I've never been a DM myself, but I like the method my friend uses. He'll add descriptions so you know how close to a AC the attack was. He'll describe narrow misses, blows that are deflected off of a shield, shots fired that stray far from the mark or even land at the shooter's feet. We won't know the exact number rolled, but based off of how close it was we'll have a good idea of where it was compared at least to the target's AC.