Popular Workplace Abbreviations & Business Acronyms in English

Workplace abbreviations in English! Below is the most common workplace abbreviations and business acronyms that you should learn.

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. In written English, we use abbreviations to shorten common sentences to save time.

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Workplace Abbreviations and Business Acronyms

Examples of Workplace Abbreviations

1. ASAP

ASAP = as soon as possible (If this is an Email from your boss, drop everything else and work on the report!)

E.g. “Send me the report ASAP”.

2. FYI

FYI = for your information (When you share information to keep people in the loop, it’s FYI.)

E.g. “FYI, this is the update I got from the team.”

3. EOD

EOD = end of day (End of day can mean before closing time or before you or Roohi leave for the day, whichever happens first.)

E.g. “John, I will send you the details by tomorrow EOD”.

5. ATTN

ATTN=attention (Used to indicate who a letter is for)

E.g. “Attn: John Smith”

6. N/A

N/A= not applicable (It is used to indicate when information in a certain table cell is not provided, either because it does not apply to a particular case in question or because the answer is not available.)

E.g. “How old is your son?: N/A” (because the person is still single).

7. COB

COB =Close of business (Used to refer to the end of a working day, usually when stating a deadline)

E.g. “This is just a reminder that the survey is still open and will remain open until COB today”

8. COD

COD = cash on delivery (It is a mode of payment; you pay when the goods are delivered.)

E.g. “We don’t have to pay the printer now. It’s COD.”

9. TBD

TBD = to be decided (You will know it eventually.)

E.g. “No. of participants: TBD”

10. RSVP

RSVP= Répondez s’il vous plait (RSVP is indeed French and it stands for répondez s’il vous plaît. It literally means “please respond”. RSVP is now a fixed idiom, even in French.)

E.g. “RSVP to John by April the 20th”

List of Workplace Abbreviations

Here is a list of some common workplace abbreviations in English:

ASAP (As Soon As Possible)
CC (Carbon Copy)
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
COO (Chief Operating Officer)
CTO (Chief Technical Officer)
EOD (End Of Day)
EOM (End Of Month)
EOY (End of Year)
HR (Human Resources)
IT (Information Technology)
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
L&D (Learning and Development)
MTD (Month-to-Date)
PDF (Portable Document Format)
PTO (Paid Time Off)
R&D (Research and Development)
RFP (Request for Proposal)
ROI (Return on Investment)
VP (Vice President)
WFH (Work From Home)
YTD (Year-to-Date)
P&L (Profit and Loss)
C&B (Compensation and Benefit)
OJT (On-the-job Training)
C&S (Client and Server)
PM (Project Manager)
PMO (Project Management Office)
QA (Quality Assurance)
QoS (Quality of Service)
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

Other Business Abbreviations

Some abbreviations can be used in emails or chatting online, some are specific to the virtual workplace.

Acct – Account
Ad– Advertisement
Approx – Approximately
APR – Annual percentage rate
BS- Bachelor of Science Degree
B2B – Business to business
BA – Bachelor of Business Administration Degree
CEO – Chief Executive Officer
CFO – Chief Financial Officer
Co. – Company
Corp. – Corporation
CSR – Customer Sales Representative
Dept. – Department
Div – Division
Ea. – Each
EST – Eastern Standard Time (the time on the East Coast of the United States and some Canadian provinces)
FAQ – Frequently Asked Question
FWD – Forward
GDP – Gross Domestic Product
Govt. – Government
HQ – Headquarters
Inc. – Incorporated
ISO – International Organization for Standardization
Jr. – Junior
Lb. – Pound (weight)
LLC – Limited liability company
Max – Maximm
MBA – Master of Business Administration Degree
Memo- Memorandum
Mfg– Manufacturing
Min. – Minium
Mo – Month
No – Number
Pkg – Package
PO – Purchase order
PR – Public relations
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 – First quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter
Qty – Quantity
R&D – Research and Development
Re – In regards to, regarding
Recd. – Received
ROI – Return on Investment
SWOT – Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
Temp – Temporary Secretary
VP – Vice President
W/ – With
W/O – Without
Yr. – Year
404 – Abbreviation for the “Error 404 – Not Found” message displayed when coming across a dead link online. Can also mean lost or confused, e.g. “After coming out of the weekly staff meeting, I still felt 404.”
COOP – Continuity of operations planning.
EOM – End of message.
EOT – End of thread.
ESP – Email service provider
FWIW – “For what it’s worth.” Commonly used in email communications.
IAM – “In a meeting.”
IM – instant message.
IMO – “In my opinion.” Commonly used in email communications or IMHO – “in my humble opinion.”
KPI – Key performance indicator.
KRA – Key result area.
MBO – Management by objectives.
NSFW – Not Safe For Work. Your college buddy has just sent you a link titled “Check this out! (NSFW).” Don’t click on it if you value your job.
NWR – Not work related.
OLT – Online Training.
OTP – “On the phone.”
RACI – tool used to assign roles and responsibilities to team members. Stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.
ROWE – Results Only Work Environment.
SMART – used in goal setting, it stands for Specific, Measureable, Attainable or Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
SME – subject matter expert.
SNS – Social network site.
SOHO – Small Office / Home Office.
VC – Virtual Class.
VLE – Virtual learning environment.
VPN – Virtual private network.
VW – virtual worker.
VWVW – virtual worker at virtual workplace.
WAH – Work At Home, see WFH.
WBT – Web-based training.
WIIFM – “What’s in it for me?”
WFH – Work From Home.
401k – A common type of US retirement savings plan