Test Reporting Essentials: Metrics, Practices & Tools for QA Success

This is a guest post by Lavanya C.

A test report gives a clear overview of testing efforts, highlighting key findings and areas for improvement. Whether created manually or using automation tools, it helps teams understand what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs attention.

Beyond just a summary, test reports include visual data and analytics, enabling QA teams to track effectiveness, spot issues, and identify trends. This supports confident, stable product releases.

What is test reporting?

Test artifacts, or deliverables, are documents and reports generated at various stages of the testing lifecycle—planning, design, execution, review, and post-testing.

A test report is one such artifact, providing an overview of the test process implemented for a specific release, milestone, or feature. It documents the outcomes of testing activities and includes visual representations of results, helping QA teams evaluate how effectively their testing process was implemented. 

The report highlights identified issues, blockers, delays, or even skipped tests due to last-minute changes during the test execution period. It also offers insights into overall quality and discusses any challenges encountered, along with suggestions for improvement.

Why do you need a test report?

Test reporting provides insights into how the product aligns with the initial test plan, whether tests are running smoothly, and if any areas need further optimization. This is crucial today for fast releases and quicker data-driven decisions to ensure timely product releases.

Test reports can be viewed in real-time notifications, emails, messages, reporting tools, or within the framework.

Image: Slack notification example

Thorough test reviews help maintain consistent quality across the development process. Detailed test reports keep all stakeholders (developers, project managers, and clients) aligned on project goals, quality standards, and timelines, reducing confusion and miscommunication.

Image: TestRail requirements traceability reports show all test cases that have one or multiple linked requirements (references field).

By examining test results and trends, QA leaders can spot recurring issues or delays. They can then allocate resources and focus on critical parts of the application to guide decision-makers in ensuring that any critical issues are resolved in a timely manner, respecting project calendars, milestones, and sprint planning.

Benefits of a test report

• Tracks execution and documentation: Helps ensure all important test cases are executed and defects are well-documented.
• Structures test results: Organizes and structures results for faster analysis, enabling teams to identify anomalies and analyze areas that work well.
• Evaluates software performance: Includes results to assess how the software performs under various conditions, such as handling peak loads or verifying compatibility across platforms.
• Visualizes performance trends: Helps teams see how tests perform over time.
• Identifies problem areas: Highlights areas where tests frequently fail or cause execution delays.
• Supports data-driven decisions: Provides teams with insights to refine their testing process and make informed decisions about release readiness or shipment delays.
• Improves stakeholder communication: Keeps stakeholders updated on the testing process and enhances collaboration, allowing prompt resolution of issues among team members.
• Guides resource allocation: Assists QA managers in allocating resources effectively according to testing requirements and project demands.
• Standardizes reporting: Follows a standard reporting format to ease the sharing of test result information and facilitate comparisons across milestones or sprints.
• Documents for future use: Serves as a reference for future projects or audits and helps teams learn from past experiences.
• Ensures compliance: Helps ensure adherence to compliance standards and requirements specific to the business domain.
• Enhances retrospectives: Facilitates post-release retrospectives to examine testing strategies, improve processes, and highlight achievements.

Reports for different roles

Business stakeholders

Business stakeholders benefit from high-level summary reports that provide an overview of product quality and readiness for release. These reports help them evaluate when and how to release a product by considering factors like critical defects, test coverage, requirements validation, and user feedback to ensure the product meets business objectives and user needs.

Project managers

Project managers rely on progress and performance reports to examine QA team performance. They review metrics like test completion rates, defect density, and bug resolution times, helping them identify improvement areas and allocate resources to keep the project on track to meet deadlines and goals.

Developers

Developers benefit from problem area and trend reports that help them identify critical areas requiring reinforced unit testing before handing the code off to QA. By analyzing these reports, developers can focus their efforts on areas that need additional attention, ensuring smoother transitions and reducing issues for QA testing.

QA teams

QA teams rely on detailed defect and environmental performance reports to uncover bugs and identify areas for quality improvement. These reports document the software’s performance across various environments and configurations, helping QA teams pinpoint issues and understand how to reproduce them. By reviewing these reports, along with test logs, QA teams can effectively diagnose the root cause of problems and recommend targeted improvements.

