The Front Matter of a report encompasses anything that is found before the report itself beings, like the title page and table of contents. Its purpose is to lay the foundation of the report for readers and prepare them to understand why it was written and by whom, its key points, and how it is organized, among others.

The following table breaks down the basic parts that are included in Front Matter and explains how to approach each of them.

Section	What to Know About It
Letter of Transmittal	Introduces the report to the reader. It is similar to the cover letter you would include with your resume. Set up letter addressed to recipient of report, including specific title and address, plus signed by all group members Organize using neutral news message plan: para 1: state the news (here’s a report we have prepared on X topic for X course) para 2: add details; perhaps mention major findings, details from the report, something you want to draw the reader’s attention to, special sections or whatever para 3: cordial close; thanks for reading this; if you have any questions, contact us at X.
Title Page	Provides readers with key information about report: its title, who created it, when it was submitted. Add the following items, in this order: The report title. It should be the largest heading on the page. A Prepared For line, followed by a colon. The recipient’s name & title. A Prepared By line, followed by a colon. All writers’ names. The submission date. If you can, add a relevant visual between the title and the Prepared For line. This visual does not use a caption.
Table of Contents	How to Use Styles in Your Documents How to Create a Table of Contents (based on Styles)
List of Illustrations	Provides readers with a list of all illustrations found in the report, so they are easy to find if searched for individually. Put on page separate from Table of Contents. Differentiate figures from tables--since they’re different, use 2 lists, with a heading for each Follow guidelines for table of contents formatting
Executive Summary	Summarizes the key findings of the report for someone who does not have time to read the complete report. Try to keep to one page or less Give it an appropriate title: executive summary, abstract, precis Include only the major conclusions and recommendations Avoid overly technical jargon Use paragraph format, rather than lists (although you might include a list if needed) Write this LAST!