to its consumer. For example, it does not do the shipping dock much good to view a list of ready-to-be-shipped orders from yesterday.

• Detailed Information – Operational Reporting must present the data in the lowest level of granularity. For example, if there is a sales line that is backordered and needs to be filled, the responsible parties need to know the specifics of the transaction.

• Flexibility – To limit your dependence on IT, your Operational Reporting solution should provide flexibility to enable end users to create their own specific views of the data.

Periodic Report• Summary of events that presents essentially

the same type of information updated at regular intervals such as every day, week, month, etc. Also called recurring report.

• Periodic reports are written by federal agencies, corporations, non-profits and other institutions. Periodic reports often cover the same basic set of information and rely on numerical data to provide an overview of a specific time period. 

Construction Report• It is the hourly and daily events on a

worksite. It shows the numbers of employees and equipment. The time of start and finish is also recorded. Accidents are reported as well as weather and progress.

Failure Report• It is a logical and systematic

examination of an equipment or machine and/or documentation to detect and to analyze the causes, probabilities, and consequences of actual or potential failure and to plan corrective actions in those failure.

Student-Laboratory Report

• Laboratory reports are written to describe and analyze a laboratory experiment that explores a scientific concept. It provides a formal record of an experiment. The discussion of objectives, procedures, and results should be specific enough that interested readers could replicate the experiment.

Student-Laboratory Report• They are typically assigned to enable you to:• Conduct scientific research.• Formulate a hypothesis about a particular stimulus,

event, and/or behavior.• Review relevant literature to justify your hypothesis.• Allow someone to replicate your study by providing

precise details.• Apply statistics to test your hypothesis.• Explore theoretical explanations.• Evaluate research objectively and methodically.• Communicate concisely and precisely.

Work Report• Also called working draft (sometimes called

a draft document)

• A working draft is a type of technical report that is a work in progress, a preliminary form of a possible future document. A working draft indicates a commitment on the part of the issuing organization to do further work in the area outlined in the document. Several revisions of the working draft may be issued before the final document is written, or the document may be made obsolete by future developments.

Evaluative Report• These are a useful way to describe

program successes, as well as areas in need of improvement. When data is communicated well, it can be used to maintain current support, garner new backing, and apply for additional funding.

Completion Report• It is written when the work is finished.

• It provides a permanent record of the entire project, including the circumstances that led to its beginning.

• It serves as immediate documentation.

• It presents recommendations: suggestions about how to proceed in light of the conclusions.

• It serves as a future reference when there is a personnel change, a major new project is undertaken and a problem develops after the project has been completed.

Examination Report• Examination Report is the report issued by an

IRS (Internal Revenue Service) auditor after an audit is concluded with its findings. Audit is an examination of the financial records of a person, business, or organization, typically done to correct careless or improper bookkeeping or to verify that proper records are being kept. Businesses and nonprofits often undergo an annual audit by an independent accounting firm. The IRS also conducts audits, mainly to assess taxes owed.

Inspection Report• It is a written report of

the property's condition presented by a licensed inspection professional.

• It is also a confidential report prepared for a life or health insurance company on a risk, setting out the moral and physical hazards that may or may not be present. Inspection service is usually bought from companies that specialize in that field. Used for classifying individuals as standard, substandard or uninsurable.

Information Report• An information report is a factual

text, which means it provides information about something. An information report is used as a way to gain a better understanding about a living or non-living subject. An information report: uses facts to explain something.

Special Report• It is a report that is prepared in accordance with

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards.

• Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) refers to broad rules and guidelines in preparing for and performing audits of a client’s financial statements.

• It attempts to elaborate, explain, or exhibit in a prescribed fashion certain sections, accounts, or items of a financial statement.

• Cash receipts/disbursements reports, proposed acquisitions, and tax basis financial statements are some examples of a special reports.

