Why WoodWing
Why WoodWing

How we help

icon-woodwing-enterprise-information-management-eim

Enterprise Information Management

Take charge of your content and information with Enterprise Information Management

icon-woodwing-unlock-your-potential

Unlock your potential

Unlock your potential with WoodWing's innovative solutions

icon-woodwing-content-orchestration

Content Orchestration

Managing content at scale has never been easier or more profitable

Solutions
Solutions

Content Creation

icon-woodwing-content-creation

Content Creation

Collaborate and create high-quality channel-neutral content

icon-woodwing-dam

Digital Asset Management

Manage and distribute digital assets for streamlined content

icon-woodwing-multichannel-publishing

Multichannel Publishing

Maximize reach with seamless multi-channel content publishing


Content Management

icon-logo-woodwing-document-management

Document Management

Centralize and control your documents, ensuring secure access

icon-woodwing-information-management

Information Management

Become more agile, reduce risks and benefit from available data

icon-woodwing-knowledge-management

Knowledge Management

Share knowledge for better collaboration and productivity

icon-woodwing-process-management

Process Management

Document and optimize business processes for greater efficiency

icon-logo-woodwing-quality-management

Quality Management

Ensure consistent and compliant quality standards for your organization


Content Services

icon-woodwing-creative-workflow-services

Creative Workflow Services

Unleash creative potential with tailored support from experts

icon-woodwing-digital-publishing-service

Digital Publishing Services

Enhance digital publishing strategy with expert services

icon-woodwing-integrations

App Integrations

Integrate WoodWing seamlessly into your existing tech stack

icon-woodwing-cloud

WoodWing Cloud

Experience stress-free hosting, software maintenance, and more


FEATURED CONTENT PIECE

Der Spiegel

How one of Germany’s largest news publications increased editorial and production workflow efficiency using WoodWing’s publishing software.

Read this case
Products
Products

Take charge of your content

WoodWing Studio

Streamlined content creation and multichannel publishing solution

Assets Logo (base)

Enterprise-grade digital asset management for streamlined workflows

WoodWing Swivle

Cloud-based DAM for seamless file management and collaboration

WoodWing Scienta

Simplified quality and process management for regulated industries

WoodWing Xtendis

Secure digital archiving and document management system

Connect Logo (base)

Powerful integration suite for seamless connectivity and automation

WoodWing Smart Styles

Efficient plugin for enhanced Adobe InDesign design workflows

Industries
Industries

We know your challenges

icon-woodwing-agencies

Agencies

Optimized workflow, improved collaboration, and brand consistency

icon-woodwing-finance

Finance

Modern document and quality management helps you manage risks and improve processes

icon-woodwing-franchise

Franchise

Ensure unity with document, quality, and knowledge management

icon-woodwing-healthcare

Healthcare

Always access the latest version of each process, protocol, guideline, or agreement

icon-logo-woodwing-housing-corporations

Housing Corporations

Document management from context, always up-to-date, complete and accurate documents

icon-woodwing-manufacturing

Manufacturing

Consistent branding, accelerated launches, and integrated content management

icon-woodwing-publishing

Publishing

Efficient content creation, collaboration, and multichannel publishing

icon-woodwing-retail-ecommerce

Retail & eCommerce

Streamlined catalog and marketing content production for faster time-to-market

icon-woodwing-transport-logistic

Trade & Logistics

Increase efficiency with process, document, and quality management


Featured content piece

Bavaria

How Bavaria significantly improved its global brand management.

Read this case
Inspiration
Inspiration

Learning centre

icon-woodwing-success-stories

Success Stories

Read success stories from trusted organizations that rely on WoodWing's solutions

icon-woodwing-ebooks-whitepapers

eBooks & Whitepapers

Dive into in-depth knowledge with our comprehensive digital publications

icon-logo-woodwing-videos

Videos

Lean back and enjoy one of our educational videos

icon-woodwing-events-and-webinars

Events & Webinars

Meet us in person or virtually at one of our events or webinars


Latest articles

'Zero Defects' Manufacturing: how the manufacturing industry aims for perfection

'Zero Defects' Manufacturing: how the manufacturing industry aims for perfection

What is document management? And why is it so important?

What is document management? And why is it so important?