Quality managers

Quality managers rely on test results and metrics reports to track progress and effectiveness throughout the testing cycle. These reports present key metrics like test coverage, defect distribution, and overall effectiveness, providing essential insights for decision-making. 

By analyzing these metrics within the reports, quality managers can identify areas for process improvement, determine where to allocate both human and technological resources, and ultimately boost team efficiency and testing productivity.

Product managers

Product managers rely on quality assessment and user feedback reports to gauge whether the product aligns with quality standards and user expectations. These reports provide insights into test results and metrics that can be compared against predefined quality benchmarks and user requirements. By reviewing these insights, product managers can make informed decisions that balance the need for fast delivery with alignment to business goals.

Release managers

Release managers, sometimes in collaboration with QA testers, rely on readiness and defect metrics reports to assess if the product is prepared for deployment. These reports provide figures and percentages aligned with predefined deployment criteria—such as the acceptable rate of open bugs or the resolution of critical issues.

By comparing these metrics against the defined Definition of Ready (DoR) or other release standards, release managers can make informed decisions on whether the product is stable and ready for release.

DevOps engineers

DevOps engineers use test reports to track application performance in production environments. Test reports can signal deployment failures, code integration issues, or unexpected configuration issues in environments.

Designers

Designers can benefit from user feedback and acceptance test reports generated during Beta or Acceptance Testing phases. These reports, which may include insights on user interactions and usability feedback, help designers refine design elements and enhance the overall user experience. While most test reports are used internally, reports from real-user testing phases offer valuable data on how the application performs in real-world scenarios.

How often should test reports be generated, and when are they most useful?

Test reports provide valuable insights that drive quality improvements, regardless of the development methodology in use. While traditionally generated at the end of testing, reports are now often documented at key stages and after major updates as teams adopt more iterative workflows, such as DevOps and CI/CD. This continuous documentation ensures timely insights, supporting improvement efforts across Agile, DevOps, and traditional development environments.

1. During development

Generating reports on test results for each build provides valuable, immediate feedback throughout development. This continuous reporting helps developers monitor code quality, quickly identify issues, and make necessary adjustments, reducing debugging time later in the cycle. For example, if a critical test fails and the reporting tool is configured for notifications, the responsible developer is alerted immediately, allowing them to address the issue right away.

Tools like TestRail generate test reports as soon as tests are executed, offering real-time dashboards that display the latest results. This visibility helps teams track progress and stay aligned with quality goals.

2. Daily summary report

The daily summary report provides key metrics, such as test pass/fail rates, defect counts, and any critical issues identified. This report can be shared during daily stand-ups to give the team a quick status update.

Daily summary reports help the team focus discussions on:

• Features that are stable and ready for release
• Priorities for the day based on defect severity
• Any blockers that need immediate attention

Regularly reviewing testing outcomes fosters accountability among team members, ensuring they stay aligned with project goals and quality standards.

3. Reporting in CI/CD

After each build completes, an automated CI/CD pipeline ( like Jenkins or GitLab CI) automatically triggers the execution of automated test suites without manual intervention. The results from the test run can be compiled in a report. The pipeline can also be configured to log issues, generate test reports, and send them automatically.

4. Pre-release reports

A pre-release report provides an overview of the application’s current stability and readiness for deployment. Before major releases, this report should include details on test coverage, outstanding defects, and any associated risks. If critical issues remain unresolved, managers can use this report to determine whether to proceed with the release or delay it until these issues are addressed.

5. Post-deployment reports

This report is generated after deployment to verify whether the deployment was successful and that all major functionalities are working as expected. If issues are identified, the report will document any malfunctions, failed components, or deviations from expected behavior, helping teams quickly address post-deployment problems.

6. End of sprint report

At the end of each sprint, teams can compile a test report that includes details such as test coverage, defect density, and the status of user stories. This report provides valuable insights into the quality of the deliverables and highlights areas for improvement.

While sprints are central to Scrum, teams using Kanban or other Agile methodologies may generate similar reports at key milestones instead.

Image: TestRail’s milestone summary report shows you your initial test objectives, initial one-page test plan, all the test runs and test plans added within that milestone, the priority you assigned to them, and more. 

