Is it possible to display additional fields on the entries list in admin? For example, in addition to the auto-generated title for an entry is it possible to display another column alongside with another field? I would like data input be as easy as possible for the client. The more information available on this page to view and sort by the better.

Unless there is another way to approach this I am not aware of? Would a plugin be required for example?
Yes, since Craft 2.3 you can edit the CP's index views for entries, assets, etc. from a plugin.

Have a look at the documentation for the hooks defineAdditionalEntryTableAttributes and getEntryTableAttributeHtml to see some sample code. Making a little plugin for this is easy, simply copy and paste the above sample code into your primary plugin class and then edit the parameters.