The main goal of an executive summary is to provide the reader with a condensed version of your following report.  An executive summary can be anywhere from 1 page to 10 pages long--however, it should be no longer than 10% of the actual report.  The point of this summary is to provide readers with an option to skim the report.  It should tell exactly what is contained in the report in a shorter version.

Types of Summaries

There are three types of summaries:

1. Standard Summaries
2. Executive Summaries
3. Abstracts

Standard Summary

The standard summary is the type of summary which refers to another summary of someone's published work.

Abstract

An Abstract's purpose is to highlight some important points about a longer written work.  This gives readers the opportunity to decide whether they're interested in reading the longer text.

Executive Summary

An Executive Summary summaries a report for the reader. This summary may repeat copies of text within your report as long as the entire summary is a shortened version of your report.   Because most business reports include recommendations in the conclusion, it is important to include that part in your summary as well.