Types of test reports

In test management, these three primary types of reports offer valuable insights throughout the testing lifecycle:

• Test incident report
• Test run report
• Test summary report

1. Test incident report

A test incident report is a detailed record of a specific issue encountered during testing. This report is created when an unexpected defect is identified, documenting how it was found during test execution.

These incidents (deviations from the expected outcome) are categorized by severity and/or priority and assigned a unique ID. A test incident report includes details such as test case information, test steps, severity, expected vs. actual outcomes, procedures to reproduce the incident, test logs, and any supporting documentation, along with the assigned person(s) who executed the tests.

Source: Steps involved in the IT management process

 2. Test run report

A test run report provides a comprehensive overview of testing activities for a specific build, product version, or milestone. It helps teams evaluate the quality of the product during a particular phase and guides improvements for future cycles. Key elements of a test run report include:

• Documentation of identified defects, their severity, and their impact on product quality.
• Tracking of unresolved defects from previous runs, linking them to specific features or areas.
• Highlights of new defects and potential challenges as the product evolves.

3. Test summary report

A test summary report is a formal document that provides an overview of all the testing activities completed. It outlines the scope of testing, summarizes the testing processes involved, presents test results, lists defects discovered and resolved, and highlights any issues carried over to the next testing iteration. The report also provides a sign-off on whether the product is ready for release.

This report is shared with key stakeholders such as project managers, QA managers, developers, and clients, offering them a clear understanding of the testing outcomes.

Key components of the report include:

• Pass/fail status of test cases and defect KPIs.
• Summaries and reasons for individual test case failures.
• Detailed bug reports with severity and priority, identifying which were resolved and which were deferred to future iterations.
• Information about the test environment.
• Recommendations for overall product quality and readiness for release.

Image: Streamline the process of producing test summary reports with a dedicated test case management platform like TestRail that lets you define test cases, assign runs, capture real-time results, and schedule automatic reports.

Key components of an effective test report

While the specifics of a test report may vary depending on its type—whether it’s a test incident report, test run report, or test summary report—certain components are commonly included to ensure clarity and value. Below are suggested elements that can be tailored to meet the needs of different stakeholders and testing scenarios:

1. Document history

Document history is particularly useful for comprehensive or project-level test reports, where multiple stakeholders may need to track updates over time. It records the report’s version, creation or modification dates, details of changes made, and the owner or point of contact (POC) responsible for these updates.

While it may not always be necessary for iteration-level or test run reports, maintaining a history can still be valuable in environments with strict audit requirements or when reports evolve over multiple review cycles.

2. Project overview

The project overview is typically included in comprehensive or project-level test reports, providing a quick summary of the entire report. It offers stakeholders a high-level understanding of the testing effort and its scope. This section usually includes:

• Title or name of the project
• Type and scope of the project
• Features under test
• Duration of the testing period (start and end dates)
• Author of the report
• Purpose of the report
• Description of the product
• Test objectives

For smaller-scale reports, such as test run reports, this level of detail may not be necessary but can still provide useful context when multiple iterations are part of a larger project.

3. Test summary

A high-level overview of the testing outcomes that serves as a reference point for stakeholders to evaluate the success and thoroughness of the testing process. This includes:

• Scope of testing: What features or user stories were planned for testing, and which were effectively tested.
• Test objectives: The key goals of testing and clear expectations for the overall testing cycle, including acceptance criteria that define what successful testing looks like.
• Testing approach and types of testing performed: A description of the methodologies used, such as functional testing, exploratory testing, or regression testing. Include the specific types of testing performed (e.g., unit testing, system testing) and indicate which teams were responsible for each.

4. Key test metrics

Key test metrics provide insights into the scope and effectiveness of testing, helping stakeholders evaluate progress and identify areas needing attention. These metrics include:

• The total number of test cases executed, providing a measure of how much of the planned testing effort was completed.
• Metrics related to test case outcomes:
  • Tests passed (met the requirements).
  • Tests skipped (due to dependencies, time constraints, etc.).
  • Tests failed.
  • Tests blocked (due to missing test data or unresolved bugs).

Test coverage is another critical metric, describing the extent to which testing has been performed. Coverage can include:

• Requirement coverage: Whether all user requirements were tested.
• Functional coverage: How much functionality was tested.
• Code coverage: Typically performed by developers, measuring the percentage of code tested.

