250+ Common Business Acronyms, Abbreviations & Slang Terms

Job Titles and Department Abbreviations | Business Terms

List of job titles and department abbreviations in business.

  • BKPR: Bookkeeper
  • CAO: Chief Accounting Officer
  • CEO: Chief Executive Officer
  • CFO: Chief Financial Officer
  • CIO: Chief Information Officer
  • CMO: Chief Marketing Officer
  • COO: Chief Operating Officer
  • CPA: Certified Public Accountant
  • CTO: Chief Technology Officer
  • PRO: Public Relations Officer
  • Director R&D: Director of Research and Development
  • HRM: Human Resource Manager
  • CDO: Chief Data Officer
  • RMP: Risk Management Professional
  • AAMS: Accredited Asset Management Specialist
  • AASA: Assistant Area Sales Advisor
  • AAVP: Associate Administrator for Veterans Programs
  • AB: Administrative Board
  • ABCP: Associate Business Continuity Planner
  • ABM: Area Business Manager
  • ABR: Accredited Buyer’s Representative
  • ABW: Activity Based Workplace
  • AC: Academic Counselor
  • ACC: Association Corporate Counsel
  • AD: Assistant Deputy
  • AD: Assistant Director
  • ADC: Assistant District Commissioner
  • ADAF: Associate Director of Administration and Finance
  • ADI: Advanced Driving Instructor
  • ADOF: Associate Director of Finance
  • ADRP: Assistant Director for Research and Planning
  • AM: Administration Manager
  • ABA: Accredited Business Accountant
  • AM: Accounts Manager
  • AA: Accounting Assistant
  • STRATCOM: Strategic Communications
  • ADR: Associate Dean for Research
  • ADU: Academic Development Unit
  • PA: Personal Assistant
  • PR Dept.: Public Relations Department
  • IT Dept.: Information Technology Department
  • HR Dept.: Human Resource Department

Finance and Accounting Abbreviations | Business Terms

List of finance abbreviations and accounting abbreviations in English.

  • A/R: Accounts Receivable
  • ACCG: Accounting
  • ACCT: Account
  • ACR: Accrual
  • ACV: Actual Cash Value
  • AGI: Adjusted Gross Income
  • AGR: Adjusted Gross Revenue
  • AIR: Assumed Interest Rate
  • AP: Accounts Payable
  • APR: Annual Percentage Rate
  • ARM: Adjustable Rate Mortgage
  • B&C: Bonds and Coupons
  • BGT: Budget
  • BS: Balance Sheet
  • CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate
  • CAP: Capital
  • CAPEX: Capital Expenditures
  • CD: Certificate of Deposit
  • CF: Cash flow
  • CL, LTL: Liabilities (current and long-term)
  • COB: Close of Business
  • COGS: Cost of Goods Sold
  • CPA: Certified Public Accountant
  • CR: Credit
  • DR: Debit
  • EA: Enrolled Agent
  • EFT: Electronic Funds Transfer
  • EPS: Earnings Per Share
  • ETF: Exchange Traded Funds
  • FA, CA: Assets (fixed and current)
  • FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
  • FIFO: First In, First Out
  • FOREX: Foreign Exchange
  • FRB: Federal Reserve Board
  • GAAP: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
  • GL: General Ledger
  • GNP: Gross National Product
  • GP: Gross Profit
  • IRA: Individual Retirement Account
  • LC: Letter of Credit
  • LIFO: Last In, First Out
  • LLC: Limited Liability Company
  • LOI: Letter Of Intent
  • MMKT: Money Market
  • MTD: Month-to-Date
  • NAV: Net Asset Value
  • NCND: Non-Circumvent and Non-Disclosure
  • NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement
  • NI: Net Income
  • NYSE: New York Stock Exchange
  • OC: Opportunity Cost
  • OE: Equity and Owner’s Equity
  • P&L: Profit and Loss
  • P/E: Price to Earnings Ratio
  • PC: Percent
  • Pd: Paid
  • PSP: Profit Sharing Plan
  • PV: Present Value
  • QTD: Quarter-to-Date
  • Re or RE: In Reference to, Retained Earnings
  • REIT: Real Estate Investment Trust
  • ROA: Return On Assets
  • ROCE: Return On Capital Employed
  • ROE: Return On Equity
  • ROI: Return on Investment
  • ROIC: Return on Invested Capital
  • RONA: Return On Net Assets
  • ROS: Return on Sales
  • SEC: Securities Exchange Commission
  • SIV: Structured Investment Vehicle
  • TSA: Tax-Sheltered Annuity
  • TSR: Total Shareholder Return
  • WC: Working Capital
  • YTD: Year-to-Date
  • YTM: Yield To Maturity

Social Media Abbreviations / Digital Marketing Acronyms | Business Terms

List of social media acronyms and digital marketing abbreviations in English.

  • AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
  • AJAX: Asynchronous JavaScript And XML
  • API: Application Program Interface
  • ASP: Application Service Provider
  • CLV: Customer Lifetime Value
  • CMS: Content Management System
  • CPA: Cost Per Acquisition / Action
  • CPC: Cost Per Click
  • CPL: Cost Per Lead
  • CPM: Cost Per Thousand
  • CPV: Cost Per View
  • CR: Conversion Rate
  • CRM: Customer Relationship Management
  • CRO: Conversion Rate Optimisation
  • CSS: Cascading Style Sheets
  • CTA: Call To Action
  • CTR: Click Through Rate
  • CX: Customer Experience
  • DM: Direct Mail (or ‘Direct message’, in Twitter circles)
  • DMP: Data Management Platform
  • DNS: Domain Name System
  • ECPM: Effective CPM
  • EPC: Earnings Per Click
  • EPM: Earnings Per Thousand
  • ESP: Email Service Provider
  • FB: Facebook
  • FTP: File Transfer Protocol
  • GA: Google Analytics
  • IM: Instant Messaging
  • IMAP: Internet Message Access Protocol
  • IP: Intellectual property (or ‘Internet Protocol’)
  • IPTV: Internet Protocol Television
  • ISP: Internet Service Provider
  • KPI: Key Performance Indicator
  • LTV: Lifetime Value
  • MoM: Month on Month
  • MLM: Multilevel Marketing
  • MVT: Multivariate Testing
  • OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer
  • OS: Operating System (sometimes this is used for ‘open source’)
  • PPC: Pay Per Click
  • PPL: Pay Per Lead
  • PPV: Pay Per View
  • PR: Page Rank
  • PV: Page Views
  • QR Code: Quick Response Code
  • QS: Quality Score
  • RFI: Request For Information
  • RON: Run of Network
  • RT: Retweet
  • RTB: Real Time Bidding
  • RTD: Real Time Data
  • SEM: Search Engine Marketing
  • SEO: Search Engine Optimisation
  • SERP: Search Engine Results Page
  • SM: Social Media
  • SME:  Small / Medium Enterprise. (aka SMB = ‘business’)
  • SMM: Social Media Marketing
  • SMO: Social Media Optimisation
  • SMP: Social Media Platform
  • SMS: Short Message Service
  • SOV: Share Of Voice
  • TLD: Top Level Domain
  • TOS: Terms Of Service
  • UI: User Interface
  • UGC: User Generated Content
  • UV: Unique Visitor
  • UX: User Experience
  • VOD: Video On Demand
  • VM: Viral Marketing
  • WOMM: Word Of Mouth Marketing

Business Slang Terms: Email Abbreviations

List of email business abbreviations in English.

  • FYI: For Your Information
  • GMTA: Great Minds Think Alike
  • RUOK: Are you Okay?
  • ASAP: As Soon As Possible
  • BTW: By The Way
  • EOD: End Of Day
  • ATTN: Attention
  • N/A: Not Applicable
  • COB: Close Of Business
  • TBD: To Be Decided
  • RSVP: Please Respond
  • 2MI: Too Much Information
  • 2M2H: Too Much To Handle
  • AFC: Away From Computer
  • AEAP: As Early As Possible
  • AFK: Away From Keyboard
  • AMBW: All My Best Wishes
  • A/N: Author’s Note
  • APP: Application
  • ATEOTD: At The End Of The Day
  • AWOL: Away Without Leaving
  • AWOL: Absent Without Leave
  • AYDY: Are You Done Yet?
  • AYEC: At Your Earliest Convenience
  • AYW: As You Want / As You Wish
  • CHK: Check
  • HAG1: Have A Good One
  • HAU: How About You?
  • H2CUS: Hope To See You Soon
  • HAND: Have A Nice Day
  • HF: Have Fun
  • IAC: In Any Case
  • IHNI: I Have No Idea
  • IMHO: In My Humble Opinion
  • IMO: In My Opinion
  • JLMK: Just Let Me Know
  • JW: Just Wondering
  • KUTGW: Keep Up The Good Work
  • OOTO: Out Of The Office
  • PLMK: Please Let Me Know
  • WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get
  • YOY: Year Over Year
  • YTD: Year To Date

General Business Terms

Learn general business abbreviations in English.

