Executive summary generator for reports and business plans
Senior readers decide from the first page, and the first page is often the hardest to write. Attach your report, plan or proposal and your todo.is agent reads all of it, then writes a one-page executive summary that leads with the conclusion, keeps the key numbers and ends with the decision you need.
The prompt
- Read the attached [DOCUMENT TYPE] and write an executive summary for [AUDIENCE]. The decision or action I want from them is [WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO]. Keep it to [LENGTH]. Structure: one opening sentence with the main conclusion, the situation in 2 sentences, 3 to 5 key findings with the most important numbers, the recommendation, cost and benefit, risks in one line, and next steps with dates. Use only facts from the document and tell me the page each number comes from. Write in plain, confident language with no filler. Deliver it as a Word file and as text I can paste into an email.
What to change
- [DOCUMENT TYPE]: e.g. "40-page market research report" or "business plan". Attach the PDF, Word or PowerPoint file.
- [AUDIENCE]: e.g. "our board", "a bank loan officer" or "the CEO".
- [WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO]: e.g. "approve the Lyon expansion" or "just understand the results".
- [LENGTH]: e.g. "one page", "250 words" or "5 bullet points".
Example result
- Executive summary: Opening a second bakery in Lyon
- We recommend opening a second Maison Clara bakery in Lyon's Croix-Rousse district in spring 2027. The study shows strong demand, a suitable site and payback within about three years under our base-case assumptions.
- Situation
- Our first bakery in Villeurbanne has been profitable for four years and runs at full capacity on weekends. The board asked for a study of a second location before committing capital.
- Key findings
- • Demand: 68% of surveyed residents near the site buy bread at least 4 times a week; only one artisan bakery within 600 meters (p. 9)
- • Site: the shortlisted unit has street frontage, an existing oven exhaust and a 9-year lease option (p. 15)
- • Investment: about EUR 310,000 for fit-out, equipment and opening stock (p. 22)
- • Returns: break-even in month 14; payback in about 34 months in the base case (p. 27)
- • Main risk: hiring two experienced bakers; local wage levels are higher than in Villeurbanne (p. 31)
- Recommendation
- Approve the investment and sign the lease option by December 15, with a 10% contingency budget.
- Risks
- Hiring delays could push opening by 2 months; mitigation is to start recruiting in January and train one baker in Villeurbanne first.
- Next steps
- • Dec 15: board approval and lease signature
- • Jan to Mar: fit-out and hiring
- • April 2027: opening
- *All figures are from the attached study and are its own estimates.*
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and fill in the document type, audience, ask and length.
- Paste it into todo.is and attach the report, plan or slides (PDF, Word or PowerPoint, up to 50 MB).
- Your agent reads everything and returns a one-page summary with page references for every number.
- Ask for other versions: "3 bullets for Slack", "more formal for the bank" or "in French".
Tips for a better result
- Start with the conclusion, not the background. Executives may stop reading after the first paragraph.
- Write the summary last, once the full document is final, so the numbers match.
- Keep it to one page for most audiences. If it needs two, the recommendation is not clear yet.
- Use the page references to double-check every figure before you send it.
- Ask your agent to remember your company's summary format so every report starts the same way.
executive summary generator: FAQ
- What is an executive summary? A short overview at the start of a report, plan or proposal that gives busy readers the conclusion, key facts and recommended action without reading the whole document.
- How long should an executive summary be? Usually one page, or about 5 to 10% of the full document. Business plans for investors or banks sometimes use up to two pages.
- What is the difference between an executive summary and an abstract? An abstract describes what a research paper covers. An executive summary is for decision makers: it gives the findings and recommends an action.
- Can it summarize a scanned PDF? Yes. Your agent uses OCR to read scanned pages. Very poor scans may have small reading errors, so check the key numbers.
JavaScript is required to use the todo.is app.