If by "update a report table" you mean inserting into it, the trigger is just fine. Something else is going and you just need to find it. Perhaps a long winded explicit transaction is to blame.

As to "quieting managment" by taking a shortcut goes, don't do it. If you do something to make it "good enough" (and it won't be... it'll catch ya again in the future), you won't be given the time to go back and fix it correctly.