Case Study• Case studies are in-depth investigations of

a single person, group, event or community. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes for behavior. The hope is that learning gained from studying one case can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective and it is difficult to generalize results to a larger population.

Case Study• The case study method often involves simply

observing what happens to, or reconstructing ‘the case history’ of a single participant or group of individuals (such as a school class or a specific social group), i.e. the idiographic approach. Case studies allow a researcher to investigate a topic in far more detail than might be possible if they were trying to deal with a large number of research participants (homothetic approach) with the aim of ‘averaging’.

• The case study is not itself a research method, but researchers select methods of data collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies

Types of Case Studies

• Explanatory: Used to do causal investigations.• Exploratory: A case study that is sometimes used as a

prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses.

• Descriptive: Involves starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.

• Intrinsic: A type of case study in which the researcher has a personal interest in the case.

• Collective: Involves studying a group of individuals.• Instrumental: Occurs when the individual or group allows

researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.

Sources of Information Used in a Case Study

There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. The six major sources that have been identified by researchers (Yin, 1994; Stake, 1995) are:

 • Direct observation: This strategy involves observing the subject, often in

a natural setting. While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.

• Interviews: One of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey-type questions, or more open-ended questions.

• Documents: Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc.• Archival records: Census records, survey records, name lists, etc.• Physical artifacts: Tools, objects, instruments and other artifacts often

observed during a direct observation of the subject.• Participant observation: Involves the researcher actually serving as a

participant in events and observing the actions and outcomes.

Memorandum• A memorandum (abbrev.: memo) was from

the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered (that)...". It is therefore a note, document or other communication that helps the memory by recording events or observations on a topic, such as may be used in a business office.

Memorandum• Memoranda are often used in diplomacy,

business, and law. Two countries might sign a memorandum of understanding that they will equally share use of the river that runs between them. A member of Congress might publish a memorandum criticizing the government’s education policies. You’re probably more familiar with the word's shortened form, memo, which means the same thing but is usually used in informal contexts, such as for messages within an office.

Incident Report• it is document, usually confidential 

(protected from discovery by a plaintiff in a lawsuit),describing any accident or deviation from policies or orders involving a patient, employee, visitor, 

or student on the premises of a health care facility.

Accident Report• It is a report that is filled out in order to

record details of an unusual event that occurs, such as an injury to a patient.

• The purpose of this report is to document the exact details of the occurrence who witnessed the event. This information may be useful when dealing with liability issues stemming from the incident.

Industrial-Research Report

• A document prepared by an analyst or strategist who is a part of the investment research team in a stock brokerage or investment bank. A research report may focus on a specific stock or industry sector, a currency, commodity or fixed-income instrument, or even on a geographic region or country. Research reports generally, but not always, have "actionable" recommendations (i.e. investment ideas that investors can act upon).

Oral Report• It is a presentation of factual information to an audience. • Informal oral reports are generally characterized by small-

group settings with a high degree of audience interaction and a relaxed manner of delivery and dress. An informal oral report might be an impromptu presentation. Informal oral presentations can foster the free exchange of ideas and be important for producing action items.

• A formal oral report is distinguished by its adherence to an agreed-upon format or outline. Formal oral reports are usually prepared well in advance of presentation and are therefore well rehearsed. Your manner of delivery is extremely important in a formal oral report situation. Audience interaction is generally limited to the question and answer period at the conclusion of your report.

Methods of Delivery• The Manuscript Method. You read a written report to

your audience word for word, glancing up from time to time to make eye contact. In this method, you will not miss anything. However, the audience might be bored if the oral report is done using this method because of the monotony of the whole process.

• The Memorization Method. You learn by heart and recite a report you have written. This method, tends to make you too structured, too formal. You will not be able to give additional explanation because you have to present your report verbatim or word for word. Buf if you have a sharp memory, it is very likely that you can deliver the report well.

Methods of Delivery• The Extemporaneous Method. You can write the

report in rough form. You speak spontaneously using an outline or note cards as guide. You can explain further as you report. But sometimes you tend to speak lengthily without considering the time element.

