Must-Know Business Abbreviations & Acronyms

If you are into business or work with any aspect of the business industry, knowing common business abbreviations is a must. Business acronyms are part of the everyday vocabulary, and you need to be familiar with the business communication abbreviations to get the most out of scenarios like boardroom discussions or conferences.

Check out this list of business abbreviations curated by Geekflare. We have sorted it into subcategories so you can easily find your chosen acronym from this business abbreviations glossary.

Finance and Accounting

Here are some commonly used financial abbreviations and accounting acronyms.

Acronym	Full Form
AP	Accounts Payable
APR	Annual Percentage Rate
AR	Accounts Receivable
AUM	Assets Under Management
CAGR	Compound Annual Growth Rate
CF	Cash Flow
COGS	Cost of Goods Sold
CPA	Certified Public Accountant
CPI	Consumer Price Index
D/E	Debt-to-Equity Ratio
D&A	Depreciation and Amortization
DCF	Discounted Cash Flow
EBIT	Earnings Before Interest and Taxes
EBITDA	Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
EPS	Earnings Per Share
FIFO	First In, First Out
FY	Fiscal Year
GAAP	Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
GL	General Ledger
IAS	International Accounting Standards
IFRS	International Financial Reporting Standards
IRR	Internal Rate of Return
LIFO	Last In, First Out
NPV	Net Present Value
P/E	Price-to-Earnings Ratio
P&L	Profit and Loss
ROA	Return on Assets
ROE	Return on Equity
ROI	Return on Investment
SORP	Statement of Recommended Practice
YTD	Year to Date

Sales & Marketing

Check out the list of marketing abbreviations and sales acronyms.

Acronym	Full Form
AIDA	Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
B2B	Business-to-Business
B2C	Business-to-Consumer
CPC	Cost Per Click
CPL	Cost Per Lead
CRM	Customer Relationship Management
CTA	Call to Action
CTR	Click-Through Rate
CX	Customer Experience
DA	Domain Authority
DR	Domain Ranking
FOMO	Fear of Missing Out
GA	Google Analytics
KPI	Key Performance Indicator
LSI	Latent Semantic Indexing
PA	Page Authority
PPC	Pay-Per-Click
PR	Page Ranking
SEM	Search Engine Marketing
SEO	Search Engine Optimization
SERM	Search Engine Reputation Management
SERP	Search Engine Results Page
SMM	Social Media Marketing
SMO	Social Media Optimization
UI/UX	User Interface/User Experience
WP	WordPress

Legal

The list of commonly used legal abbreviations is as follows.

Acronym	Full Form
ADR	Alternative Dispute Resolution
AML	Anti-Money Laundering
FCPA	Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulation
HIPAA	Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
IP	Intellectual Property
IPO	Initial Public Offering
LLC	Limited Liability Company
MOU	Memorandum of Understanding
NDA	Non-Disclosure Agreement
POA	Power of Attorney
ROP	Request for Proposal
SEC	Securities and Exchange Commission
SOX	Sarbanes-Oxley Act
T&C	Terms and Conditions

Human Resources

Here are the human resource related acronyms.

Acronym	Full Form
ATS	Applicant Tracking System
C&B	Compensation and Benefits
COBRA	Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
D&I	Diversity and Inclusion
EEO	Equal Employment Opportunity
FMLA	Family and Medical Leave Act
FTE	Full-Time Equivalent
HRBP	Human Resources Business Partner
HRD	Human Resources Development
HRIS	Human Resources Information System
HRMS	Human Resources Management System
I-9	Employment Eligibility Verification Form
KPIs	Key Performance Indicators
L&D	Learning and Development
PTO	Paid Time Off
SOP	Standard Operating Procedure
T&D	Training and Development
TA	Talent Acquisition

General Management

Here are some business jargon used in general management.

Acronym	Full Form
CEO	Chief Executive Officer
CFO	Chief Financial Officer
CHRO	Chief Human Resources Officer
CIO	Chief Information Officer
CMO	Chief Marketing Officer
COO	Chief Operating Officer
CSR	Corporate Social Responsibility
CTO	Chief Technology Officer
ERP	Enterprise Resource Planning
R&D	Research and Development
RFI	Request for Information
RFQ	Request for Quotation
SLA	Service Level Agreement
SWOT	Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
VP	Vice President

Project Management

Project management abbreviations are listed in the following table.

Acronym	Full Form
AC	Actual Cost
BAC	Budget at Completion
CBA	Cost-Benefit Analysis
CR	Change Request
EAC	Estimate at Completion
ETC	Estimate to Complete
EVM	Earned Value Management
MoSCoW	Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have
PDCA	Plan, Do, Check, Act
PM	Project Manager or Project Management
PMBOK	Project Management Body of Knowledge
PMO	Project Management Office
PMP	Project Management Professional
QMS	Quality Management System
RACI	Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed
RAID	Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies
SDLC	Software Development Life Cycle
SOW	Statement of Work
SPI	Schedule Performance Index
WBS	Work Breakdown Structure

Supply Chain and Logistic

Supply chain and logistic abbreviations are listed in the following table.

Acronym	Full Form
AC	Activity-Based Costing
3PL	Third-Party Logistics
4PL	Fourth-Party Logistics
ASN	Advanced Shipment Notice
COO	Country of Origin
ETA	Estimated Time of Arrival
ETD	Estimated Time of Departure
FIFO	First In, First Out
FOB	Free On Board
FTL	Full Truckload
JIT	Just In Time
LIFO	Last In, First Out
LTT	Less Than Truckload
MOQ	Minimum Order Quantity
PO	Purchase Order
POD	Proof of Delivery
RFID	Radio Frequency Identification
RFQ	Request for Quotation
SCM	Supply Chain Management
TMS	Transportation Management System
VMI	Vendor-Managed Inventory
WMS	Warehouse Management System

Startups

Below are some corporate acronyms used in the startup industry.

Acronym	Full Form
ARR	Annual Recurring Revenue
CAC	Customer Acquisition Cost
COGS	Cost of Goods Sold
CVC	Corporate Venture Capital
ESOP	Employee Stock Ownership Plan
IPO	Initial Public Offering
MRR	Monthly Recurring Revenue
MVP	Minimum Viable Product
PMF	Product-Market Fit
PPP	Purchasing Power Parity
TAM	Total Addressable Market
VP	Venture Capital

Conclusion

Now that you have gone through this business abbreviation dictionary, you must familiarize yourself with these abbreviations used in business writing. It will enable you to collaborate better with your colleagues and confidently navigate the complex business landscape.