Business communication is plagued with jargon only those in the know understand. Sometimes it feels like there is another language being spoken when acronyms are being used throughout a conversation, making it that much more difficult to keep up with what is being said.
With so many business jargon acronyms, listing all of them would require a dictionary. But the following 75 acronyms are the most common terms used by businesses, so the next time you hear or see them, you will know exactly what they mean.
75 Business Jargon Acronyms
- AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
- AOV: Average Order Value
- AP: Accounts Payable
- API: Application Program Interface
- AR: Accounts Receivable
- B2B: Business to Business
- B2C: Business to Consumer
- BR: Bounce Rate
- BS: Balance Sheet
- CFP: Certified Financial Planner
- CLV: Customer Lifetime Value
- CMS: Content Management System
- CPA: Cost Per Acquisition / Action
- CPC: Cost Per Click
- CPU: Cost Per Unit
- CPU: Central Processing Unit
- CR: Conversion Rate
- CRM: Customer Relationship Management
- CSO: Chief Security Officer
- CSS: Cascading Style Sheets
- CTA: Call to Action
- CTO: Chief Technology Officer
- CTR: Click Through Rate
- CX – Customer Experience
- DNS: Domain Name System
- EOD: End of Day
- EPC: Earnings Per Click
- EPS: Earnings Per Share
- FIFO: First in, First Out
- FTP: File Transport Protocol
- GMS: Gross Margin Sales
- HTML: HyperText Markup Language
- HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol
- HTTPS: HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure
- IM: Instant Messaging
- IP: Internet Protocol
- IPO: Initial Public Offering
- IPTV: Internet Protocol Television
- ISP: Internet Service Provider
- KPI: Key Performance Indicator
- LIFO: Last in, First Out
- LWOP: Leave Without Pay
- MLM: Multi-Level Marketing
- MoM: Month on Month
- NAV: Net Assets Value
- NSFW: Not Safe for Work
- P&L: Profit and Loss
- P/E: Price to Earnings
- PPC: Pay Per Click
- PTO: Paid Time Off
- QA: Quality Assurance
- QR Code: Quick Response Code
- RFD: Radio Frequency Identification
- ROA: Return on Assets
- ROE: Return on Equity
- ROI: Return on Investment
- RSS: Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication
- SaaS: Software as a Service
- SEM: Search Engine Marketing
- SEO: Search Engine Optimization
- SERP: Search Engine Results Page
- SLA: Service Level Agreement
- SMB: Small to Medium Business
- SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
- TOS: Terms of Service
- TLTR: Too Long to Read
- UI: User Interface
- URL: Uniform Resource Locator
- UX: User Experience
- VOD: Video on Demand
- VPN: Virtual Private Network
- WAHM: Work at Home Mom
- XML: Extensible Markup Language
- YOY: Year on Year
- YTD: Year to Date
This is a small list of the many business jargon acronyms being used, but when you add industry-specific terms and social media, it can quickly get overwhelming. It’s enough to make me SMH (Shake My Head). But at least this handy reference will give you a place to look up some of those confusing acronyms when they appear.
Until then, TTYL (Talk to You Later.)
Alphabet Soup Photo via Shutterstock
This article, "“What Did They Just Say?” 75 Business Jargon Acronyms Explained" was first published on Small Business Trends
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