Common Office Terms:

  • AOB - Any Other Business. At the end of a meeting, the person who runs it might ask "is there any other business" (i.e. "anything else") that we should discuss?
  • AOP - Annual Operating Plan. Outlines the objectives and strategies for the year. A summary of planned activities for the year
  • ASAP - As soon as possible, like "Get me that report ASAP.",
  • BAU - Business As Usual. Work in being done in a normal way.
  • BR/KR - Best Regards/Kind Regards
  • BU - Business unit. A department or division of a company, like accounting or marketing.
  • BTW - By the way
  • CAO - Chief Accounting Officer Also, Chief Administrative Officer or Chief Academic Officer
  • CEO - Chief Executive Officer. The highest-ranking corporate officer in a company.
  • CPO - Chief People Officer (HR related, builds corporate loyalty among employees). Also stands for Chief Procurement Officer
  • CCO - Chief Compliance Officer. In charge of complying with regulatory requirements, and making sure employees comply with internal policies and procedures.
  • CFO - Chief Financial Officer. Oversees the company finances, like signing checks, cash flow, and financial planning. Similar to a treasurer or controller.
  • CIO - Chief Information Officer. Responsible for the information technology and computer support. Also stands for Chief Investment Officer.
  • CISO - Chief Information Security Officer
  • CMO - Chief Marketing Officer. Responsible for sales management, distribution channel management, product development, marketing communications, customer service, pricing, and market research.
  • COB - Close Of Business. The end of the business day.
  • COO - Chief Operating Officer. Manages the day-to-day operations of the company and reports them to the CEO.
  • COP - Close of Play. By end end of the working day (close of business).
  • CSA - Customer Service Advisor. Also known as a customer service rep.
  • CTO - Chief Technical Officer. Oversees development of new technologies.
  • DBA - Doing business as. A trade name assumed name, different from your personal name or the officially registered name of business. DBA names are also called trade names or assumed names.
  • EDD - Estimated Delivery Date
  • ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
  • EOD - End of day
  • EOM - End of message
  • EOY - End of year
  • ER - Earnings Release. When a company announces their quarterly or annual earnings.
  • FOC - Free of Charge
  • FY - Fiscal year. An accounting term for when the company's accounting year ends. Most of the time is the same as the calendar year (December 31st), but not always.
  • FTE - Full time equivalent. A way to measure the workload of an employee for comparison purposes. An FTE of 1.0 is the equivalent of a full-time worker, an FTE of 0.5 would be equal to a half-time worker.
  • FYI - For your information
  • FYIA - For your information and necessary action / for your immediate action
  • F2F - Face to Face
  • HR - Human resources. In charge of employee hiring, firing, training, assessment, and rewarding. Also ensures compliance with employment and labor laws.
  • IRO - In respect of
  • JD - Job Description
  • KPI - Key performance indicators
  • MNC - multinational company. Has offices or factories in multiple companies.
  • MOU - Memorandum of understanding. The first stage of forming a formal contract. Outlines the terms, requirements and responsibilities of an agreement
  • MOM - Minutes of meeting
  • NDA - Non-disclosure agreement. A confidentiality agreement common when 2 companies are considering a joint venture or merger.
  • OBE - Overcome by events. Obsolete. When a situation changes so rapidly that previously proposed courses of action are no longer relevant.
  • OD - Organizational development. An ongoing, systematic process of implementing organizational change to increase an organization's effectiveness and viability.
  • OOO / OOTO - out of (the) office. Not here right now or on vacation. Away.
  • PFA - Please find attached. Like in an email when a file is attached.
  • PFB - Please find below
  • POC - Point of contact (the person to talk to about something), proof of concept (a demonstration of a concept or theory has the potential of being used).
  • POS - Point of sale. Also know as Point of purchase (POP) or checkout, it is the location where a transaction occurs (such as a cash register).
  • PP - Payback period. An accounting term describing the length of time required to recover the cost of an investment
  • P.S. - Postscript. The text after the main body of a letter or email.
  • PTO - Paid Time Off
  • QPR - Quarterly Performance Report
  • QQ - Quick Question
  • R&D - Research and Development
  • RFP - Request for Proposal. An invitation given to suppliers at an early stage in the procurement process, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on supply a specific item or service that is needeed.
  • RIF - Reduction in Force. A euphemism companies like to use for laying off workers, to make it sound more abstract and soften the blow. Downsizing, firing, termination of employment.
  • ROI - Return on investment. Used to measure profitably in relation to the size of how much was invested. ROI (%) = Net profit ($) / Investment ($) * 100 %.
  • SBU - Strategic Business Unit. A group within a large company (like General Electric) formed to address a specific market in which the company is operating that has high profit potential.
  • SME - Subject Matter Expert
  • SOD - Start of day
  • SOW - Statement of work. A formal document that defines the work and timeline a vendor will perform for a client.
  • SVP - Senior Vice president
  • TAT - Turn Around Time. How fast something will get done.
  • TBA - To be announced. A placeholder term indicating that although something is scheduled or anticipated to happen, it has not been announced yet.
  • TBD - To be determined. A placeholder term indicating that something will be determined later.
  • TBC - To be confirmed. A placeholder term indicating that something will be determined later.
  • TBH - To be hired
  • TCO - Total cost of ownership. A financial benefit analysis that provides a cost basis (both direct and indirect costs) for determining the economic value of an investment.
  • USP - Unique Selling Proposition/Point. What sets you and your business apart from your competition. Also a marketing concept advertisers use to convince the customer to switch brands.
  • VP - Vice president
  • WC - Week Commencing
  • WE - Week Ending
  • WRT - With respect to or with regards to
  • YTD - Year to date. The period from the beginning of the current year up until now. Used frequently for financial statements.