Business Administration Style Guide

THE PURPOSE OF THE STYLE GUIDE

This Style Guide has been designed to ensure the consistency of documents produced across
the Business Administration Section and to reinforce the corporate identity of the Section. It
applies to all correspondence whether internal or external. Although some documents will
be outside these guidelines, the general format should be followed wherever possible.

Writing Style
All documents produced in the Business Administration section should be concise, friendly
and professional. Documents should be visually appealing and use inclusive language.

Operating Environment
Documentation should be produced using Microsoft Office 2016 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
Publisher, Access). This will ensure portability of files and consistency of operation.

Saving Requirements
All files provided by the Business Administration Section are located on the P:/ drive in the
Business Services and Technology folder.
All files created by students in the Business Administration Section should be saved in an
appropriately named folder on their personal USB. When saving a document, do not include
any extension (eg docx, xlsx, pptx). Allow the package to apply this automatically.

DOCUMENTATION
Word Processing Documents
General Layout
Default Font Calibri Font, 11pt
General A4 Portrait Orientation
Formatting Single line spacing, no before or after paragraph spacing
Fully blocked, open punctuation
Heading Styles Main Headings: Title Style
First level headings: Heading 1 style
Second level headings: Heading 2 style
Margins All margins 2.5cm (unless directed otherwise)
Bullets  Small round bullet. Decrease Indent so aligned to left margin
Numbers 1 No punctuation. Decrease indent so aligned to left margin
Header This will be advised for each document
Footer Must be on all documents. Format in Calibri 10 pts with a top border.
Left aligned: Your name
Right aligned: Document name (automatic field)
Proofreading Spellcheck AND proofread all documents before printing
Saving All work must be saved in a Unit folder on your USB
Printing Print double sided when more than one page
Useability All documents MUST be useable, no errors and ready for distribution

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 Business Administration Style Guide
Sample General Layout
2.5 cm Top Margin
Header – 1cm from edge

2.5cm Left Margin 2.5cm Right Margin

A4
Portrait

2.5 cm Top Margin

Header – 1cm from edge

2.5 cm Bottom Margin

Footer – 1cm from edge

Letter Layout
Top Margin 6cm – for the first page only
Date Use the medium date format – 17 June 2012
Inside Address Left align, no punctuation

Mr John Smith
ABC Trading Pty Ltd
11 Evelyn Street
MIRANDA NSW 2000
Paragraph Spacing Leave one (1) blank line between paragraphs
Subject Line Bold
Vertical Alignment The body of the letter should be visually centred on the page

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 Business Administration Style Guide
Sample letter layout

THE HOME GROUP Letterhead

Set Top Margin to 6cm and
add Company Details to Header
104 Memphis Street Telephone 9123 4567
SYDNEY NSW 2000 thehomegroup.com.au

8 March 2018 Date 2-3 lines below letterhead

Mrs Harrison Inside Name and Address

AAA Personnel Agency 3-6 lines below date
625 Bourke Street (Ensure correct set out of address details)
MELBOURNE VIC 3000

Dear Mrs Harrison Salutation

Letter Layout and Structure Subject Line (Bold)

This letter has been created in the fully blocked style. This is the most common style used in
business because there are less keystrokes, and therefore there is less opportunity for mistakes.
Fully blocked means that there is no indentation and all lines/text begin at the left-hand margin.
Paragraph text is either left aligned or justified.
Body of
Letter Open punctuation is generally used with fully blocked letters because it is the quickest and easiest
Centre style. This means there are no punctuation marks after the date, the inside name and address, the
visually salutation, complimentary close or document identification and no punctuation after abbreviations
on page (such as, Mrs, am, eg, ie, etc).

Your spacing should be consistent from the Salutation (Dear …) to the Closing (Yours ……). Only allow
one blank line between each paragraph, ie press Enter twice at the end of each paragraph. The body
of the letter should be visually centred on the page.

Yours sincerely Closing

Signature: Allow 3-6 lines

Donna Waters Author's name

Manager Author's title

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 Business Administration Style Guide
Excel Spreadsheets

General Layout
Default Font Calibri Font, 11pt
Alignment Left align text and related headings
Right align numbers/currency and related headings
Page Layout Values copy – Portrait unless instructed otherwise
Formula copy – Landscape showing gridlines and heading
Column Width Be consistent where possible with columns of data
Currency Use Currency Style with 2 decimal places (not Accounting Style)
Main Headings Position in Row 1; Centred across related columns; Cell Style Title
Sub Headings Below main heading; Centred across related columns; Cell Style
Heading 4, leave one blank row under heading
Column Headings Right align in cell immediately above values and left align above
labels; Wrap text; Cell Style Heading 3; add a top and bottom border
Borders Apply appropriate borders to assist with interpretation of the
worksheet
Absolute Cells Position absolute values in an appropriate cell
Header Must be included on all printouts: Your Name - Centre aligned
Footer Must be included on all printouts:
Worksheet Name – left aligned, Workbook Name – right aligned
Printing Preview before printing to minimise wastage
Centre on page horizontally and vertically
Scale to fit on one page
Charts Pie chart: 3D, Chart Style 3, Quick Layout 2
Column chart: Clustered column, Chart Style 5, Quick Layout 10
Chart Title: display on top of chart
Position: In new chart sheet unless instructed otherwise
Proofreading Adjust rows and columns where necessary so that all headings and
data are visible.
All work must be spellchecked, proofread, previewed and saved
before printing.

Remember - We are a green office

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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 Business Administration Style Guide
Long Reports

General Layout
Default Font Calibri Font, 11pt
General A4 Portrait Orientation
Formatting Single line spacing, paragraph spacing 12pt after
Justified alignment
Title Page Must include name of report, author of report, for whom the report
has been created, and date of report
Table of Contents Automatic Table 1
Generated using styles created for headings and subheadings
Summary Page Formatted in paragraphs
Body of Report Body should include an introduction, the main text, conclusion and
recommendations, using appropriate levels of headings
Heading Styles Main Headings: Title Style
First level headings: Heading 1 style
Second level headings: Heading 2 style
Third level headings: Heading 3 style
Margins All margins 2.5cm (unless directed otherwise)
Page Numbering Even pages – left aligned (see footer instructions)
Odd pages – right aligned (see footer instructions)
Header Even pages – Name of Report left aligned
Odd pages – Name of Report right aligned
Footer Format in Calibri 9 pt with a top border. The page number and
document name must be automatic fields.

Even pages:
Page No Your name
Analyse and Present Research Information Document name

Odd pages:
Your name Page No
Document name Analyse and Present Research Information

Bullets  Small round bullet. Decrease Indent so aligned to left margin

Numbering 1 No punctuation. Decrease indent so aligned to left margin
Illustrations All illustrations, images, charts should be clear and relevant,
accurately labelled, appropriately titled and noted in text.
Referencing Use Harvard Referencing for Bibliography or References
Presentation Bound attractively
Saving All work must be saved in a Unit folder on your USB
Proofreading Spellcheck AND proofread all documents before printing
Printing Print double-sided when more than one page
Useability All documents MUST be useable, no errors and ready for distribution

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