That’s where we come in. Our writing teams work on large, complex projects every day, so we excel at managing deadline-sensitive documents with multiple stakeholders. Many of our writers come from corporate backgrounds, meaning we understand the business world, are comfortable talking to time-stressed leaders, and know how to use precious interview minutes wisely. We also understand and protect confidentiality.
We can create clutter-free content that keeps shareholders well-informed, expresses your vision, and balances where you’ve been with where you’re going.
We Never Compromise on Quality
We understand that your annual report is the window into your organization. It’s the document your stakeholders, shareholders, and investors look through once a year to analyze your operation’s financial health and performance to make further investment decisions. This means that the quality of your annual report will influence the quality of any future investments you will attract.
Whether you are trading publicly or not, we work closely with you right from the start to plan your report development and publication timetable. A well-crafted, error-free report should never be rushed and usually takes around eight weeks to finalize.
Your schedule should have fixed points in time to:
- Collect data.
- Schedule interviews and board/auditor meetings.
- Write the first draft.
- Edit and revise.
- Proofread.
- Design visual assets
- Print and distribute.
Report Structure
The main criterion of any effectively written document is the extent to which the audience is considered during the writing process. Annual reports are no exception.
Although there is no set-in-stone way to structure your annual reports, we help you develop a comprehensive report which usually has all or some of the following sections:
- CEO/chair statements. The content will depend entirely on the CEO or chairman informing the statement; however, popular topics usually include the opportunities and challenges the business has faced, overall performance, pipeline progress, new senior appointments, corporate values and culture, innovation, and outlook for the future. We assist CEOs in ensuring that their statements are personal, simple and concise, address real issues, and are overall positive and forward-looking.
- Business profile and overview. In this section, we’ll summarize essential business information such as key products or services, your vision and mission statements, the board of directors and other senior leaders, investor profiles, competitors, and your main risks and opportunities.
- Business model. Here we tell your readers how your business plans to make a profit. We’ll discuss your products and services, who the target market is, operational revenues and expenses, plans to adapt to changing markets, and so on.
- Markets. We’ll describe your market and your position in it.
- Business strategy. This section tells your readers your short, medium, and long-term plans to grow your business. We’ll include past and present strategies — what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how you adjusted.
- Achievement summary. This is where we list your major accomplishments over the past 12 months. This section includes information about growth and expansion, new product launches, and the financial goals you’ve met.
- Corporate governance. In this section, we introduce all the key executives and describe how each of them is qualified to steer the organization on its path to success.
- Financial statements. The main purpose of your annual report is to clearly present data and analysis regarding your business operations and financial performance and must include income, cash flow, profit/loss statements, and balance sheets. We ensure your overall narrative is closely aligned with your data and financial statements.
- Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A). While financial statements comprise a significant part of your annual report, the MD&A is your opportunity to describe your perspective on those financial statements in the context of compliance/regulations, control systems, emerging challenges and risks, and other issues. This section can be more subjective than the factual financial statement, provided it meets the quality standards set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and at your legal team’s discretion.
- Environmental, social, and governance (ESG). Including a section on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) in your annual report enables you to transparently communicate your sustainability performance and progress to stakeholders, meeting increasing expectations for responsible business practices and enhancing stakeholder trust. We help you highlight your commitment to sustainability, demonstrate risk management efforts, and showcase your alignment with ESG principles in your annual report, which can positively impact your reputation, and attract investment.
- Shareholder letters. The final and most critical stage in developing your annual reports is writing letters to all your shareholders. This letter serves as an introduction and summary of your annual report. The letter should cover the past year’s financial results, key achievements, current market conditions, upcoming plans, etc.
At The Writers For Hire, we take full ownership of the annual report content development process, from data collection and first drafts to revisions. That means we set up meetings and liaise with all the necessary contributors: the CEO, CFO, HR director, department heads, and any other stakeholders as required. In other words, we take you out of the communications pressure cooker.
You will work with a core team that includes a writer, editor, and project manager. We can always draw on other qualified personnel to help meet tight deadlines.
