Business Letter Format

 

What is a business letter?

 

It is a letter written in formal language.

It is used when writing from one business organization to another.

 

What should be the style of the letter?

 

The overall style of letter depends on the relationship between concerned parties.

 

What are the elements of a business letter?

 

Business letters contain the following elements in the same order:

 

  • Sender's address and contact information
  • Date of writing
  • Subject
  • Recipient's name, title, company, and address
  • Salutation/greeting
  • Message, the body of the letter
  • Valediction/closing
  • Sender's signature
  • Sender's name, title, company

 

Following optional elements are included in some situations:

 

  • Enclosures (Encl.: or Enc.:)
  • Carbon Copy Recipients (cc:)
  • Reference Initials (of the typist, if different from original author of letter)

 

What should be the line spacing in a business letter?

 

Each element and paragraph is followed by a single blank line except for the following:

 

  • Date is followed by three or four blank lines
  • Final content paragraph is followed by two blank lines
  • The valediction/closing is followed by three or four blank lines (enough for the sender to sign the letter)
  • Sender's title is followed by two blank lines

 

What fonts should be used in a business letters?

 

  • No special character or font formatting is used.
  • Subject line is underlined.

 

How are salutations and valediction presented in a business letter?

 

  • The salutation or greeting is followed by a comma.
  • In United States and Canada a colon is preferred.
  • The valediction or closing is followed by a comma.

 

What are different business letter formats?

 

There are four formats for a business letter:

 

  • Block
  • Semi-Block
  • Modified Block
  • Modified Semi-Block

 

Block Format

 

In a Block format letter all text is aligned to the left margin and paragraphs are not indented.

 

[SENDER'S NAME]

[SENDER'S ADDRESS]

[SENDER'S PHONE]

[SENDER'S E-MAIL]

 

[DATE]

 

 

[RECIPIENT W/O PREFIX]

[RECIPIENT'S TITLE]

[RECIPIENT'S COMPANY]

[RECIPIENT'S ADDRESS]

 

(Optional) Attention [DEPARTMENT/PERSON],

 

Dear [RECIPIENT W/ PREFIX],

 

Re: [SUBJECT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT]

 

[VALEDICTION (Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards, etc.)],

 

[SENDER]

[SENDER'S TITLE]

 

 

Enclosures ([NUMBER OF ENCLOSURES])

 

cc: [CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

[CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

 

Semi-Block Format

 

In a Block format letter all text is aligned to the left margin and paragraphs are indented.

 

 

[SENDER'S NAME]

[SENDER'S ADDRESS]

[SENDER'S PHONE]

[SENDER'S E-MAIL]

 

[DATE]

 

 

[RECIPIENT W/O PREFIX]

[RECIPIENT'S TITLE]

[RECIPIENT'S COMPANY]

[RECIPIENT'S ADDRESS]

 

(Optional) Attention [DEPARTMENT/PERSON],

 

Dear [RECIPIENT W/ PREFIX],

 

Re: [SUBJECT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT

CONTENT CONTENT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT

CONTENT CONTENT]]

 

[VALEDICTION (Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards, etc.)],

 

[SENDER]

[SENDER'S TITLE]

 

 

Enclosures ([NUMBER OF ENCLOSURES])

 

cc: [CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

[CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

 

Modified Block Format

 

In a Modified Block format letter all text is aligned to the left margin except for the author's address, date, and closing.

Paragraphs are not indented.

The author's address, date, and closing are usually indented three inches from the left margin, but can be set anywhere to the right of the middle of the page, as long as all three elements are indented to the same position.

 

 

[SENDER'S NAME]

[SENDER'S ADDRESS]

[SENDER'S PHONE]

[SENDER'S E-MAIL]

 

[DATE]

 

 

[RECIPIENT W/O PREFIX]

[RECIPIENT'S TITLE]

[RECIPIENT'S COMPANY]

[RECIPIENT'S ADDRESS]

 

(Optional) Attention [DEPARTMENT/PERSON],

 

Dear [RECIPIENT W/ PREFIX],

 

Re: [SUBJECT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT]

 

[VALEDICTION (Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards, etc.)],

 

[SENDER]

[SENDER'S TITLE]

 

 

Enclosures ([NUMBER OF ENCLOSURES])

 

cc: [CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

[CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

 

Modified Semi-Block Format

 

In a Modified Semi-Block format letter all text is aligned to the left margin, except for the author's address, date, and closing; and paragraphs are indented. The author's address, date, and closing are usually indented three inches from the left margin, but can be set anywhere to the right of the middle of the page, as long as all three elements are indented to the same position.

 

[SENDER'S NAME]

[SENDER'S ADDRESS]

[SENDER'S PHONE]

[SENDER'S E-MAIL]

 

[DATE]

 

 

[RECIPIENT W/O PREFIX]

[RECIPIENT'S TITLE]

[RECIPIENT'S COMPANY]

[RECIPIENT'S ADDRESS]

 

(Optional) Attention [DEPARTMENT/PERSON],

 

Dear [RECIPIENT W/ PREFIX],

 

Re: [SUBJECT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT

CONTENT CONTENT]

 

[CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT

CONTENT CONTENT]

 

[VALEDICTION (Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards, etc.)],

 

[SENDER]

[SENDER'S TITLE]

 

 

Enclosures ([NUMBER OF ENCLOSURES])

 

cc: [CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]

[CC RECIPIENT], [CC RECIPIENT TITLE]


Author: Hasan Mir
Date: 20-NOV-09
This article is published at http://businessletterformat.freeonlineinformation.com and cannot be reproduced without the permission from the author Hasan Mir.