Enhance team collaboration with WoodWing Studio Cloud's Commenting feature

Enhance team collaboration with WoodWing Studio Cloud's Commenting feature

View all blog articles

Featured content piece

Medium Rare

How Content Agency Medium Rare delivers better client experiences and outcomes with WoodWing.

Read this case
Company
Company

About us

icon-woodwing-about-woodwing

About WoodWing

Discover our company's vision, mission, and innovative solutions

icon-woodwing-management-team

Management Team

Meet the leaders driving WoodWing's success and growth

icon-woodwing-contact

Contact

Reach out to us for inquiries, support, and collaboration


Jobs & Press

icon-woodwing-job-opportunities

Job opportunities

Explore exciting career opportunities and join our team

icon-woodwing-press-release

Press releases

Stay updated with our latest company news and announcements


Partners

icon-woodwing-partners

Partners

Explore our partners for local support and expanded capabilities

icon-woodwing-become-a-partner

Become a partner

Join our global partner network and grow with us


Want to work for us?

Developer

Would you like to further develop your development skills? As our developer you will learn all about new techniques and innovations.

Join our team
English
Select language
Support Support Support Contact sales Contact sales Contact sales Login Login Login
Login

Choose a product

icon-woodwing-login-scienta

WoodWing Scienta

icon-woodwing-login-swivle

WoodWing Swivle


Contact us
Search Support Support Support Contact sales Contact sales Contact sales Login Login Login

Choose a product

icon-woodwing-login-scienta

WoodWing Scienta

icon-woodwing-login-swivle

WoodWing Swivle

English English

Nederlands

Why WoodWing

How we help

icon-woodwing-enterprise-information-management-eim

Enterprise Information Management

Take charge of your content and information with Enterprise Information Management

icon-woodwing-unlock-your-potential

Unlock your potential

Unlock your potential with WoodWing's innovative solutions

icon-woodwing-content-orchestration

Content Orchestration

Managing content at scale has never been easier or more profitable

Solutions

Content Creation

icon-woodwing-content-creation

Content Creation

Collaborate and create high-quality channel-neutral content

icon-woodwing-dam

Digital Asset Management

Manage and distribute digital assets for streamlined content

icon-woodwing-multichannel-publishing

Multichannel Publishing

Maximize reach with seamless multi-channel content publishing


Content Management

icon-logo-woodwing-document-management

Document Management

Centralize and control your documents, ensuring secure access

icon-woodwing-information-management

Information Management

Become more agile, reduce risks and benefit from available data

icon-woodwing-knowledge-management

Knowledge Management

Share knowledge for better collaboration and productivity

icon-woodwing-process-management

Process Management

Document and optimize business processes for greater efficiency

icon-logo-woodwing-quality-management

Quality Management

Ensure consistent and compliant quality standards for your organization


Content Services

icon-woodwing-creative-workflow-services

Creative Workflow Services

Unleash creative potential with tailored support from experts

icon-woodwing-digital-publishing-service

Digital Publishing Services

Enhance digital publishing strategy with expert services

icon-woodwing-integrations

App Integrations

Integrate WoodWing seamlessly into your existing tech stack

icon-woodwing-cloud

WoodWing Cloud

Experience stress-free hosting, software maintenance, and more


FEATURED CONTENT PIECE

Der Spiegel

How one of Germany’s largest news publications increased editorial and production workflow efficiency using WoodWing’s publishing software.

Read this case
Products

Take charge of your content

WoodWing Studio

Streamlined content creation and multichannel publishing solution

WoodWing Studio

Collaborative content creation and multichannel publishing solution that simplifies workflows and streamlines production processes.

Assets Logo (base)

Enterprise-grade digital asset management for streamlined workflows

WoodWing Assets

Enterprise-grade digital asset management solution that streamlines your creative workflow and simplifies collaboration among team members.

WoodWing Swivle

Cloud-based DAM for seamless file management and collaboration

WoodWing Swivle

Cloud-based DAM solution for managing, sharing, and collaborating on digital files from anywhere and on any device.

WoodWing Scienta

Simplified quality and process management for regulated industries

WoodWing Scienta

Quality management platform for regulated industries that simplifies compliance, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.

