The final report is as important as any other part of your investigation. It must appear professional; if it doesn't have the earmarks of professionalism, all your efforts won't matter much to your client. People are influenced by what they see, and a professionally typed and formatted report that is easy to read and free of typos and grammatical errors lends credibility to your investigation and its results. To some degree, this may be simple perception. The ability to write a good report may, in reality, not reflect on your investigative skills one bit, but only you will be aware of that. If you can't write a good report, hire someone to do it for you; it's that important. A report has several sections: title page, introduction, body, conclusion, and additional information.

Title Page

This page begins with your agency name as the heading. Put the client's name, address, and phone number below that. Next, add the title of the investigation, such as “Smith/Norris Child Custody Case.” Some investigators put the period of time that they worked the case. You can put what you want on this page, but this information seems to fit appropriately.

Introduction

Page 1 is titled “Introduction” or “Summary.” Organize the case into a very short summation. Some PIs like to put only the introduction on page 1, while others begin the body of the report on this page. Your summary could begin with something like: “On October 27, 2008, Mr. Dan Smith retained this office for the purpose of a child custody investigation regarding his ex-wife, Candice Norris, and her male friend, Michael Peters.” The introduction shouldn't be more than one page — ideally it should be about half a page — and should read something like a book jacket summary of a novel.

Body of Report

This can be written in several formats. Some investigators write the report as a day-by-day recounting of the events, many times in paragraph form. The format that seems to be most readable is that of incident-by-incident reporting. In other words, the top of the page shows the day and date. The highlights of the day are reported in first-person or third-person narrative.

Conclusion

At the end of this play-by-play description, you may elect to write several paragraphs detailing your observations and drawing conclusions. Any recommendations can be included here.

List of Additional Information

In this section, you'll add any sketches, pictures, itemization and location of DVDs, interviews or background check information, official records, and the like.

Polishing the Report

The report must be typed. Use your spell check and grammar check; if you're still uneasy, have someone else proof it for you.