Business letter

A business letter is a letter from one company to another, or such organizations and their customers, clients, or other external parties. The overall style of letter depends on the relationship between the parties concerned. Business letters can have many types of content, for example to request direct information or action from another party, to order supplies from a supplier, to point out a mistake by the letter's recipient, to reply directly to a request, to apologize for a wrong, or to convey goodwill. A business letter is sometimes useful because it produces a permanent written record, and may be taken more seriously by the recipient than other forms of communication. It is written in formal language.

General format

Margins

Typically, side, top and bottom margins are 25–32 millimetres (1–1+1⁄4 in) inches, and one-page letters and memos are vertically centered.

Font formatting

No special character or font formatting is used, except for the subject line, which is usually underlined.

Punctuation

The salutation or greeting is generally followed by a comma in British style, whereas in the United States a colon is used in formal contexts and a comma otherwise. The valediction or closing is followed by a comma.

Form

The following is the general format, excluding indentation used in various formats:

[SENDER'S COMPANY NAME]

[SENDER'S ADDRESS (optional if placed at bottom)]

[SENDER'S PHONE]

[SENDER'S E-MAIL (optional)]

[DATE]

[RECIPIENT W/O PREFIX]

[RECIPIENT'S COMPANY]

[RECIPIENT'S ADDRESS]

(Optional) Attention [DEPARTMENT/PERSON]

Dear [RECIPIENT W/ PREFIX]

[First Salutation then Subject in Business letters]

[CONTENT]

[CONTENT]

[COMPLIMENTARY CLOSING (Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards, etc.)]

[SENDER]

[SENDER'S TITLE (optional)]

[SENDER'S ADDRESS (optional if placed at top)]

Enclosures ([NUMBER OF ENCLOSURES])

Indentation formats

Business letters conform to generally one of six indentation formats: standard, open, block, semi-block, modified block, and modified semi-block.