WoodWing Xtendis

Secure digital archiving and document management system

WoodWing Xtendis

Digital archiving and document management system that allows organizations to store, manage, and access their digital assets securely.

Connect Logo (base)

Powerful integration suite for seamless connectivity and automation

WoodWing Connect

Powerful integration suite, including APIs, webhooks, plugins, and the best-in-class iPaaS solution (powered by Workato).

WoodWing Smart Styles

Efficient plugin for enhanced Adobe InDesign design workflows

WoodWing Smart Styles

Plugin for Adobe InDesign that streamlines design workflows by allowing designers to apply predefined styles quickly.

Industries

We know your challenges

icon-woodwing-agencies

Agencies

Optimized workflow, improved collaboration, and brand consistency

icon-woodwing-finance

Finance

Modern document and quality management helps you manage risks and improve processes

icon-woodwing-franchise

Franchise

Ensure unity with document, quality, and knowledge management

icon-woodwing-healthcare

Healthcare

Always access the latest version of each process, protocol, guideline, or agreement

icon-logo-woodwing-housing-corporations

Housing Corporations

Document management from context, always up-to-date, complete and accurate documents

icon-woodwing-manufacturing

Manufacturing

Consistent branding, accelerated launches, and integrated content management

icon-woodwing-publishing

Publishing

Efficient content creation, collaboration, and multichannel publishing

icon-woodwing-retail-ecommerce

Retail & eCommerce

Streamlined catalog and marketing content production for faster time-to-market

icon-woodwing-transport-logistic

Trade & Logistics

Increase efficiency with process, document, and quality management

Featured content piece

Bavaria

How Bavaria significantly improved its global brand management.

Read this case
Inspiration

Learning centre

icon-woodwing-success-stories

Success Stories

Read success stories from trusted organizations that rely on WoodWing's solutions

icon-woodwing-ebooks-whitepapers

eBooks & Whitepapers

Dive into in-depth knowledge with our comprehensive digital publications

icon-logo-woodwing-videos

Videos

Lean back and enjoy one of our educational videos

icon-woodwing-events-and-webinars

Events & Webinars

Meet us in person or virtually at one of our events or webinars


Latest articles

'Zero Defects' Manufacturing: how the manufacturing industry aims for perfection

'Zero Defects' Manufacturing: how the manufacturing industry aims for perfection

What is document management? And why is it so important?

What is document management? And why is it so important?

Enhance team collaboration with WoodWing Studio Cloud's Commenting feature

Enhance team collaboration with WoodWing Studio Cloud's Commenting feature

View all blog articles

Featured content piece

Medium Rare

How Content Agency Medium Rare delivers better client experiences and outcomes with WoodWing.

Read this case
Company

About us

icon-woodwing-about-woodwing

About WoodWing

Discover our company's vision, mission, and innovative solutions

icon-woodwing-management-team

Management Team

Meet the leaders driving WoodWing's success and growth

icon-woodwing-contact

Contact

Reach out to us for inquiries, support, and collaboration


Jobs & Press

icon-woodwing-job-opportunities

Job opportunities

Explore exciting career opportunities and join our team

icon-woodwing-press-release

Press releases

Stay updated with our latest company news and announcements


Partners

icon-woodwing-partners

Partners

Explore our partners for local support and expanded capabilities

icon-woodwing-become-a-partner

Become a partner

Join our global partner network and grow with us


Want to work for us?

Developer

Would you like to further develop your development skills? As our developer you will learn all about new techniques and innovations.

Join our team
Contact us
Home Inspiration Blog | WoodWing

Business

Multichannel Publishing

Agencies

7 minutes of reading

What is annual report publishing software?

Hint: your key to fast and accurate annual report publication

Shape

Whether you need to produce a single annual report in-house - or you're an agency working on multiple annual reports a year - you know that these high-profile publications need the utmost attention to detail.

But with complex production processes and countless contributors, there's a high risk of human error. And that means long, laborious checks to ensure complete accuracy.

Wondering if there's a faster way to create accurate and engaging annual reports? There is.

Annual report publishing software. Here's everything you need to know about what it is, how it works, and why you need it.

What is annual report publishing software?

Annual report publishing software helps you collaborate, create, execute and publish accurate annual reports.

It ensures the annual report publication process is as efficient as possible and minimizes the risk of errors.

