Programme overview
Introduction:
Annual report production, covering content strategy, performance narrative and governance disclosures, is a 5-day course for communication, investor relations, strategy and finance teams that ends with an Annual Report Production Plan for a case organisation. Many companies and government entities compile the annual report late, with sections written apart, highlights that do not match the audited figures, a stalled sign-off chain and editions hard to read online. Nominees already contribute sections or coordinate the report and work through case studies on report drafts, content maps and print files. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this annual report production course.
Course Objectives:
- Plan the annual report as a project with a content map, section owners, a production timeline and a sign-off chain through management, the audit committee and the board
- Structure the report around a theme and a value creation storyline drawn from the Integrated Reporting Framework
- Draft the chairperson letter, chief executive review and strategy-to-performance narrative that explain results against stated priorities
- Prepare KPI and financial highlights pages and governance, board and remuneration disclosures that reconcile with the audited statements
- Manage bilingual editing, proofing, design and data visualisation so that both language editions read consistently
- Publish accessible online and PDF editions and a print edition to agreed specifications
Target Audience:
- Corporate communication units responsible for the annual report theme, copy and design brief
- Investor relations teams responsible for the shareholder letter, highlights and capital market messages
- Strategy and planning units responsible for reporting progress against strategic priorities
- Finance and financial reporting teams responsible for highlights, segment commentary and agreement with audited figures
- Board secretariat and governance units responsible for board, committee and remuneration disclosures
Course Outline:
Day 1: Annual Report Purpose, Readers and Production Baseline
- Annual Report Anatomy From Chairperson Statement to Financial Statements
- Reader Mapping for Shareholders, Lenders, Analysts and Citizens
- Audited Versus Unaudited Sections and Their Accountable Owners
- Previous Annual Report Review Against Peer Annual Reports
- Production Maturity Self-Assessment and Lessons Learned Log
Day 2: Report Architecture, Content Strategy and Production Governance
- Integrated Reporting Framework Value Creation Storyline Structure
- Annual Report Theme and Key Message Hierarchy Selection
- Content Map Assigning Sections, Owners and Source Data
- Production Timeline From Kick-Off Meeting to Publication
- Sign-Off Chain Through Management, Audit Committee and Board
Day 3: Writing the Performance Narrative and Governance Sections
- Chairperson Letter and Chief Executive Review Drafting Techniques
- Strategy-to-Performance Narrative Linking Priorities, KPIs and Results
- KPI and Financial Highlights Pages With Comparative Figures
- Operating and Financial Review Commentary on Segments and Outlook
- Board, Committee and Remuneration Disclosure Drafting Templates
Day 4: Bilingual Editing, Design, Publishing and Report Risks
- Bilingual Editing With a Terminology Glossary and Parallel Proofing
- Infographic and Chart Rules for Annual Report Data Pages
- PDF/UA Tagging and WCAG Checks for Online Editions
- Print Specification, Paper Choice and Press Proof Approval
- Consistency Checks Between Narrative, Highlights and Audited Statements
Day 5: Case Study Building the Annual Report Production Plan
- Case Organisation Reader Map and Report Theme Choice
- Case Content Map With Section Owners and Data Sources
- Case Chief Executive Review Draft and Peer Critique
- Case Timeline, Sign-Off Chain and Publishing Formats
- Annual Report Production Plan Completion and Steering Committee Defence
Skills You Will Gain:
- Annual Report Project Planning
- Content Mapping
- Performance Narrative Writing
- Financial Highlights Preparation
- Governance Disclosure Drafting
- Bilingual Copy Editing
- Report Data Visualisation
- Accessible Digital Publishing
Why Attend This Course:
- Deliver an Annual Report Production Plan for a case organisation to the head of communication, the chief financial officer and the board secretary
- Decide which sections, themes and highlights the next annual report carries and who owns and approves each one
- Avoid late sign-offs, figures that disagree with the audited statements, inaccessible PDF files and costly reprints
- Share the content map template, sign-off chain, proofing checklist and print specification with contributors across the organisation
Conclusion:
Back at work, the participant presents the Annual Report Production Plan to the head of communication, the chief financial officer and the board secretary, who use it to approve the report theme, the content map, section owners and the sign-off dates for the coming cycle. Contributors then write to one storyline and one timeline. After the report is published, the team should review missed deadlines, proofing corrections, reader feedback and online usage against the plan, then adjust the content map and the production timeline for the following year.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What should participants know before the annual report production course?
Participants should already write, edit, coordinate or approve sections of their organisation's annual report. No design software skills are needed. Bringing a recent annual report or an anonymised draft helps them apply the content map and sign-off exercises to their own work.
How does annual report production differ from a sustainability reporting or financial statements course?
It covers how the whole annual report is planned, written, approved, designed and published. Sustainability reporting courses apply disclosure standards to sustainability data, and financial statements courses prepare the audited accounts; here those inputs are taken as given and checked for consistency.
Why does annual report production start with a content map and a sign-off chain?
A content map tells every contributor what to write, from which data and by when, and the sign-off chain fixes who approves each section. Without both, drafts arrive late, figures conflict and approvals stall near the publication date.
What do participants take back from the annual report production course?
Participants take back an Annual Report Production Plan for a case organisation, with a reader map, report theme, content map, section owners, production timeline, sign-off chain, proofing checklist and online and print publishing specifications they can adapt to their own report.