BUSINESS

COMMUNICATION
DOCUMENTS
 Topics
• Business Letters
• Business Letter Formats
• Points to Remember
• Other Types of Business Letters
• Other Types of Business Documents
• Electronic Mail
 Business Letters - Purpose
• Record-keeping role; “thread” of
communication (about something)
• A guide for others who are involved, or
those conducting follow-up tasks (history
provides context)
• Document a project, product, service, etc.
 Purpose of a Letter - Examples
• Query an order’s progress
• Request company catalogue/pricelist
• Suggest a plan or meeting
• Acknowledge receipt of something
• Respond to an earlier communication
• Inform somebody about something
• Provide information that was requested
 Business Letter Formats
• 1” margins (all 4 edges) for long letters;
1.5” at sides (if short, especially page #2)
• Blocked
– Every line, including date and closing lines, is
left-justified
 Business Letter Formats
• Semi-blocked
– Paragraphs separated by a blank line
– 1st word of paragraph is left-justified
– Date and closing lines indented about 2/3 of page (from
left edge, not margin)

• Unblocked
– Each paragraph indented 5 spaces
– No special spacing between paragraphs
– Date and closing lines indented about 2/3 of page (from
left edge, not margin)
 Points to Remember
• Get to the point quickly, establish "the topic at hand"
• The subject is often stated in the "regarding" line
which is normally centred, underlined, and placed
immediately before the salutation line
– E.g., Re; Contract #23 – Piping and Wiring
• If unsure of gender or title of addressee, simply use a
"Subject:" line instead of the "salutation" line, and
omit the closing line (AMS style)
 Points to Remember
• The "initial" line (e.g., BRP/ky) is used to
distinguish the sender (BRP) from the
typist (ky); it is not used when both initials
would refer to the same person
• The "cc:", or "carbon-copy", line is used to
list the names and titles (dept., co., etc.) of
other people who will be sent copies of the
same letter
 Other Lines in Letters
• Attn: – usually on the envelope (lower left corner)
and in the letter (above the salutation)
• Encl. – referred to in the 1st paragraph
– e.g., “Please find enclosed, our new product brochure
for the next year.”
• Continuation line – header line on subsequent
pages; contains addressee’s name (left-justified)
page number (centred), date (right-justified)
 Other Types of Business Letters
• Letter of Transmittal, Cover Letter
– used to identify, introduce, clarify, summarize
or accompany an enclosed document
• Letter of Complaint, Request, Response
– to the point, polite but not “flowery”
– provide context or status in first paragraph
• Letter of Intent (or Agreement)
Other Business Documents
• Business Plan, Cash Flow Projection
• Tender (or Request for Proposal)
• Progress Report, Technical Report
• Announcement
• Memorandum (memo)
• Feasibility Study/Analysis/Report
• Merger/acquisition Documents
• Budget, Financial Statements
• Quarterly/Annual/Semi-Annual Reports
Other Business Documents
• Contract
– service or asset
– terms of consideration
– terms of re-negotiation
– expiry, default actions, penalties
– parties bound
• Proposal (long v. short)
 Electronic Mail
• E-signature (phone, e-mail, title, URL)
• Attachments
• Forwarding (attachments often omitted)
• Reply (to sender or all recipients)
– Exercise judgment when using “included text”;
edit if necessary, to provide context or “thread”
• Formatting - minimal