Why is accuracy essential in annual report production?

Annual reports are a flagship publication in any organizations’ schedule. They provide detailed financial information that’s required by law, and provide shareholders and investors with key information about business performance.

Part regulatory requirement, part marketing opportunity, these documents are high-profile, deeply detailed, and commercially influential. So it’s important to get every element right - from contents to messaging and design.

A misplaced number in the audited accounts - or even a typo in the CEOs statement - could be disastrous. Collaboration software for annual reports makes errors like this much less likely to derail your perfectly planned publication.

blog-body-annual-report

Why are annual reports at risk of error?

Errors are a genuine concern for annual report creators, whether in-house or agency-side.

Annual reports are complex documents - detail-orientated, data-rich and high-profile. Because they provide insights into a whole organization, the process of ideating, collating and executing content is a complex task.

Firstly, there are usually a lot of stakeholders who need to contribute. If you've created any publication in the past, you'll know that more contributors mean higher complexity - at both the creation and sign-off stages. So annual reports are already a complicated beast.

Next, annual report contributors are often very senior within the company. This means they're likely to have a high interest in the content and demanding standards about how it's delivered. This can mean there are more amend-and-approval rounds than on other publications. And often with time-poor contributors who need a little prompting!

And finally, the high profile nature of an annual report means many businesses outsource annual report design to a specialist agency. This adds another dimension to annual report production - one where complexity increases further.

It's ironic really. Accuracy is so essential in annual reports that they're subject to high levels of scrutiny and feedback. And that feedback - without very thorough management - increases the risk of errors occurring.

Whoever produces your annual report - in-house or agency - it’s essential they have a robust process for receiving, amending and signing off content. Otherwise, there’s a serious risk of errors or omissions in the finished document.

How does annual report publishing software reduce the risk of error?

Good annual report publishing software seriously reduces risk caused by project complexity. And it simplifies and speeds up the approval process too. It's a win-win for annual report editors, designers and agencies. Here's how.

With annual report publishing software, everyone works together in a single streamlined system. It combines the end-to-end annual report process into one consolidated workflow - including copy, design and publication.

Stakeholders receive prompts and reminders to keep everyone on track. Contributors can collaborate in real-time (no more emailing PDFs back and forth!). And all amends are automatically saved in a complete audit trail.

Which means:

  • faster, easier collaboration
  • all amends in one place
  • complete record of amends for reference

Do I need annual report creation software?

Annual report design agencies

If you're involved in creating annual reports for clients - for example, you're a creative agency that specialises in annual report production - YES, you do. You create annual reports day in, day out. Annual report production software will make your job quicker, outputs stronger, collaboration easier... and your clients happier.

In-house annual report creators

If you're a marketer or communications manager tasked with creating your business's annual report once a year, you'll not reap ROI from investing in software for JUST this purpose. However, annual report creation software isn't just for annual reports. The technology can be used for all content creation - whether that's brochures, blog posts, web copy or any other content your team creates. So it is definitely worth exploring.

blog-body-annual-report-team

What about digital annual reports?

Annual reports can be physical, digital or both. Digital annual reports don't just have to be a PDF of your printed version. You can use your digital annual report to deliver additional content to readers, such as videos and data visualization graphics.

Imagine the extra impact of hearing about commercial success directly from your CEO for a private sector business. Or watching video testimonials from beneficiaries in an online nonprofit annual report. Or having the ability to interact with your data to see information specific to their interests...

Plus, an online annual report isn't just ideal for increasing content options and engagement. You can also measure engagement using Google Analytics to see how people interact with your content, to help inform future production choices.

Do I need digital annual report software?

If you do want to publish both a printed and digital annual report, your production processes will be more complex than if you just produce a hard-copy annual report.

Fortunately, you don't necessarily need additional digital publishing software to achieve this.

Some annual reporting publishing software allows you to create digital or online annual reports from the content you've already created for your print publication. This means - instead of treating your print and digital annual reports as separate entities - you create content once and publish it to multiple platforms. And with minimal additional effort or input. Isn't that just the dream?!

Of course, if you want to create an all-singing-all-dancing digital annual report, you may need to use separate software to achieve this. It depends on the complexity and sophistication of your plans. But remember that does mean manually handling your content again, which introduces risk, so ensure you have robust checks and cross-referencing measures in place.

