TPS Report

A TPS report (Test Procedure Specification report) is a formal QA document, defined under the IEEE 829 standard, that describes how a specific test or suite of tests is to be physically executed. It specifies the setup required, the step-by-step procedure to be followed, the expected outcomes at each step, and the criteria for determining whether the test has passed.

TPS reports are produced downstream of test design and test case specification, serving as the operational instructions that a tester follows when running the test.

The term acquired a second, cultural life through Mike Judge’s 1999 satirical film Office Space, set in a mid-1990s software company. In the film, TPS reports — along with the requirement to attach a standardized cover sheet whose specification has just changed — become a running symbol of petty, process-obsessed management and the soul-crushing weight of corporate bureaucracy. "TPS report" has since passed into common usage as shorthand for any piece of pointless, mandatory paperwork that serves process rather than purpose.