Finding bugs is only half of QA. The other half is communicating them so clearly that the developer or platform owner can fix them without asking follow-up questions. A professional QA report is the deliverable that makes your work valuable.
Report Structure
A good QA report has four sections:
1. Summary
A brief overview at the top: how many bugs were found, how many are critical, and an overall assessment of the site's readiness.
Example:
Tested sabaoon.dev on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari across desktop and mobile. Found 12 issues: 2 Critical, 4 Major, 6 Minor. The site is not production-ready due to the broken checkout form on mobile Safari and the missing email confirmation on contact form submission.
2. Bug List (Sorted by Severity)
List every bug found, with the critical ones first.
3. Screenshots/Recordings
Annotated screenshots or screen recordings for each bug. Visual evidence removes ambiguity.
4. Recommendations
Optional but valuable — brief suggestions for improvement beyond the bugs (e.g. "Consider adding a loading state to the submit button").
Severity Classification
Critical — The user cannot complete a core action. Fix before launch.
- Checkout form fails to submit
- Login doesn't work
- Page doesn't load
- Data loss on submission
Major — The user experience is significantly impaired. Fix soon.
- Mobile layout is broken but site is usable
- Form submits but confirmation email doesn't arrive
- A link goes to the wrong page
- Key content is hidden by an element
Minor — Small issues that don't block users. Fix when time allows.
- Text is slightly misaligned
- Hover state is missing on a non-critical button
- An image is slightly slow to load
- A typo in non-critical content
Writing a Good Bug Report
Each bug report should answer:
Title: Short, specific description
"Contact form submits successfully but no email received"
Steps to reproduce:
- Navigate to /contact
- Fill in all fields with valid data
- Click "Send Message"
- Observe the success message appearing
Actual result:
Success message appears in the UI but no email is received at the destination address (tested with two different email addresses).
Expected result:
Email is received at the configured destination within 2 minutes of submission.
Severity: Critical
Screenshot/recording: [attached]
Environment: Chrome 124, macOS 14, desktop
Tools for Creating Reports
For screenshots: Cleanshot X (Mac) or Snagit — let you annotate with arrows and highlights For screen recordings: Loom — records and shares video with a link instantly For the report itself: Notion, Google Docs, or a simple PDF
Keep the report format consistent. If you deliver consistent, well-structured reports, clients know what to expect and trust your work more.
Delivering the Report
Send the report with a brief cover message explaining the overall finding. Flag the critical issues explicitly so the recipient knows what needs immediate attention.
Offer to walk through the report on a call if there are complex bugs or if the client might need help understanding the findings.
A clear, professional report turns a QA session into a business deliverable. That's the difference between a tester and a QA professional.