4.2 Paragraph Styles

Paragraph Styles

Report Authority contains a number of “out-the-box” styles which have been designed to work together to create financial reports.  Styles that end in (i) are indented versions and are used in the Notes to the accounts.  

The styles and their use include:

Editing Styles

All styles are based on the “Normal” style, and changing the font family of Normal will change all styles accordingly.

To edit a style, click the small square Change Styles button at the bottom right of the control above.

The Edit Style dialog allows you to customise and manage paragraph styles to ensure a consistent and professional appearance across your reports. It provides access to key formatting features, including:

• Styles – Define and modify named styles used throughout your document for headings, body text, tables, etc.
• Font – Set the font, size, colour, and effects (e.g., bold, italic, underline).
• Paragraph – Adjust alignment, spacing, indentation, and line/page break controls.
• Tabs – Define custom tab stops to precisely align text (e.g., for lists, financial columns, or structured content).

Table Styles

The Financial Tables functionality is described in the article  Table Styles and Financial Tables

Indentation Distance

You can edit the distance from the margin that the indented styles are set to in File - Options - Report Styles - Distance from left margin used by indented paragraphs and table styles

This will not only adjust the distance of the indentation of the styles consistent but will also adjust the indented table style to match.

Indents and spacing settings are also accessible through the Paragraph - Indents and Spacing dialog below:

Pagination Considerations

The Line and Page Breaks dialog allows users to control how paragraphs behave across page boundaries. It includes several formatting options that improve document readability and layout consistency, especially when printing or exporting reports.

Widow/Orphan Control

This setting can be used effectively in conjunction with the Keep with next property to keep intact the entire contents of a paragraph on a single page along with the header that preceded it.  Since this behaviour is not always desired - it is not included in any of the paragraph styles and will need to be manually applied.

Keep with next

All Report Authority Professional heading styles have been configured with the paragraph property Keep with next set to true. This is so that if the paragraph immediately following it breaks to the next page - the Header will follow it rather than being the last thing on the previous page. This paragraph style can be added to any paragraph by editing the Paragraph properties shown below:

Keep Lines Together

Use the Keep Lines Together option to prevent a paragraph from breaking across pages. This ensures that all lines in the paragraph stay on the same page, maintaining readability and formatting consistency.

Page Break Before

Enable Page Break Before to force the selected paragraph to always begin at the top of a new page. This is useful for starting sections or headings on a fresh page automatically, without inserting manual breaks.

Tabs

The Tabs configuration feature within the Edit Style dialogue allows you to control the position and alignment of text using tab stops. This is particularly useful when formatting structured content such as financial notes, aligned headings, or columnar layouts. In the Edit Style dialogue, navigate to the Tabs section.

To define a new tab stop:

1. In the Tab Position field, enter the measurement (e.g., 2.5 cm ) where you want the tab stop to be placed.

   Choose the Alignment:

   • Left – Aligns text to the left of the tab stop.
   • Centre – Centres text on the tab stop.
   • Right – Aligns text to the right of the tab stop.
   • Decimal – Aligns numbers by decimal point.
2. Optionally, choose a Leader style (dots, hyphens, or lines) for visual connection.
3. Click Set to apply the tab stop to the style.

Best Practices

• Tab stops apply to paragraphs that use the style you're editing—ideal for consistency across sections.
• Use decimal tab stops for aligning numeric data such as currency or percentages.
• Combine tab stops with hanging indents or bullets for clean formatting in notes and disclosures.