Your client has done their job, and they want to get coherent answers about the results of their efforts. The client may wonder, Have I achieved my goals? They may need your services as a consultant to perform a Consulting Report. This is the topic that we address in this article. Below, we're providing a big picture of this type of report.

Reporting is almost always different in most cases. Still, they tend to follow a standard structure, which facilitates the understanding of clients. Here’s a format you should follow to keep a logical flow of information, and the client will continue reading. 

1. A consulting report cover page. This first title page introduces what the consulting report is about. It must include the following:

• The name of the report;
• Your name;
• The name of your company;
• The name of the client;
• The date when the report is delivered to the client;
• The client’s logo.

2. Table of Contents. Despite writing a consulting report that does not involve more than a few pages, it should include a table of contents to list the sections of your report. Just consider two crucial things:

• Complete this section upon finishing the organization consulting report.
• List each section with its respective page number.

3. An effective executive summary.  A practical executive summary includes all the report's content. Here you should use a neutral and unbiased tone and give readers an overview of what the report is about.  

• It would help if you also wrote this section after finishing the writing process of the rest of the sections.
• Summarize the issues, analysis, and solutions you’ve included in the report.

4. Introduction. The introduction is the part of the report where you give a good impression to your readers. The opening is also the first approach to your document, so it must address the main issues to solve, all the important details about them, and the methods you will utilize. In short, this is a concise explanation that includes the following:

• The purpose of the report.
• Description of the general problems of the business models.
• Strategies to solve the problem.        

5. Background. You should include all the information you consider essential to the results of any previous management consulting report. This section can overlap with the introduction, so you can combine them and highlight the relevant data points. You can include the following:

• Expectations;
• A brief outline of previous efforts.

6. Client profile. This section integrates basic information about the client's business, such as its business address, specializations, industry, size, and general efforts. 

7. Objectives. Here the consultants create a list of the short-term and long-term goals and the report's key findings. 

8. Analysis of the issues (observations). This section is likely the most relevant part of your writing reports. Here your job is to observe and collect data about the field of the business. You must deploy strong analytical skills to define vital information to understand the client's issues. It would help if you analyzed the following:

• The performance of the business;
• Individual employees;
• The management model;
• The decision-making process.

9. Recommendations. A short list of recommendations for future projects in the form of bullet points.

10. A client conclusion. Summarize all the solutions, main findings, essential details, and report recommendations.

11. An appendix (optional). This section is where you include any extra supporting data, such as photos, images, references, bibliography, etc.

This report keeps clients informed about the latest updates on the progress and flags all the issues the company faces. It also provides professional advice about what the business needs to do. It will also help you improve communication between different departments inside the company, leading to more efficiency. 

This consulting report template is for reassuring the client that the plan is in progress. 

Moreover, it assigns ownership to different departments and parties, clarifying the responsibilities and progress of each department. This way, this business consulting report helps to sync the different layers in which a project can be divided.  

You can download a good project status report template from inloox.

These consultancy reports are mainly used to clarify this data in the eyes of your current client. Two of the best pieces of advice to make an excellent social media report are the following:

• Focus on the statistics that matter for your client project;
• Use consulting report templates that are easy to understand. It means a template with easy-to-read charts and tables.

Everything in this report template is segmented by platform and channel.

Download this social media consulting report template from socialstatus.

The best of this consultancy report is that no words are required. As its name indicates, this shows a quick gaze, an overview of all results through statistics and percentages. Using an easy-to-understand iconography, the client can understand whether the business strategy is working.  

These types of business consulting reports are characterized by containing several charts and tables that indicate growth opportunities and user profiles.

Download this consulting report template from Sample by clicking here.

This template is very similar to the previous one, and indicates the impressions, total number of clicks, subscribers, and likes in a specific period. With percentages, you can highlight if a metric went up or down.

Everything in this digital marketing report is segmented by channel. It's also an excellent rough idea to use pie charts to communicate the breakdowns and growth opportunities. 

You can download a company consulting report from docformats and use it for a digital marketing report.

This report is straightforward since it integrates an introduction to the problem and then a page to showcase the recommendations. 

The communication report communicates all the findings you've planned in a period understandably. 

The best part of this report is that you can present recommendations in a hyper-organized way. Leave one page to include these recommendations and some secondary information, such as the steps you followed to achieve a specific goal.

You can download this recommendation report from Sample.

Writing consulting reports also involves using past cases where you helped some clients to solve a particular problem. This way, current or potential clients can know all your marketing efforts from a one-time consulting project. 

A business case study report will educate most business owners and show them the pros of hiring an independent consultant. Moreover, a good case study can convert a potential client into a consulting project. 

The two main reasons to build a business case study report are the following:

• To present an executive summary of a past successful case as “proof.”
• To introduce yourself as a leader in your field.

A case study should include the following brief details:

• A specific problem that a business needs to solve;
• Conditions of the problem;
• Possible solutions;
• Reasons why you picked a particular solution;
• Consequences of using this solution.

A good business case study report can include other relevant information, such as:

• A graph with the results;
• Client comments and recommendations:
• Top deliverables.

In a business report, results are on page one. You don't need to bury results farther down. Be concise. This practice makes your client trust your suggestions.    

You can download this complete case study consulting report template from Smartsheet.

This report is commonly used to help clients understand the future of their business. 

In this type of report, you collect and analyze industry data to facilitate clients to create a plan for the business's future. 

Your industry analysis report can address the analysis from different points of view. These topics touch on the following:

• Identifying the direct competitors of the client;
• Highlighting the business strategies of competitors;
• Relevant competitor’s products;
• Presenting how to edge out direct competitors:
• Abilities that new employees need to have.

When it comes to the basics, this report should include the following:

• A cover of the project;
• A welcome and an overview page;
• Relevant Insights you’ve chosen.

You can download this industry analysis report from Sample.

This type of report fits into the category of industry reports since it's very similar to the one mentioned above. The difference is the competitor analysis report focuses on specific rivals. There can be one or several competitors. 

A competitor analysis should include the following of your client's competitors in the business world:

• Key metrics and industry statistics;
• Competitor’s websites analytics;
• Social media statistics and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.

To write a consulting report of this type, you should avoid the "wall of text."

The most relevant part of this consulting report format is the competitor analysis section with its respective website analytics. 

In your competitor report, you can also use a graphical SWOT analysis to display opportunities and threats.    

You can download a consulting report for these purposes from Smartsheet.