Annual Report Writing Services
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Mark Twain put it best when penning to a friend, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Indeed, appearances are deceptive. What feels like a simple, effective message is usually the product of long and careful plain English crafting. And that’s where we come in.
We are Australia’s leading plain English editing organisation, helping organisations communicate clear, relevant messages.
Our specialist annual report writers, editors and proofreaders follow APM’s eight rules for plain English:
1. Consider your audience
2. Keep it simple
3. If you have to look up a word’s meaning, don’t use it
4. Use the active voice
5. Don’t use jargon if there’s a plain English equivalent
6. Get your punctuation right
7. Have one idea per sentence
8. If it’s not crucial, delete it
Your Andrew Pegler Media-produced annual report will:
- Be written in plain English by a professional annual report writer / editor
- Be on-brand and on-message
- Speak directly to your audience
- Intelligently combine authority, emotion and reason
- Be logically ordered
How we’ll project manage your annual report writing
Our first meeting will establish your needs and develop a program for delivering everything you ask for and the agreed dates.
We’ll identify who’s responsible for what and when. APM’s rigorous project management methodology keeps the project on schedule. We’re always asking, Where are we against where we should be? Charts track timeframes and deliverables – which tasks can be done concurrently and which sequentially? And we will stay as flexible as you need us to be because the only constant in life is change.
And we love going digital! This exciting medium allows for videos, interactive infographics and even animations, for more effective messaging.
Online annual reports also provide crucial analytics — from identifying the most popular pages and animations or videos viewed, to which infographics got the greatest number of clicks.
So whether you’re working in a government department, a government agency or a public company, talk to us today about how we can bring unparalleled excellence to your next annual report. For now, check out our blog Your 9 essentials for a great annual report.
Did you know we’ve also designed 135+ annual reports?
Having both the design and writing done by the one supplier means one clean point of contact and seamless communications between the writing and design elements. It results in a superior final product and cost savings. Learn more below about the advantages of having one supplier to design, write and project manage your annual report.
The 7 advantages of having one supplier to design, write and project manage your annual report
Andrew Pegler Media has designed, written and project managed over 135 annual reports. Our full 360° one-stop-shop service covers writing, editing and design.
Having both content and design done by one supplier means one clean point of contact for you. Seamless communication between the writing and design elements results in a superior final product. Plus, there is no need to pay for a final proof of the ultimate document. We quality control your content along the way.
1. Better accountability
A single supplier, solely responsible for the entire process, cannot blame others for non-performance or delays. Our ‘buck-stops-here accountability’ ensures effective and efficient delivery of your annual report.
2. Overall visibility
A single supplier who’s responsible for the project from start to finish will be across its many moving parts. APM will always know where processes and procedures are at, ensuring a much smoother process for aspects like:
- Interviews
- Stakeholder copy
- Copy feedback
- Flagging potential issues
- Design feedback
- When copy will be delivered to design
- Image selection
- Communication between editorial and design wings, so each learns about changes quickly and can react accordingly
- Version management
3. Greater efficiency
Having a single point of contact for the entire annual report is more efficient.
No need to juggle different service providers — a sole contact ensures all parties involved in the process understand each other’s roles and responsibilities and are equipped to deal with unforeseen problems.
You’ll waste no time:
- Dealing with issues arising from one party misinterpreting instructions
- Briefing separate parties
- Coordinating two parties with the inherent risk that presents for mistakes
- Double administering and project managing
- Trying to sort out administrative complications – for example, payments
- Double meetings
Additionally, the design and writing can be done in parallel. We can show you samples as we go along. We can even drop in copy as it’s approved, so stakeholders can see their part of the report in its true design context and provide direct feedback. This gives you a longer lead time to gather stakeholder responses.
4. Cost savings
Being the sole supplier also provides APM with economies of scale —hence our ability to offer a more competitive price.
5. Time savings
APM’s design team wing knows it’s getting quality written content and can address most questions to our content staff. Less bother for you. And design can already be working while you make last minute tweaks to copy – delays in finalising what you want to say don’t hold up ‘the big handover day’ between suppliers.
6. Quicker delivery
A single-source model means faster delivery. The same people in the same organisation working on the same product have instant communication on changes, requests and more – without compromising on quality. We’ve done this many times before! Single-sourcing means a strong bond between parties, resulting in a more productive, better working relationship.