• The Impromptu Method. You talk on the spot with no prepared draft, outline or note cards. This method is applied only to brief reports that require little or no research or presentation. The downside is that you tend to be disorganized in this method. However, if you are familiar with the topic, you can, most likely, discuss it comprehensively.

Feasibility Study• A feasibility study, also known as

feasibility analysis, is a preliminary study undertaken to determine and document a project’s viability. It comes from the word feasible which means “capable of being accomplished; practicable; or likely.” Feasibility studies can be used in many ways but primarily focus on proposed business ventures.

Feasibility Study• The term feasibility study is also used to refer

to the resulting document. The results of this study are used to make a decision, whether or not to proceed with the project. If it indeed leads to a project being approved, it will — before the real work of the proposed project starts — be used to ascertain the likelihood of the project’s success. It is an analysis of possible alternative solutions to a problem and a recommendation on the best alternative. It, for example, can decide whether an order processing be carried out by a new system more efficiently than the previous one.

Feasibility Study• A feasible business venture is one where the

business will generate adequate cash-flow and profits, withstand the risks it will encounter, remain viable in the long-term and meet the goals of the founders. The venture can be either a start-up business, the purchase of an existing business, an expansion of current business operations or a new enterprise for an existing business. A feasibility study is only one step in the business idea assessment and business development process.

Feasibility Study vs. Business Plan

• A feasibility study is not a business plan. The separate roles of the feasibility study and the business plan are frequently misunderstood. The feasibility study provides an investigating function. It addresses the question of “Is this a viable business venture?” The business plan provides a planning function. The business plan outlines the actions needed to take the proposal from “idea” to “reality.”

Feasibility Study vs. Business Plan

• The feasibility study outlines and analyzes several alternatives or methods of achieving business success. The feasibility study helps to narrow the scope of the project to identify the best business scenario(s). The business plan deals with only one alternative or scenario. The feasibility study helps to narrow the scope of the project to identify and define two or three scenarios or alternatives. The person or business conducting the feasibility study may work with the group to identify the “best” alternative for their situation. This becomes the basis for the business plan.

Feasibility Study vs. Business Plan

• The feasibility study is conducted before the business plan. A business plan is prepared only after the business venture has been deemed to be feasible. If a proposed business venture is considered to be feasible, a business plan is usually constructed next that provides a “roadmap” of how the business will be created and developed. The business plan provides the “blueprint” for project implementation. If the venture is deemed not to be feasible, efforts may be made to correct its deficiencies, other alternatives may be explored, or the idea is dropped.

Parts of a Feasibility Study

• Proposed Project DescriptionDefining and describing a proposed project or business venture lays the foundation for feasibility analysis. If you are analyzing a project, go into detail about project timelines, deliverables and resource requirements. If you are analyzing a business, detail the products and services that it will offer, the proposed target market and any extraordinary resource needs introduced by the business model. Focus on the requirements of implementing the venture, rather than details such as business names and organizational structures.

Parts of a Feasibility Study• Market Analysis Section

Analyze the industry and market targeted by the proposed venture. Measure the size of the market and its demographic makeup using census data or other survey sources. Define a target market segment according its behaviorist, geographic and psychographic characteristics. Analyze any competing businesses or projects that are planned or already at work in the market. With this information in hand, try to determine whether there is truly a viable market for the output of the project or business, and whether it is truly possible to gain market share from existing competitive forces. In highly saturated markets with entrenched competitors, for example, it may be less feasible to build a new brand than to provide contractor services to the strongest competitors.

