100 Essential Corporate Acronyms

100 Essential Corporate Acronyms

“OMG, WTF are these people talking about?!” might be a sentence you mutter to yourself everyday at work. While it seems like the corporate world goes crazy over acronyms, we know how confusing it can get when these seemingly random alphabets are thrown around on a regular basis.

We’ve rounded up 100 of the most commonly used acronyms in the corporate world – split into 3 categories: business lingoes, technical terms and even job titles.

AYRFTCC: Are You Ready For The Crash Course? (not a real acronym) 

BUSINESS LINGO

AAR: After Action Review

AWOL: Away Without Official Leave

COB: Close of business

In financial terms, this refers to the end of the trading day, or when trading stops.

DM: Direct message or direct mail

EOD: End of day/ End of Discussion

This is commonly referred to as the end of a work day, or literally 2359 depending on the context and the intention of the speaker. It’s good to clarify when somebody uses this for your deadline. 

EOW: End of Week

EOB: End of Business 

Same as COB, it could be use interchangeably 

ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival

FTE: Full-time Employee

F/U: Follow-up

FY: Financial Year

FYA: For Your Action

IMO: In My Opinion

JIT :Just in Time

KIV: Keep in View

LMK: Let Me Know

OOO: Out of Office

OT: Overtime

PFA: Please Find Attached

PFB: Please Find Below

PPT: PowerPoint presentation

POC: Point of Contact

PTE: Part-time Employee

PTO: Paid Time Off

Re: Referring to

RFI: Request for Information

SME: Subject Matter Expert / Small & Medium Enterprise

SOP: Standard Operating Procedure

TAT: Turnaround Time

TBC: To Be Confirmed

TBD: To Be Decided

WEF: With Effect from

WIP: Work in Progress

WRT: With Reference to

 

TECHNICAL

A/C: Account

AP: Accounts Payable

AR: Accounts Receivable

B2B: Business to Business

B2C: Business to Consumer

COD: Cash on Delivery

CPU: Cost Per Unit

CMS: Content Management System

A software application or set of related programs that are used to create and manage digital content. WordPress, Squarespace or Wix are examples of CMS. 

CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility

CTA: Call to Action

CRM: Customer Relationship Management

EPS: Earnings Per Share

EOS: Economies of Scale

ESP: Email Service Provider

ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning

A business management software to help a company store and manage data from every stage of business. 

FOREX: Foreign Exchange

HLE: High Level Estimate

A prediction of how much a project would cost, and the amount of time it would take to complete.

IM: Instant Messaging

IPO: Initial Public Offering

ISP: Internet Service Provider

KPI: Key Performance Indicator

LLC: Limited Liability Company

LWOP: Leave Without Pay

MOU: Memorandum of Understanding

An agreement between parties which includes terms, details, requirements and responsibilities of each party involved.

MOQ: Minimum Order Quantity

MoM: Month-over-Month

MTD: Month-to-Date

NAV: Net Assets Value

NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement

A legally binding contract between the provider and recipient of the confidential material or  information – where these confidential information shall not be disclosed.

NOI: Net Operating Income

PA: Performance Appraisal

P/E: Price to Earnings Ratio

P&L: Profit and Loss

PR: Public Relations

QA: Quality Assurance

QC: Quality Control

QoQ: Quarter-over-Quarter

RSP: Retail Selling Price

R&D: Research and Development

ROI: Return on Investment

SOHO: Small Office/ Home Office

A space where you are able to live and work at, simultaneously. 

SKU: Stock Keeping Unit

SLA: Service Level Agreement

SEO: Search Engine Optimisation

TT: Telegraphic Transfer

TOS: Terms of service

UI: User interface

UX: User experience

USP: Unique Selling Proposition

VAT: Value-Added Tax

VC: Venture Capital

VPN : Virtual Private network

YoY: Year-over-Year

YTD: Year-to-Date

 

POSITIONS & TITLES

CAO: Chief Accounting Officer

CEO: Chief Executive Officer

CFA: Chartered Financial Analyst

CFO: Chief Financial Officer

CIO: Chief Information Officer

CMO: Chief Marketing Officer

COO: Chief Operating Officer

CSO: Chief Security Officer

CTO: Chief Technology Officer

GM: General Manager

MD: Managing Director

PM: Project Manager