70 Business Acronyms & Abbreviations You Should Know

Here is your cheat sheet to deciphering the most common business acronyms used in 2021.

Suppose your colleague or boss dropped a mail written PFA, or your manager messaged you an ‘OOO.’ What now? Is there a mistype, or is it you out of the loop here? Well, let me tell you. PFA stands for Please Find Attached, and OOO stands for Out Of Office. These are Acronyms of the corporate world. Corporate professionals use acronyms to save time and make communication efficient and fast. There is a saying that – ‘Every second count in the corporate world’.

The acronyms came into existence during the time of Ancient Rome! The AM and PM that we use today are dated back to the time of the Roman Empire. But acronyms spread worldwide after the industrial revolution in the 19th century. But again, its popularity came with the emergence of today’s social media. The social media revolution gave birth to most modern acronyms. As social media gained more popularity, people started seeking out more efficient and time-saving ways to communicate and interact with each other. This gave birth to numerous acronyms.

Contents

• Corporate World Acronyms
• 1. Texting/Messaging
• 2. Business/IT Terms
• 3. Some General Terms

Corporate World Acronyms

It doesn’t matter if you are a fresher or an experienced professional with years of experience; you must know specific acronyms used in the corporate world every day. In this article, I have included the most widely used acronyms. I am sure that you’d have encountered most of them in your daily corporate life.

FYI there are more than 150+ acronyms used in the business world. But let us get on with some of the most widely used acronyms. Let’s discuss the most common workplace abbreviations and business acronyms:

1. Texting/Messaging

• ASAP – as soon as possible (Shows urgency towards a task)
• EOM – End of the message (Inculcates the whole message into the subject line only)
• EOD – End of day (Used to give a deadline for the day)
• WFH – Work from home
• ETA – Estimated time of arrival (Used to state the arrival time of someone or something quickly)
• PFA – Please find attached (Used to indicate the attachments in a mail or message)
• KRA – Key result areas (This is used to define goals and plans to achieve at work)
• TAT – Turn around time (Used to indicate the response time)
• QQ – Quick question
• FYI – For your information
• OOO – Out of Office

Also Read: A Comprehensive Guide to Discord Text Formatting

2. Business/IT Terms

• ABC – always be closing
• B2B – Business to business
• B2C – business to consumer
• CAD – computer-aided design
• CEO – chief executive officer
• CFO – chief financial officer
• CIO – chief investment officer/chief information officer
• CMO – chief marketing officer
• COO – chief operating officer
• CTO – chief technology officer
• DOE – depending on the experiment
• EBITDA – Earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization
• ERP – enterprise resource planning (business management software that a company can use to store and manage data from every stage of business)
• ESOP – employee stock ownership plan
• ETA – estimated time of arrival
• HTML – hypertext mark-up language
• IPO – initial public offering
• ISP – Internet service provider
• KPI – key performance indicators
• LLC – limited liability company
• MILE – maximum impact, little effort
• MOOC – massive open online course
• MSRP – manufacturer’s suggested retail price
• NDA – non-disclosure agreement
• NOI – net operating income
• NRN – no reply necessary
• OTC – over the counter
• PR – public relations
• QC – quality control
• R & D – research and development
• RFP – request for proposal
• ROI – return on investment
• RRP – recommended retail price
• SEO – search engine optimization
• SLA – service level agreement
• VAT – value-added tax
• VPN – a virtual private network

3. Some General Terms

• BID – Break it down
• COB – Close of business
• EOT – End of thread
• FTE – Full-time employee
• FWIW – For what it’s worth
• IAM – In a meeting
• KISS – Keep it simple stupid
• LET – Leaving early today
• NIM – No internal message
• OTP – Over the phone
• NRN – No reply necessary
• NSFW – Not safe for work
• SME – Subject matter expert
• TED – Tell me, Explain to me, Describe to me
• WIIFM – What’s in it for me
• WOM – Word of mouth
• TYT – Take your time
• POC – Point of contact
• LMK – Let me know
• TL;DR – Too long, didn’t read
• JGI – Just Google it
• BID – Break it down

There are numerous business acronyms in different sectors, all summing up to be even more than two hundred. We have mentioned some of the most commonly used business acronyms in this article. Now that you have gone through them, we are sure that next time your boss sends a KISS in reply, you won’t get all fired up, because it stands for ‘Keep it simple stupid’.

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Anyways, your days of scratching your head and misinterpreting acronyms are gone. Do not forget to leave a comment!