Graphical representations such as bar charts, pie charts, or trend graphs are commonly used to make test metrics easy to understand at a glance. For example, a pie chart can visualize the distribution of test case outcomes (passed, failed, skipped), while a trend graph can track defect patterns over time.

5. Defect summary

The defect summary provides an overview of the issues identified during testing, helping stakeholders understand their scope and significance. This section focuses on tracking and managing issues that need resolution before release. Key elements include:

• Defect distribution: The total number of defects identified, categorized by severity (e.g., critical, major, minor) and priority (e.g., high, medium, low). This ensures the testing process is evaluated not by the number of defects found but by their impact on product quality.
• Defect log: Summarized in a concise table to avoid excessive length. This log typically includes:
  • Defect ID
  • Severity and priority
  • Current status (e.g., open, in progress, resolved, closed, canceled)
  • Defect type:
    • New bug: Caused by a new feature or recent changes.
    • Deferred bug: Identified but not fixed, providing insight into potential risks in the product.
    • Open bug: Unresolved issues carried over from previous releases.
    • Canceled bug: Issues that were invalid or not reproducible.
    • Closed bug: Issues resolved and verified as fixed.
• Defect trends: Patterns showing changes in defect frequency, severity, or resolution over specific periods, such as sprints, test cycles, or project milestones. This helps identify recurring issues or improvements in defect management over time.
• Other dependent features: Links to related areas or features impacted by the defects, such as shared components, APIs, or third-party integrations, to provide a broader context for the issues.

6. Test environment

Specify the environments in which the application is tested, details about the OS, various browsers and its versions, hardware details like servers and network specs (RAM and storage), device types, databases or other dependencies. Also, any special settings or configurations like user profiles, permissions, and network settings.

7. Areas covered and areas excluded

This section identifies the specific parts of the software that were tested (areas covered) and those left untested (areas excluded) during the testing cycle. Providing this information ensures transparency and helps stakeholders understand the scope and limitations of the testing effort.

Areas covered typically include:

• Core functionalities, such as login workflows or payment processing.
• Features related to newly implemented requirements.
• High-priority areas flagged by stakeholders or end-users for validation.

Areas excluded might include:

• Third-party integrations not ready for testing in the current cycle.
• Low-priority features deferred due to time constraints or limited resources.
• Features planned for future releases.

For continuous reports, this breakdown helps teams focus on the current testing cycle, guiding immediate priorities and next steps. In end-of-project reports, it highlights gaps in testing coverage, potential risks, and areas requiring attention in subsequent releases or projects.

The decision on which areas are covered or excluded is typically made collaboratively by QA leads, project managers, and product stakeholders, based on the project timeline, priorities, and resource availability.

8. Knowledge management

This section is particularly useful in a final test report, capturing ‘lessons learned’ and recommendations for ‘future enhancements.’ It enables teams to reflect on the testing process, document effective practices that contributed to success, and address challenges or areas of improvement for future projects.

For instance, if a particular tool or strategy significantly reduced testing time, it can be highlighted for continued use. Similarly, areas requiring improvement, such as resource allocation or test coverage, should be noted to guide future efforts.

Including this section ensures that insights from the current testing cycle contribute to long-term process improvements across the organization.

9. Overall summary

The overall summary provides a high-level overview of the testing outcomes, emphasizing critical insights for decision-making. This section highlights:

• Areas where the software performed well, such as stability and usability, which are crucial to ensuring the product functions reliably under expected conditions and meets user expectations.
• Major issues that emerged, including those impacting product functionality or user experience.
• Pending dependencies or unresolved items that may affect the product’s readiness.
• Actionable recommendations for future testing cycles, helping to address identified challenges and improve processes.

This section concludes with a statement on the product’s readiness for release or the need for further refinement. This determination should be supported by clear data from the report and aligned with stakeholder priorities. The report must be signed off by QA leads, project managers, or other stakeholders to confirm agreement with the findings and the release decision.

10. Additional details

This could be supporting documents, screenshots, test scripts or log files that provide additional context related to the testing that was performed, useful for audits or training.

Best practices for writing test reports

Tailor the language and details for stakeholders

Adjust the technical details and language in the report so all stakeholders can easily consume it. Provide high-level summaries for management while offering detailed technical insights for developers and QA teams.