7. Boosts brand image
A single provider will better protect your brand and reputation. Having all operations done under one umbrella, boosts the quality of work and guarantees uniform editorial style and design.
Australiansuper’s 2020 Annual Report
AustralianSuper is Australia’s largest super fund, with approximately one in every ten Australian workers being members.
Working closely with its investor relations team, APM wrote / edited AustralianSuper’s annual report via a mix of senior management interviews, supplied information and draft content.The report aimed to reveal how the Fund had performed during the year, particularly with the challenge of COVID-19. It also covered AustralianSuper’s strategy; operating environment and performance; governance; and financial and non-financial activities. APM’s rigorous project management methodology ensured the project ran smoothly and to schedule.
Techcombank Annual Report
Techcombank is Vietnam’s second most profitable bank and trades on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange under as TCB. APM has written four consecutive annual reports for TCB in plain English for its global investors which are then used for Vietnamese translation. For the past four years, APM has advised on the narrative and storyline. APM’s work has won TCB a number of awards including from the League of American Communications Professionals for “narrative and clarity of content”. APM writes each report using a mix of interviews with the CEO and other stakeholders and by finessing rough content written by staff for whom English is a second language. The results continue to be very well received and APM now works across other parts of the bank.
Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) 2020 annual report
IBA is an Australian Commonwealth Government agency advancing the commercial and economic interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and guiding them towards economic self-sufficiency.
APM was commissioned to ensure IBA’s annual report copy:
- Was in plain English
- Maintained the agreed storyline
- Delivered a convincing story
We understood timelines needed to be flexible and that last minute edits or additional drafts would be required, due to moving government submission deadlines. Our final copy:
- Intelligently combined authority, emotion and reason
- Was professionally project managed
- Was on-brand and on-message
Medibank 2020 annual report
Australian private health insurance provider Medibank, is Australia’s second largest health insurance provider.
APM was commissioned to proofread the final PDF of its 2020 annual report before it was printed – to make sure it was complete.
We had to check:
- Editorial style had been maintained in the design
- There were no widows and orphans
- Tables were not split unnecessarily
- All sections of the report appeared as per the original plan
- The table of contents aligned with the document
- All web links went where intended and worked
- There had been no words obviously misplaced by the designer
- Pagination, contents and numbering of tables and graphs were correct
- Pictures were correctly placed and labelled
- Grammar, spelling, punctuation was 100% correct
- Styles (such as italics, bold) had been correctly translated from the Word version
We also took a cursory glance at all charts and info graphics to confirm they accurately represented the statistics being highlighted.
Togethr Trustees Superannuation
APM wrote and designed all four of Togethr Trustees annual reports. Togethr is trustee for multiple profit-to-member funds, managing $26 billion for 150,000+ members. The four funds were:
Using a mix of rough supplied information, draft content and our own research, this very complex project involved meeting the requirements of multiple style and brand guides while revealing how each fund performed over the year, its core values and future strategies. Our services included editing, writing content, independent research, streamlining proposed content and advising on the order and flow of the reports.
APM’s rigorous project management methodology ensured all four annual reports were delivered on time and on budget.
New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) 2020
In 2020, for the third consecutive year, NSWALC commissioned APM to write and design its annual report.
The high level of professionalism we bring to writing, design and project management is what keeps NSWALC coming back.
Copywriting, editing and project management
APM organised the structure of the report and the information for each section to achieve a sequential flow of content. Both structural and plain-English copy editing were required on supplied text.
This included rationalising repetitive information to form section introductions and overviews while ensuring a consistent, clear voice throughout. We also created copy from primary sources and interviews, including with the Chair and the CEO.
Design
Each year, APM’s design for NSWALC’s annual report has sought to showcase Aboriginal culture and heritage. Colour palettes, typography and design elements were chosen to reflect the Aboriginal landscape and traditions. Using elements of Aboriginal art to create graphics and icons, and sourcing appropriate stock imagery, we’ve taken the design of the report from simply meeting statutory requirements to becoming the flagship of the organisation.
Happy Clients
Thanks for all your efforts in helping Togethr Trustees get four annual reports completed on time in a year that we all agree has been extremely challenging. I look forward to working with you and the team next year.
Awenna Williams, Head of Experience, Togethr Trustees
