Making an online annual report

1. Who are you writing the annual report for?
2. What should be included in an annual report?
3. How do you put the annual report together?
4. How do you reach a larger audience for your annual report?

You write your report for your stakeholders. Who they are, of course, differs per organisation. But think of the government, your shareholders, (potential) investors, suppliers, donors, family members of clients, tenants, journalists and much more. In your annual report you report to your stakeholders in a transparent manner about the activities and the financial situation of your organisation. For example, the government wants to know whether the subsidies are well spent. Your investors and donors want to see what happened to their money. Potential investors want to determine whether they want to do business with you. Family members of clients want to see what you have done and will do to provide the best possible care. Tenants want to see where the money from the rent (increase) goes. And journalists are always looking for background information (or a scoop).

An annual report consists of at least the financial statements and the management report. The financial statements comprise a balance sheet, a profit and loss statement, and a cash flow statement, along with explanations for all items. The foundation of the financial statements is roughly the same for all organizations.

Management reports come in various shapes and sizes. Different types of organizations have different subjects to report on. But are there no rules? There certainly are. The Dutch Accounting Standards Board has compiled the following list of topics that should be included in a management report, based on legal requirements:

Outline your organisation's objectives, the scope of work, and the core activities associated with them.

In the management report you provide an explanation of the financial developments of the past year. You also refer to the annual accounts in which this information is further specified.

Here you indicate whether measures have been taken to influence the culture or to change the behaviour and motivation of employees.

This is specifically about the financial risks you run. Which are they? And what measures do you take to still be able to pay all expenses and to remain financially healthy?

If your organisation adheres to codes of conduct, include a link to these codes and report on your compliance with them.

What developments do you anticipate in the coming years? Are you expecting growth, launching new products, or anticipating changes due to specific regulations? This year, you describe your expectations. And next year, you'll reflect on them (see also point 1).

Depending on the type of organisation or demands from your stakeholders other topics subjects can be important in your annual report. There are, for example, additional requirements for listed companies and there are specific requirements for certain industries.

Good to know: this is a list of topics that should be covered if they are applicable to your organisation. It's not a chapter structure. You have the freedom to structure the management report according to your preferences, as long as all required components are included. When creating your chapter structure and describing the topics, also keep your stakeholders/audience in mind. Make sure that they can easily find the information they need.

You now know which topics have to be covered in your annual report. There are many different topics for which the information has to come from all corners of the organisation. Therefore, many departments and colleagues are involved in creating the document. How do you gather the information from all those departments and colleagues into a report? And on top of that, how do get it done on time? In this chapter we'll guide you step by step in the process.

The topics we summed up in the previous chapter do not have to be added as seperate chapters in your report. Decide which topics you will group together in a chapter and then determine the chapter structure. This is the skeleton of your report.

Now that you have created the chapter structure, decide who is responsible for the content of the chapters. Who must provide what information? And do they have to write the relevant chapters themselves? Or do they only provide information that the copywriter can use? Depending on who writes the texts, you determine the deadline for the content to be delivered by the various colleagues/departments.

If you work with a copywriter, they will probably also do the final editing. If all colleagues write their own chapters themselves, someone has to merge and edit them so that there is unity in the document. Do take this into account in your planning.

Who ensures that all the content is put together in one report? Do you do this yourself or do you hire a designer for this? And what about images, charts, and the front and back cover? Do you use material from your image bank or do you need to create new designs? Of course you also take this into account when making your planning.

Beware of last-minute adjustments! Our experience is that in almost every annual report, and especially in the financial statements, adjustments are made right up to the last minute. If your designer has put the texts in the report, they will have to process the last adjustments themselves. Make agreements with the designer about his/her availability around the deadlines for your annual report. Or make sure you can edit the texts yourself.

How do you present your annual report? Will it be an online report, a PDF or will the document be printed? Or a combination of these three? When you know this, you can make an inventory of what you need to publish the report. What is needed for the domain name of your online report? And how much time does the printer need to print the document?

DeadlineS? More than 1? Yes, when creating an annual report, you often have multiple deadlines to manage. Firstly, there's the date by which the report needs to be filed. However, prior to that, the management report and financial statements also need to be approved internally. So, create an inventory of all the internal deadlines. Consider, for example:

- Auditors' review
- Control by the supervisory board
- Control by the board of directors

If you go through all these points/questions, you can create a planning. In this planning, you list all tasks per person and all deadlines. This way, you ensure that you don't miss anything and submit the report on time.

Tip: Include some buffer time in your schedule as well. This ensures that you can still meet the deadlines in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Once you have the schedule ready, you'll notice that even a modest annual report can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months to complete. But if you get this right the first time, you will have a good script for the following years, which will make the process more efficient.

When you invest to much time and effort in the annual report, you naturally want to get the most out of it.

Approach the annual report just like any other communication piece. Consider your target audiences and your message beforehand. This is equally important for the annual report. Your report comprises different sections, each appealing to different audiences. Determine for each section which target audience(s) or stakeholders the specific content is relevant to, and tailor the content accordingly.

More and more annual reports are being published digitally (for instance, using tools like our Reporting). This gives you the opportunity to add extra elements to your report. Think of videos, interactive infographics, or image comparisons. Utilise these elements to make the annual report more interactive and thus more appealing to read. Don't forget about regular images either. Good photos are still a valuable addition to your text and enhance the readability of the report.

Below you see an example of an interactive timeline in the annual report of Cosis.

People love stories. That's why storytelling is so popular in marketing. And the same applies to your annual report. So, tell the story behind the numbers. For instance, through interviews or videos. You could also create a narrative in the form of a timeline.

The previous tip was about storytelling. Idea: let your stakeholders tell these stories. Your employees, clients, tenants, customers—whichever applies. If they are featured in the annual report with a compelling story, they are likely to share this story, and thus your report, online with their family and friends. This way, you create ambassadors for your annual report.

Every story or interactive element in your annual report is suitable for a social media post with a link to your report. Consider elements like a timeline, an infographic, or, as mentioned earlier, an interview. So, while creating your annual report, keep in mind the opportunity to turn it into a social media post.

For a PDF and print version, it's indeed difficult to measure how many people read the annual report. However, with an online annual report, tracking statistics is straightforward. Use tools like Piwik PRO, Google Analytics, or similar programs to measure visitor statistics. Based on these statistics, you can identify what works well and what you can improve next year. Also, track where your visitors come from. By adding UTM codes to the links you share across different platforms, you'll see precisely through which channel and which post your visitors arrive.