Leverage tools like TestRail

• Use tools like TestRail to streamline the process of creating, maintaining, and sharing test reports. TestRail helps ensure consistency and enables teams to track progress and results efficiently.

Use visual aids for clarity

• Incorporate charts, graphs, and tables to communicate complex details clearly and effectively.

Report accurate metrics

• Provide the exact count of test cases, defects, and other key metrics, ensuring that all data is based on actual outcomes rather than assumptions.

Highlight critical issues with actionable steps

• Emphasize critical issues, offer suggestions, and include clear next steps for resolution.

Thoroughly plan and execute test cases

• Ensure all test cases are thoroughly planned and executed to cover all relevant scenarios.

Maintain a version-controlled document repository

• Keep a repository for test reports that is version-controlled, making it easy to reference previous reports or use them as benchmarks when needed.

Attach relevant supporting data

• Include logs, screenshots, or video recordings to help reviewers make informed, data-driven decisions.

Ensure consistency across reports

• Use a consistent format and structure for test reports across different cycles to improve readability and facilitate comparisons over time.

Address risks and challenges

• Mention risks or challenges encountered during testing, along with proposed mitigation strategies.

Document historical insights

• Include information about past defects, recurring platform issues, or problematic features to provide additional context for reviewers.

Standardize templates for efficiency

• Use standardized templates for test documentation to ensure all necessary information is systematically captured. Tools like TestRail provide built-in templates that save time and reduce the effort required to create reports from scratch.

Image: In TestRail, you have a centralized location for all test environment information, making it simple to document and share all of your test information in one collaborative platform

Leveraging automation for better test reports

Manual test reports provide valuable insights that go beyond raw data, capturing tester observations, challenges faced, and detailed feedback on user experience and usability. They also include design feedback, offering a human perspective on the look and feel of the application—something automated tests cannot replicate.

However, creating manual test reports can be labor-intensive and impact productivity, especially when dealing with a large number of test cases. Test automation can streamline the reporting process, making it faster and more efficient while maintaining high-quality output.

Here are some ways test automation can enhance the creation of test reports:

• Improved collaboration and faster feedback: Automation enables visibility into test runs and delivers faster feedback loops across cross-functional teams, ensuring defects are identified and shared quickly.
• Centralized storage: Test results and reports can be stored on centralized platforms, such as TestRail or Jenkins, making them easily accessible for all stakeholders. TestRail also allows teams to create, manage, and share comprehensive test reports effortlessly.
• Real-time reporting: Automated testing processes generate real-time reports, eliminating the delays associated with preparing manual test reports.
• Integration with collaboration tools: Automation frameworks often integrate with tools like JIRA, Slack, or Microsoft Teams, enabling defects to be logged and communicated to teams instantly.
• Enhanced visualization of metrics: Tools such as Allure and Kibana allow for the visualization of test metrics, making it easier to present readable and actionable results to stakeholders.
• Seamless CI/CD integration: Linking automated tests with CI/CD pipelines ensures that every code change is tested immediately, providing up-to-date test results after every build.
• Customizable reports: Automated reporting tools, like TestNG and Allure, offer customization options, allowing QA leaders to tailor reports for different audiences, such as high-level summaries for executives or detailed reports for developers.
• Cloud-based access: Storing test reports on cloud platforms such as Google Drive, SharePoint, or AWS simplifies access, enhances collaboration, and ensures that teams can work from anywhere.

By leveraging tools like TestRail alongside automation, teams can save time, increase efficiency, and ensure consistent, high-quality reporting across all testing phases.

Key metrics to include in test reports 

Including the right metrics in your test reports helps stakeholders evaluate the effectiveness of the testing process and identify areas for improvement. Below are essential metrics to consider:

1. Total Test Cases

Indicates the number of test cases executed, helping assess the overall scope of the test effort for the run.

2. Test Case Status

Breaks down the execution status of test cases, showing how many were executed, passed (met acceptance criteria), failed, blocked (e.g., due to missing test data), or deferred to later cycles.

Image: TestRail’s Release Test Execution Summary Report Shows all test executions associated to a given release (milestone)

3. Test Pass Rate

Indicates the effectiveness of the test run by measuring the percentage of test cases that passed.

