The table stakes for a useful reporting package is good data. That’s the number one thing. You gotta have that. But once you’ve done that, now it’s the information accompanying it.
I know I keep saying this over and over again, but at the end of the day, it really does come down to being a nonfiction storyteller.
What is the reporting package for? Who is the reader of it? If it’s the CEO, then the narrative has to be geared to them. If it’s the private equity partner, the narrative has to be truncated because they don’t have the time. They have multiple companies that they have to read about. And if it’s the investor, the story has to be told differently for them as well.
The first answer is, and the most important answer is good data. But then it comes down to great narrative, explaining what the reader needs to know and should know.