Business Terms: Personnel & Organization Abbreviations

  • AGT: Agent
  • HR: Human Resources
  • Slsmn: Salesman
  • Secl: Secretarial
  • PR: Public Relations
  • QC: Quality Control
  • R&D: Research and Development
  • Wrkr: Worker
  • Wrhse: Warehouse

Business Terms: Legal Abbreviations

  • HQ: Headquarters
  • Inc.: Incorporated
  • IPO: Initial Public Offering
  • LBO: Limited Buy Out
  • Ltd.: Limited Company
  • LLC: Limited Liability Corporation

Business Terms :Technical Abbreviations

  • API: Application Program Interface
  • CPU: Central Processing Unit
  • CSS: Cascading Style Sheet
  • FTP: File Transport Protocol
  • HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language
  • HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
  • HTTPS: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure
  • IM: Instant Messaging
  • IP: Internet Protocol
  • ISP: Internet Service Provider
  • OS: Operating System
  • QA: Quality Assurance
  • UI: User Interface
  • WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get

Business Terms: Productivity Abbreviations

  • GTD: Getting Things Done
  • MITs: Most Important Things
  • OHIO: Only Handle It Once
  • GPP: Gross Primary Productivity
  • HPCS: High Productivity Computing Systems
  • SDP: Software Design and Productivity
  • PI: Productivity Index
  • PLB: Productivity Linked Bonus
  • PC: Productivity Commission
  • SPR: Software Productivity Research

Business Terms: Attendance, Time tracking and Start up

  • AA: Attendance Allowance
  • ADA: Average Daily Attendance
  • AMS: Attendance Management System
  • ATAAPS: Automated Time, Attendance, and Production System
  • COA: Cost of Attendance
  • FR: Face Recognition
  • RTT: Real Time Tracking
  • TRUE: Tracking Real-Time User Experience
  • CTT: Critical Time Tracking
  • TTS: Time Tracking Software
  • TTS: Time Tracking System
  • RTTS: Real Time Tracking System
  • SaaS: Software-as-a-Service
  • SU: Start Up
  • SUP: Start Up Program
  • SUE: Start Up and Expansion

Business Terms: Technology Abbreviations

  • IP: Internet Protocol
  • IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force
  • ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode
  • IT: Information Technology
  • ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
  • LAN: Local Area Network
  • SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol
  • FTP: File Transfer Protocol
  • WWW: World Wide Web
  • DNS: Domain Name System
  • PDF: Portable Document Format
  • RF: Radio Frequency
  • XML: Extensible Markup Language
  • IANA: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
  • SIP: Session Initiation Protocol
  • ITU: International Telecommunication Union
  • OSI: Open Systems Interconnection
  • PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network
  • GUI: Graphical User Interface
  • EDI: Electronic Data Interchange
  • ISP: Internet Service Provider
  • TCP: Transmission Control Protocol
  • FDDI: Fiber Distributed Data Interface
  • ISO: International Standards Organization
  • UDP: User Datagram Protocol
  • ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organization
  • MAC: Media Access Control
  • MTP: Message Transfer Part
  • OS: Operating System
  • BGP: Border Gateway Protocol
  • OSPF: Open Shortest Path First
  • QA: Quality Assurance
  • SNA: Systems Network Architecture
  • VPN: Virtual Private Network
  • AIN: Advanced Intelligent Network
  • API: Application Programming Interface
  • ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning
  • NTIS: National Technical Information Service
  • RAM: Random Access Memory
  • AI: Artificial Intelligence
  • ARP: Address Resolution Protocol
  • BRI: Basic Rate Interface
  • CM: Configuration Management
  • CO: Central Office
  • DSL: Digital Subscriber Line
  • PDU: Protocol Data Unit
  • URL: Uniform Resource Locator
  • ANI: Automatic Number Identification
  • DES: Data Encryption Standard
  • DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
  • ITU: International Telecommunication Union
  • SMS: Short Message Service
  • WAP: Wireless Application Protocol
  • AES: Advanced Encryption Standard

Other Business Abbreviations

  • ADP: Automated Data Processing
  • Approx: Approximately
  • Attn: Attention
  • BAT: Business Action Theory
  • BCC: Blind Copied
  • BIMS: Business Information Management Suite
  • BPC: Business Planning Cycle
  • ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival
  • EXP: Export
  • GDP: Gross Domestic Product
  • GMP: Good Manufacturing Practices
  • Pls: Please
  • Qty: Quantity
  • TBD: To Be Determined
  • Thx: Thanks
  • Trd: Trade
  • Trnsfr: Transfer
  • Ttl: Total
  • Unltd: Unlimited
  • Utlztn: Utilization
  • W/O: Without
  • Wst: Waste
  • Whol.: Wholesale
  • Wrkshp: Workshop
  • Wrldwd: Worldwide