Parts of a Feasibility Study• Technical Feasibility Section

Consider the requirements for specialized equipment or facilities, copyrights, patents, labor and expertise for the venture in question, and determine whether or not you either have these resources on hand or are reasonably able to obtain them. Technical requirements can range from special permits and licenses from multiple government agencies to specialized vehicles or professionally licensed specialists. Obtaining resources, especially highly educated technical employees, can greatly increase the cost of building a proposed venture, but moving forward without them can lead to the quick failure of a project or closure of a new business. For any resources you do not have on hand, consider the cost of obtaining and retaining them.

Parts of a Feasibility Study• Financial Feasibility Section

Determine how much the proposed project or business start-up will cost to implement, as well as how much it can be expected to earn. Consider all of the resources and capital investments required up front. Calculate any financing requirements that will arise, and analyze the potential sources of financing available, such as business loans or outside investment. In this section, try to ascertain whether the project or business can be expected to earn a consistent profit and whether you or your business currently has access to the cash or financing required to get the idea off the ground.

Recommendation Report• proposes a solution to a problem

or evaluates possible solutions and recommends one

• This type starts from a stated need, a selection of choices, or both and then recommends one, some, or none.

Recommendation Report• For example, a company might be looking at

grammar-checking software and want a recommendation on which product is the best. As the report writer on this project, you could study the market for this type of application and recommend one particular product, a couple of products (differing perhaps in their strengths and their weaknesses), or none (maybe none of them are any good). The recommendation report answers the question "Which option should we choose?" (or in some cases "Which are the best options?) by recommending Product B, or maybe both Products B and C, or none of the products.

The elements contained in a recommendation report include:

• Identification of the problem, an overall comparison of several solutions, conclusions drawn from study and comparison of the solutions and a recommendation.

• A recommendation report should state facts rather than popular opinions. Additionally, a recommendation report should include a solution that is specific to the problem and takes into account chance and human nature. Also, it should be supported with research and devised after consideration of economic factors. By considering these factors and presenting a solution in the proper format, a recommendation report can be used to influence others.

Recommendation ReportIn writing recommendation report here are

some suggestions:1.Identify a client with a workplace problem, situation,

or opportunity.2.Develop a plan for investigating the situation and

the means for resolving it.3.Establish the criteria required for your client to

make an effective decision.4. Develop and implement a project for completing

your research (investigation)5.Interpret and present your findings in a

recommendation reports to your clients.

Outline of recommendation report

I. IntroductionA. Statement of the needB. Statement of recommendationC. Statement of scope and plan of the report

II. Expanded statement, and explanation of the recommendation

III. Option to be consideredIV. Discussion of each optionV. Summary of conclusionVI. Restatement of recommendation

Sample of recommendation report

Recommendation for Drunken Driving Prevention 

At your request the Michigan Safe Driving Committee investigated the negative effects that drunken driving has on society. Drunk drivers are making it unsafe for pedestrians, other drivers, and they also put themselves in Danger. This problem was discovered when the Michigan Safe Driving Committee researched the drunken driving deaths in Michigan in the past couple of years. Last year, there were 980 drunken driving deaths in the state of Michigan. In this report, I explain a possible solution discovered by the Michigan Safe Driving Committee, and present our findings followed by our comparison of drunken driving deaths in Michigan. Along with the Michigan Safe Driving Committee, I considered three possible solutions:

• Put more Police officers on the streets of Michigan• Increase the punishment of Driving Under the

Influence (DUI)• More strict on Breathalyzer Tests

There have been many deaths in Michigan over the past couple of years. Drunk Driving has been one the problems.  Driving under the influence has caused many deaths in Michigan over the past couple of years. Drivers are becoming more reckless due to a lack of supervision, and a lack of punishment. There are more drivers every year, which could increase the deaths caused by Driving under the Influence in Michigan.

Drunk Driving Statistics ComparedThe following stats represent the total Michigan auto accidents

fatalities in 2007 and 2008 and the percentage of car crash deaths that involved a driver who had .08% blood alcohol content or higher.

                        2007                2008Deaths             1,088               980Percent            28%                 29%

• Put more police officers on streets of MichiganTraining more cops would benefit Michigan. The state of Michigan Police Department should recruit more police officers to the police academy. This would make drivers more cautions and less willing to take the risk of driving under the influence.

