1.25 Business terms, expressions and symbols

Terms are often abbreviated for the purpose of conserving space in routine business correspondence. The following are common abbreviations used in tables and on business forms:

• acct.
  • account
• bal.
  • balance
• Assn.
  • Association
• bldg.
  • building
• CEO
  • chief executive officer
• dis.
  • discount
• cont.
  • continued
• dtd.
  • dated
• ea.
  • each
• fwd.
  • forward
• FY
  • fiscal year
• G.M.
  • general manager
• gr.
  • gross
• hdlg.
  • handling
• ins.
  • insurance
• max.
  • maximum
• Ltd.
  • Limited
• n.d.
  • no date
• min.
  • minimum
• pd.
  • paid
• oz.
  • ounce(s)
• recd.
  • received
• qty.
  • quantity
• treas.
  • treasury, treasurer
• sec.
  • secretary
• V.P.
  • vice-president
• whsle.
  • wholesale

The following is a list of symbols for terms used in business correspondence and in tabular and statistical material:

• at
  • @
• number (before a figure)
  • #
• and
  • &
• pounds (after a figure)
  • #
• percent
  • %
• feet
  • ’
• dollar(s)
  • $
• inches; ditto
  • ’’
• cent(s)
  • ¢
• paragraph
  • ¶
• degree(s)
  • °
• section
  • §
• equals
  • =
• by; multiplied by
  • ×

Note that a space is usually required before and after the symbols @, =, & and ×:

• Yearwood & Boyce
• 2 shirts @  $19.95 each

Business terms, expressions and symbols, Exception

No extra space is required for upper-case abbreviations or in e-mail addresses:

• R&D at AT&T
• sales@wordlink.ca

Note also that no space is required between figures and the symbols %, ¢, #, ’, ’’:

• 10% deficit reduction
• nearly 75¢ a pound
• 43# per bag
• 159’ × 259’ deck

Do not leave any space after the symbols $, #, ¶, § when they precede a figure:

• less than $278
• as mentioned in ¶21
• package #3412
• Refer to §1.28.

© Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus^®, el banco de datos terminológicos y lingüísticos del Gobierno de Canadá
Ayuda a la redacción – The Canadian Style
Un producto de la Oficina de Traducciones