Best annual report publishing software

Obviously, you're reading this article on the WoodWing website, so we're going to say WoodWing Studio is the best software for annual report publishing. (You can check out this annual report success story for our client, Argyle for something more impartial.)

Let us explain what Studio does and how it helps. WoodWing Studio provides a single, secure, shared system where contributors can work together on annual report production.

It provides a streamlined production workflow that includes:

  • copy and content development
  • graphic design
  • review and approval processes
  • sign-off to publication - for both print and digital annual reports

With WoodWing Studio, you can create accurate annual reports faster, with higher quality control and financial checks, as well as a better contributor experience. Perfect for satisfying those busy VIP stakeholders with minimal time but maximum interest in the project.

blog-body-annual-report-woodwing-studio

How WoodWing Studio streamlines annual report creation

WoodWing Studio is an annual report editor that streamlines the whole process of annual report production and insulates creators against risk. Here's how it works...

Editorial workflow

It starts with the editorial workflow, providing a shared space for contributors to create and finalize copy. You can easily create copy with the built-in text editor and assign it to other stakeholders for amends or approval.

Throughout the production process, stakeholders will receive a notification when their involvement is needed, to keep things flowing smoothly. They can also log in and see a personalized dashboard of their outstanding tasks.

Design workflow

Once the copy is ready, it can move to design. It doesn't matter if you're designing for print or web because WoodWing Studio does it all.

It integrates seamlessly with Adobe InDesign, so you can place copy directly into your annual report template and edit the layout. You can also integrate it with your web CMS to pull text into the web page for your online annual report. And all in just a few clicks.

That's not all though. Seamless integration with our digital asset management software, WoodWing Assets, means you can also effortlessly search and place assets into your designs too. Whether they're images, video or graphic design elements for data visualization.

It's that easy to turn your copy into an annual report layout - for both printed reports and digital reports - and ensure accuracy and consistency between the two.

Before WoodWing Studio, the main issue was managing our client edits on their financial reports. We’d layout the report using on-premise design software then send a PDF output to clients. They’d review it and email us amends. We then had to compile and make the amends, create a revised PDF and send it back to the client. Now, with the help of WoodWing Studio, time applying changes and sending revised PDFs is cut down. Clients can make their own edits on the report and return them to use within the system. We can make those amends immediately and clients can download a new PDF instantly with no need to use email or FTP to transfer file.
Ronnel San Gabriel, Tech Product Manager at Argyle

Read the full Argyle case study to see how they use WoodWing Studio for streamlined risk-free annual report production

Approval workflow

Once your designs are ready, you can share them with stakeholders for feedback, amends and approval.

Because you're sharing content in real-time within the system, there's no need to create and share PDFs via FTP or email. Making for a much better stakeholder experience.

And it means all amends are captured WITHIN the system and all in ONE PLACE. You don't need to worry about amends getting lost or losing something in translation. You can see exactly what's changed, who changed it, who approved it, ask questions in real-time, and get to final decisions faster.

Plus you automatically have a complete audit trail of all amends. Ideal for financial reporting - or any section - where you want to cross-reference your finished annual report to the amends requested.

Benefits of WoodWing Studio for annual report production

  • Secure collaboration - No need to share embargoed or sensitive commercial information via email or FTP sites. All parties collaborate in a secure system with no external file transfer required.
  • Multi-stakeholder mark-up - See all stakeholder markup instantly in a single place - with on-page multi-stakeholder mark-up - and accept amends in a click.
  • Reduced risk of inaccuracy - Reduce the risk of error and omission by applying stringent production checks and workflows, to make sure data is accurate before publication.
  • Review and approval workflows - Streamline production workflows with review and approval workflows, that prompt relevant stakeholders to check, amend and sign off content.
  • Automatic audit trail - Record all amends automatically, so you can find out who made changes and when, letting you quickly resolve any issues arising.

Ready for more control over your annual reports? Contact us for a demo today.

Shape

Published on April 11, 2022

Magdalena Ivanova

Magdalena is a digital marketer and tech enthusiast with multiple marketing disciplines under her belt. Her articles cover various topics, including all things marketing, digital asset management, interviews, and opinions.

Back to the overview

Placeholder