Typographers Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, who are the powers behind the Hoefler & Frere-Jones foundry, recently published an article with tips for people designing annual reports and other number-heavy documents.

Of course, the article features typefaces from H&F-J, but the advice is nonetheless sound: "For setting text, look for a font with variable-width 'proportional' figures; for aligning columns of numbers, choose a font with 'tabular' figures. For annual reports, make sure your font has both..."

Read the full article for more hints on setting tabular figures, and for information on indices (numbers in circles), extended character sets (great for currency symbols, footnotes, etc.), and fonts in grades.