A monthly client report template your clients will read
A client report should say what was done, what it achieved and what happens next, in two minutes. A template, the order to write it in and what to avoid.
Most client reports are written to prove that work happened. Clients read them to find out whether things are on track and whether anything needs them. When those two aims don't match, you get long reports that clients skim, followed by a call where they ask the questions the report should have answered.
A good monthly report reads in two minutes, follows the same order every month and puts anything the client must act on near the top. Here is a template that does that, and a way to write it in about half an hour.
What a client wants to know
- Are we on track? If not, why, and what are you doing about it?
- What did we get for this month?
- Is anything waiting on me?
- What happens next month?
Everything in the report should answer one of those questions. If a section doesn't, cut it or move it to an appendix.
The template
[Client] report: [month year] Summary (3 lines) Status: [on track / at risk / off track], because [reason]. This month: [the one thing that mattered most]. Next month: [the one thing that matters most]. What we need from you - [request] by [date] (if late: [what it affects]) Delivered this month - [deliverable]: [link] - [deliverable]: [link] Results - [metric]: [number] ([period], source: [where it comes from]) Risks and decisions - [risk]: [what we're doing about it] - Decision needed: [question] by [date] Next month - [planned work] by [date] Time and budget (if you track it) - [used] of [agreed] this month Next check-in: [day, date, time, zone]
Write it in this order
The order you write a report in isn't the order you present it. Writing the summary first produces a summary of what you remember. Writing it last produces a summary of what's actually in the report.
- Delivered this month: pull it from your task list or project board, not from memory. Link each item so the client can open it.
- Results: add only numbers you measured, with the period and the source. If a number isn't ready, say when it will be.
- Next month: list the planned work with dates, checked against what the client has agreed to.
- Risks and decisions: anything that could slip, and anything you need the client to decide.
- What we need from you: every request with a date and what it affects if it's late.
- Summary: three lines, written last, at the top.
Lead with the ask
If you need something from the client, it goes second, straight after the summary. Requests buried at the bottom of a report don't get answered, and then the delay looks like yours. Say what you need, by when, and what it affects: “Photos from the shoot by the 14th, or the gallery page moves to next month.”
Numbers that build trust
- Give every number a period and a source. “Site visits: 2,400 (1 to 31 March, from your analytics)” can be checked. “Traffic is up” can't.
- Compare like with like: this month against last month, or against the same month last year. Say which.
- Report the numbers you agreed to track at the start, every month, even when they go down. Switching metrics when one looks bad is the fastest way to lose trust.
- Don't add a number you can't explain. If the client asks why it moved, you should know.
Bad news: call first, then write
A report is the wrong place for a client to learn something important went wrong. If a deadline will slip or a result disappointed, call or message the client before the report goes out, then put the same facts in the report in plain words: what happened, what it affects and what you're doing. The report confirms the conversation. It never replaces it.
Common mistakes
- A list of activity instead of results. “Held 6 meetings” tells the client nothing. Say what the meetings decided.
- A different structure every month. Clients learn where to look. Moving things around makes them read everything, or nothing.
- Jargon from your side of the work. Write for the person who pays, not the person who builds.
- No next check-in. End every report with a date, so the conversation has somewhere to go.
Keep a weekly version too
Between monthly reports, a five-line update keeps clients informed without extra meetings: done this week, next week, what we need from you, risks and the next check-in. When the monthly report comes round, most of it is already written in those weekly lines.
Send your first report in this format, then ask the client one question: “Is there anything you'd like to see in here that isn't?” Their answer is the best edit you'll get.