Test Pass Rate = (Number of Passed Test Cases ÷ Total Number of Executed Test Cases) × 100

4. Defect Metrics

Defect metrics provide insights into the issues identified during testing, helping teams focus on the most critical problems. These metrics include:

• Total Number of Defects: The overall count of defects found during testing, independent of category or classification.
• Defect Categorization: Defects are categorized by both severity (e.g., high, medium, low) and priority (e.g., critical, high, medium, low).
  • Severity reflects the impact of the defect on the system.
  • Priority indicates how urgently the defect needs to be resolved based on project timelines or business needs.
• Defect Status: Tracks the current state of each defect, such as open, in progress, resolved, or deferred, ensuring teams can monitor progress effectively.

5. Requirement Traceability

Measures the extent to which test cases—both planned and executed—are mapped to requirements. This ensures a comprehensive approach to validating that all features align with user needs and business objectives. Maintaining thorough traceability helps teams identify gaps between planned and executed tests, ensuring that all critical requirements are covered and reducing the risk of missed functionalities.

6. Defect Density

Measures the number of defects per 1,000 lines of code or module to pinpoint problematic areas.

• Low Defect Density: Indicates good quality.
• High Defect Density: Suggests problematic areas that need attention.

7. Test Coverage

Indicates the thoroughness of testing by measuring the percentage of code, features, or requirements tested.

Test Coverage = (Number of Test Cases Executed ÷ Total Testable Features) × 100

This metric helps pinpoint missed areas or high-risk sections with frequent defects.

8. Automation Metrics

Higher automation coverage demonstrates efficient testing, particularly for regression tests.

Automation Coverage = (Number of Automated Test Cases ÷ Total Test Cases (Automated + Manual)) × 100

9. Escaped Defects

Tracks the number of defects found in production after a release. While some defects may be unavoidable due to the complexity of real-world scenarios, monitoring escaped defects helps teams identify areas where testing processes can be improved, reducing the risk of issues impacting end users.

10. Cycle Time

Cycle time measures the total time taken from the start of the testing phase to the completion of all tests. While it can provide insights into potential bottlenecks or resource constraints, comparisons between cycles should consider the context, as different iterations may involve varying complexities, features, or testing scopes. 

This metric is most effective when used to identify trends over time or to assess the efficiency of processes for similar test scopes.

11. Compliance and Regulatory Metrics

Compliance and regulatory metrics ensure that the product adheres to industry standards and legal requirements, which is especially critical in sectors like fintech and healthcare. These metrics can include:

• Number of data breaches identified and resolved: Tracks security incidents to ensure sensitive information is protected.
• Percentage of compliance with required standards: Measures alignment with specific regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS.
• Audit findings and resolution rate: Monitors issues identified during compliance audits and the speed at which they are addressed.

By including such metrics, teams can better assess and demonstrate their commitment to meeting regulatory and industry standards.

12. Deployment Success Rate

Reflects the release readiness and reliability of the software. If there is only one rollback in say out of 10 deployments, this indicates a high success rate.

13. Stakeholder Satisfaction

Stakeholder satisfaction measures the effectiveness of the testing process and how well expectations were met, based on feedback from product owners, business leaders, team members, and customers. This feedback can highlight areas for improvement and provide insights beyond pass/fail results.

Examples of metrics that can be created based on interviews or post-release surveys include:

• Satisfaction score: A rating on a scale (e.g., 1-10) that reflects how well stakeholders feel the testing process met their expectations.
• Defect resolution satisfaction: The percentage of stakeholders satisfied with how defects were identified and resolved during testing.
• Testing communication effectiveness: A metric based on stakeholder feedback about how well testing updates and results were communicated throughout the project.

Including these metrics in test reports allows teams to align testing efforts with stakeholder needs and focus on continuous improvement.

Bottom line

Test reports are essential for stakeholders, providing a clear view of the software and testing process. They help teams identify issues, track progress, and stay aligned while serving as valuable references for future projects.

To maximize their impact, focus on the right metrics and tailored best practices. A well-crafted report supports collaboration, informs decisions, and drives quality improvements.

Discover how TestRail simplifies test reporting with real-time data visualization and report templates. Explore our free TestRail Academy course on Reports & Analytics to learn more.

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