The Ultimate Guide to Writing Investigation Reports

Writing the investigation notes are extremely important to the case. You need to be as detailed as possible to make an accurate assessment. Also, notes can be used in future litigations (if necessary) so you need to make sure that your investigation is presented clearly and ethically. Dawn Lomer, a Certified Fraud Examiner, wrote a detailed article guiding you step by step through this process.

The article also includes a template for you to write your first report as well as videos to assist you further in your process. Included below are Investigative Report “Musts” excerpted from the article above, suggesting three critical tasks of a workplace investigative report.

1. It must be organized in a way that anybody internally or externally can understand it without having to reference other materials.
2. It must document the investigative findings objectively and accurately and provide decision makers with enough information to determine whether they should take further action.
3. It must indicate whether the allegations were substantiated, unsubstantiated or whether there’s something missing that is needed to come to a conclusion.