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Suppose this sentence
It would be helpful if you were to precede the report with an introduction.
I just cannot figure out why in this sentence, author used "were to precede". In my opinion shouldn't author use "preceded" instead?
If this sentence is already correct, how can we parse it? What's its tense?
It would be helpful if you were to precede the report with an introduction.
The sentence is correct.
The meaning of the sentence is that it would help if the report-writer added an introduction to the beginning of the report. (So the introduction would precede the actual report.)
As mentioned by @murat in the comments, this other post is of interest.
Essentially, this is the subjunctive mood, which is used primarily for hypothetical situations. From the linked Wikipedia article:
typically used to express various states of unreality such as wish, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or action that has not yet occurred.