 • Increase the punishment of Driving under the influence (DUI)

There are some drivers who drive without a license. This is mostly when you refuse to take a breathalyzer, blood, or urine test. This results in drivers not intimidated being by the DUI punishments. Making the punishments more severe would make the drivers more aware and somewhat fearful to drive under the influence.  Drivers that are charged with DUI should have to pay a fine for the first offense. For the second offense there should be a fine and a suspended license. The third time someone gets charged there should be a fine, a suspended license, and possibly jail time.

 • More strict on Breathalyzer test

Breathalyzer test should be used more frequently. The breathalyzer tests are only used if officers pull you over for reckless driving and ask you to take a breathalyzer test. There should be a solution where every driver must be tested to limit some of the deaths caused by drivers driving under the influence. The State of Michigan should lower the blood alcohol percentage from .08% to .04%. This would result in a decrease of drivers who drink alcoholic beverages before they get on the streets of Michigan.

 

Summary and ConclusionThere were 980 deaths in Michigan in 2008. Recruiting more people to come to the police officer would result in more people wanting to become a police officer. Putting more police officers on the streets would make drivers wiser about getting on the road and also make them less risky. Driving under the influence should be looked at as a major crime. There should be more punishment involved in DUI crimes. Punishments should include jail time, paying fines, and suspended license for the drunk drivers. The State of Michigan should be stricter on the breathalyzer test conditions. The blood alcohol percentage should be lowered from .08% to .04% in Michigan. The .08% is proven to be too merciful to people who drive drunk. There are too many deaths in Michigan that is caused by this one problem. The comparison of the deaths from 2007 and 2008 are only slightly different. There were more deaths resulting from DUI in 2007 than in 2008, but the numbers are still way too high.

 On Behalf of the Michigan Safe Driving Committee, we would like to help the Michigan Safe Driving Department keep drunk drivers off the streets of Michigan.

RecommendationsThe State of Michigan should recruit more police officers and get them on the streets of Michigan to keep the drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.The punishment of DUI should be increased. Drivers should pay a fine for a 1st offense. For a 2nd offense there should be a fine and a suspended license. A third offense should result in a fine, a suspended license, and possible jail time.

Progress Report– It describes the status of a project that is not yet completed with

the purpose of informing the clients how the work is proceeding.

– It may be in the form of memoranda, letters, short reports, formal reports, or presentations.

– Most progress report have the following similarities in content:1. Background on the project itself2. Discussion of achievements since last reporting3. Discussion of problems that have arisen4. Discussion of work that lies ahead5. Assessment of whether you will meet the

objectives in the proposed schedule and budget

Progress ReportOutline of the progress report

I. Introduction – describes the purpose of the document and the previous work which includes a brief summary of the document contents

II. Facts and Discussion: Past Work; Future WorkA. Accounting of work completed – indicates whether the

work is going as plannedB. Accounting of problems encountered with work not

completedC. Plans for handling problems areasD. Evaluation of progress to date

III. Conclusions/Recommendations – plans for completing tasks

Proposal• A proposal is a plan, a scheme, an offer to be

accepted or rejected: to make proposals for peace. 

• Proposals come under many different guises. They range from casual, one-page memos to multiple-volumes that are hundreds of pages long. Usually, a proposal is a document written by a person, business, or agency who wishes to perform a job or solve a problem for another person, business or agency and receive funding or money for the proposed task. Despite the differences, though a particular task or project to solve a technical problem in a particular way, under a specified plan of management, for a specified compensation.

Proposal• The degree of formality of a proposal is in direct

proportion to the situation that gives rise to it. If the proposal is just within the organization (a business, a government agency, etc.), it may not include some of the sections of it like qualification, etc. but if it is external, a proposal written for other company or agency, it must be complete.

