All the documentation produced by an organization should be consistent with the company image. It is often called company branding or company identity. It promotes consistency and engenders a sense of stability. Thus it works for reliability and installs confidence in existing and potential clients. Each organization has its own guideline for document styles.
Target audience and needs of business documents
The style guide is the reference document that contains layout instructions and set of formatting styles. Adept Owl has also a set of a style guide. The development of a style guide is a formal procedure. The style is updated and changed at regularly to match the current business needs. Items can be added and removed or changed. The purpose of the business letter template is to provide to and seek information from the respective clients. The letter may contain financial information such as invoice, memo etc. Letters are used for the internal purpose also. A letter is the presentation of information about a specific activity in an organized way (Andrews " Dyrud, 2013). The creation of the business image through documentation is a highly sophisticated task so the determining requirement of the style is crucial. This is why the testing process and feedback is very important.
According to Kent (2003) A template is generally a format that conform the style guide and style sheet. There are several advantages of templates such as it prompts the user to include all relevant information. It helps to create consistent documentation across the organization. Template facilitates the handover of projects. Potential time and costs are saved. It provides greater accuracy in letter and reports writing.
Production delay letter Template
Date
Company Z
Mr. Horace Neiman
Apology for our unexpected delay in delivery
We sincerely apologize to you for the delay in delivery of the products you purchased from us. Due to inevitable irregularities in manufacturing depart this inconvenience has been caused to you.
We are trying our best to minimize the delay and reduce your inconvenience. Within next 3 days the products will be dispatched for delivery.
Sincerely
Jack Macquarie
Distribution Manager
Letter Template for Reimbursement
Beneficiary Client Name: Company X
Claim Reference No:
Date
Tim Davies
Adept Owl
Address
NAME OF FUND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSE INCURRED
The submitted documentation constitutes the expenditure incurred by Company X for the service rendered for the Project Y (Project reference number). The total expenditure amounts to $12050 including VAT. In this regard you are requested to take necessary action so that the reimbursement of the total expenditure is taken.
Process should be credited to
Company name Account Number
Line items
Total Amount
Name of Officer
Part- B Filled by the project leader,
Head
Responsible Authority
The submitted documentation (reference number) is being referred for necessary reimbursement. The transactions are certified as correct and refer to expense incurred in connection with the details.
Project leader Date
Reference No
Testing Schedule
Name of Subject
Name of the Organization
Address
Date of Review
(Date of Testing)
Reviewed By
(Name of the authorized person)
Testing Comment
(Briefly describing the result of testing process
Current version
(mentioning the current version)
Changes (Brief description of changes)
Test steps
Start date
End date
Description
Signature of Authority Name and Designation
The important considerations of writing letter or other documents know the target audience by identifying their needs, characteristics. A company needs to develop the demography of the audience. The target audience is mainly the supplier and the buyer. Adept Owl needs a precise template which includes all the necessary information. The information which is important needs to be highlighted so that the client gets the information quickly without reading through the letter. Adept Owl only uses the registered software programs. Unauthorized software can introduce serious security vulnerabilities in the network. For this reason, the company doesn’t use the freeware or public domain software. The authorized programs are operating system- Microsoft Windows, Office software- MS office, antivirus software- Symantec antivirus, and internet browser- Mozilla Firefox, email software- Microsoft outlook express. The most widely used electronic communication is email. The format of the email follows the letter. Though email sends a message faster than letter it is less formal than the letter.
The company has some file management procedure. The authorized person would create a subfolder within the server to hold day to day working files. The employee should not store company data on the computer unless it is very urgent. The data must be stored in an appropriate server. The filers are arranged according to the given filename which are used in the respective department. The initials of the name of the authorized person can be used. A business document, file management is a part of the overall business. The style guide is a reference document that contains a set of formatting and layout instructions for each type of document. It ensures the documents are consistent with the company image and easy access to information. There are some principles and elements which are widely adopted conventions. One should consider these elements while developing a style guide.
References
Andrews, D., " Dyrud, M. (2013). Document Design: The Sequel. Business Communication Quarterly, 59(4), 129-130. Doi: 10.1177/108056999605900413
Kent, C. (2003). Manage business document design and development. Chatswood, N.S.W.: Software Publications.
