From acronyms like “ROI” to the enigmatic “KPI,” these business expressions seem everywhere you turn. Sometimes it even feels like all these acronyms are a whole other language.
But What’s the Point of Them?
- They save time.
- They keep communication concise and to the point.
- They save space on company letters, cover letters, and resumes.
- They ease business communication.
Don’t worry; in this blog post, we’re going to dive headfirst into the world of business acronyms from the ones you hear every day to the ones you may not even believe are a real thing. So let’s dive in and see what acronyms and corporate lingo are out there, and maybe you’ll learn a few that you’d like to start using.
First Things First, What’s An Acronym?
An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the first letters of other words to create a new, shorter word. Many acronyms are pronounced as a regular word (e.g., NASA), but others are said by spelling out the individual letters (e.g., BBC). Here are some examples of acronyms:
- NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- AKA – Also Known As
- ASAP – As Soon As Possible
10 Commonly Used Business Acronyms
There are a ton of acronyms out there, some more formal or informal than others. But here’s a list of commonly used acronyms that were born in the office for the office.
- EOW: End Of Week
- EOD: End Of Day
- OOO: Out Of Office
- N/A: Not Applicable
- TBD: To Be Decided
- AWOL: Absent Without Leave
- ETA: Estimated Time Of Arrival
- PTO: Paid Time Off
- NWR: Not Work Related
- Re: Referring to
18 People and Department Acronyms
It’s safe to say that we’ve all heard of a CEO and VP before, but there are some positions and departments you may not have heard of or know their acronyms. So here you go!
- CEO: Chief Executive Officer
- CFO: Chief Financial Officer
- COO: Chief Operating Officer
- CTO: Chief Technology Officer
- VP: Vice President
- AE: Account Executive
- HR: Human Resources
- PM: Product Manager/ Project Manager
- QC: Quality Control
- QA: Quality Assurance
- R&D: Research & Development
- MDR: Marketing Deverlopent Representative
- SDR: Sales Development Representative
- BD: Business Development
- CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility
- PR: Public Relations
- PA: Personal Assistant
- HQ: Headquarters
10 Human Resource (HR) Acronyms
- HRMS: Human Resources Management System
- HRIS: Human Resource Information System
- ATS: Applicant Tracking System
- DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- HRD: Human Resources Development
- ESO: Employee Stock Option
- C&B: Compensation and Benefits
- PTO: Paid Time Off
- WFH: Work From Home
- AR: Annual Review
20 Marketing & Sales Acronyms
- B2B: Business to Business
- B2C: Business to Consumer
- C2C: Consumer to Consumer
- BR: Bounce Rate
- CMS: Content Management System
- CTA: Call To Action
- CTR: Click Through Rate
- CR: Conversion Rate
- LTV: Lifetime Value
- CRM: Customer Relationship Management
- OKRs: Objectives and Key Results
- KPI: Key Performance Indicator
- PPC: Pay Per Click
- SEO: Search Engine Optimization
- SM: Social Media
- SMB: Small to Medium Business
- OC: Opportunity Cost
- WOMM: Word Of Mouth Marketing
- CPC: Cost-per-Click
- SaaS: Software-as-a-Service
19 Technical Acronyms
- IT: Information Technology
- UI: User Interface
- UX: User Interface
- API: Application Program Interface
- CSS: Cascading Style Sheet
- FTP: File Transport Protocol
- HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol
- HTTPS: HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure
- IP: Internet Protocol
- ISP: Internet Service Provider
- OS: Operating System
- LAN: Local Area Network
- DNS: Domain Name System
- XML: Extensible Markup Language
- ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
- ISO: International Standards Organization
- VPN: Virtual Private Network
- RSS: Rich Site Summary
- AI: Artificial Intelligence
12 Financial Acronyms
- ROA: Return On Assets
- ROI: Return On Investment
- P&L: Profit and Loss
- ACCT: Account
- AP: Accounts Payable
- AR: Accounts Receivable
- BS: Balance Sheet
- CPU: Cost Per Unit
- CR: Credit
- DR: Debit
- EPS: Earnings Per Share
- FIFO: First In, First Out