9.1　CATEGORIESOF REPORTS

Business reports can be either written or oral.The reports in written form，which is more often used，serve not only as a way of relaying information but also as official records of the information relayed.

Business reports can be classified according to their different contents.There are routine reports，investigative reports，progress reports，and feasibility reports.A routine report is a report presented to upper management on the day-to-day work；an investigative report is the description of the findings of an investigation；a progress report provides information of an ongoing program；a feasibility report is an assessment of the practicality of a proposed plan or method.Other kinds of reports include incident reports，supervision reports，sales reports，improvement reports，market studies and research reports.

Business reports that are one—three pages long fall into the category of short reports，while those longer belong to the category of long reports.The short report form is more widely used in writing incident reports，progress reports，supervision reports，sales reports，and improvement reports.Long reports are often found in research reports，market studies，and feasibility reports.(https://www.daowen.com)

Business reports can also be typed in their styles.Some reports are in the form of letters，others in the form of memos，still others in the form of documents.Generally speaking，short business reports are often in the form of memos or letters，while most long business reports are in the form of documents.

Some business reports are called informational reports because the main function of them is to relay or provide information.Other business reports are called analytical reports because they are written to report the findings of certain investigations，to describe the analysis of those findings，and to present recommendations on how to solve those problems.