acronym (noun)
an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of a series of words in the name or title of something or a phrase, pronounced as a single word.
Acronyms have always been prevalent in business environments as an acceptable form of shorthand. With so many of us now working remotely, email and direct messaging is more important than ever, and any level of abbreviation can help us to speed up communication and save valuable time. That is provided you know how to decipher them!
Remember that you are still writing in a business context; whilst sometimes you can afford to be less formal, do not cross the line in to unprofessionalism by being too colloquial. Also be aware that sentences containing too many acronyms can become unintelligible, so refrain from over use.
So to avoid the arkward situation of having to ask for clarification, here are some of the Best Business Acronyms Explained (BBAE isn’t one of them).
Know Your Business.
B2B ………. Business To Business
B2C ………. Business To Customer
BD ……….. Business Development
SMB ………. Small to Medium Business
KPI ………. Key Performance Indicator, a way of measuring something crucial to business success
Who’s who in the boardroom?
CEO ………. Chief Executive Officer
CFO ………. Chief Financial Officer
COO ………. Chief Operating Officer
CTO ………. Chief Technology Officer
VP ……….. Vice President
Departments and Divisions.
HR …….…. Human Resources
CRM ………. Customer Relationship Management
CSR ………. Corporate Social Responsibility
R&D ………. Research & Development
QC …….…. Quality Control
PR …….…. Public Relations
Time frame time savers.
YTD ………. Year To Date
MOM ………. Month Over Month, that month’s figures compared with previous month’s
QOQ ………. Quarter Over Quarter, that quarter’s figures compared with previous quarter’s
YOY ………. Year Over Year, (you guessed it…) that year’s figures compared with previous year’s
EOD ………. End Of Day, also EOP (play), EOW (week), EOT (thread)
COB ………. Close of Business
Financially yours.
AP …….…. Accounts Payable, Invoices that need to be paid by the business
AR …….…. Accounts Receivable, Invoices that the business send out for payment
P/E …….…. Price to Earnings, market price per share divided by actual earnings per share
P&L ………. Profit and Loss, business revenue, costs and expenses earned and incurred
ROI ………. Return On Investment, also ROA (assets) and ROE (equity)
TOS ………. Terms Of Service, also T&C (Terms & Conditions)
CPU ………. Cost Per Unit
EBIT ……… Earnings Before Interest & Tax
Telling it how it is.
IAM ………. In A Meeting
FYI ………. For Your Information
OOO ………. Out Of Office
ICYMI …… In Case You Missed It
LMK ………. Let Me Know
OMW ………. On My Way
OTP ………. On The Phone
WFH ………. Working From Home
TL;DR ………. Too Long; Didn’t Read (to be used with caution!)
WTFWYT ……. Again, best avoided.