• When writing a proposal, you must be very careful to write as formal and complete a proposal as the situation calls for. Proposals differ from most other business and technical writing in one important way—they deal with the future. It must convince the reader that there is a situation or problem and that the proposal writer is the best person to solve the problem or repair the situation. A final issue that proposal writers must face is the idea that, more often than not, proposals are legally binding others.

ProposalProposals have the following characteristics:• Proposals deal with the future.• Proposals must convince the reader that

there is a problem and the writer can do something about it.

• Proposals must convince the reader that the writer is the best person to fix the problem.

• Proposals vary in length and formality.• Proposals are often legally binding offers.

ProposalYou can improve your proposal by carefully answering the following questions:• What do I propose to do?• Can I do it?• How do I propose to do it?• Is this possible or feasible?• What evidence can I introduce to demonstrate that what I propose to do will

actually get the desired results?• What evidence can I use to convince my reader that my way is the best way

to obtain the desired results?• How can I show my ability to do what I propose to do?• How much will it cost me to do the task?• How much shall I charge to perform the task?• What evidence must I show to convince the reader that this cost is

acceptable?• Is my time schedule appropriate?• What evidence must I include to convince the reader that the time schedule

is satisfactory?

Types of Proposals• Solicited Proposals

Solicited proposals are written in response to published requirements, contained in a request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ), invitation for bid(IFB), or a request for information (RFI).

Types of Proposals• Unsolicited Proposal 

An "unsolicited proposal," is a written proposal for a new or innovative idea that is submitted to an agency on the initiative of the offering company (i.e. your company) for the purpose of obtaining a contract with the government, and that is not in response to an RFP, broad agency announcement, or any other government-initiated solicitation or program.

Types of ProposalsThe unsolicited proposal should be: Innovative and unique Independently originated and developed by the offering

company Prepared without government supervision, endorsement,

direction or direct government involvement Detailed enough to show that government support could be

worthwhile, and that the proposed work could benefit the agency's research and development (or other mission responsibilities)

Not an advance government proposal for a contract that you know the agency will need and that could be acquired by competitive methods

Types of Proposals• Internal Proposals

Internal proposals are ideas or projects that are presented to whoever holds the position of top management in a company. These types of proposals can be written by a particular individual, group, department, or division of a particular company. Some advantages to this include easier communication, knowing the client's needs and making fast decisions.

• Sole-source ContractThese types of proposals are made when a private firm, government agency, or association will make a bargain to supply a service or product to a single company and when a company has an excellent authenticity and achievement record.

 

Format of ProposalsThere is no fix format or form of the progress report but most of them have the

following parts.• Introduction. Indicate the purpose and contents of the proposal. Mention

prior contact with the recipient, or how you found out about the project. Give an overview of the contents of the proposal.

 • Background. Discuss the background of the project – the problem or

opportunity that has brought about this proposal. • Proposal. State what you propose to do about the problem, how you plan

to help the readers take advantage of the opportunity, how you intend to help with the situation.

• Benefits. Discuss the benefits of doing the proposed project, the advantages that come from approving it.

 • Procedure. Describe exactly what the completed project would consist of,

what it would like, how it would work—describe the results of the project. 

Format of Proposals• Results. Discuss or describe what the finished

product will look like, how it will work (in the case of the report project, describe the report in terms of page count, graphics, audience, contents, etc.).

• Feasibility. Either here or in the benefits section, discusses the likelihood of the full benefits of the project – particularly if it’s a business venture.

 • Schedule. Provide a schedule, including major

milestones or checkpoints in the project. 

Format of Proposals• Qualifications. Briefly list your qualifications for

the project; provide a mini-resume of the background you have that makes you right for the project.

 • Costs and Fees. List the costs of the project,

the resources you’ll need to do the project. • Conclusion. Create a closing for the proposal, in

which you urge the reader to contact you, possibly review the benefits of doing the project and having your organization to do the work.