Consulting Report and Project Reports (Work Product Submission)
The report is the deliverable
The work-product domain evaluates the written report you submit. Reviewers look for structure, transparency, traceability, and professional presentation - not just a correct conclusion.
Required elements
- Title page and identification: client, preparer, date, engagement reference.
- Purpose and scope: what was asked, what was and was not covered.
- Executive summary: findings and recommendations in plain language, up front.
- Methodology: data sources, assumptions, analytical approach.
- Analysis and exhibits: budgets, sensitivity tables, maps, timelines - labeled and referenced in the text.
- Findings and recommendations: actionable, prioritized, tied to evidence.
- Limiting conditions and disclaimers: data limitations, reliance restrictions, no guarantee language.
- Signature and credentials: preparer identification and date.
Concepts to master
- Traceability: every number in the summary should be reproducible from an exhibit.
- Assumption transparency: state them; do not bury them.
- Reliance language: who may use the report and for what purpose.
- Professional tone: objective, no advocacy, no disparagement.
Traps in questions
- Reports that omit limiting conditions or reliance restrictions.
- Conclusions unsupported by the exhibits.
- Mixing opinion with fact without labeling.
- Missing date or preparer signature.
Rule of thumb
A reviewer should be able to reconstruct your conclusion from the exhibits alone, without calling you.
Worked example
A feasibility report recommends a livestock expansion. The executive summary cites break-even at a stated price; the methodology lists the three data sources; the exhibit shows the sensitivity table; the limiting conditions note that prices are as of a stated date and no guarantee is implied; the preparer signs and dates the report.