Layout of a Business letter

A business letter is a letter written in formal language, usually used when writing from one business organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties. The overall style of letter will depend on the relationship between the parties concerned.

Parts of a business letter

Letter head Reference number Date line Inside address Attention line Salutation

Parts of a business letter (contd)

Subject Body of the letter Complimentary close Signature Reference Initials Post Script Enclosures

The name of the company The nature of Business Logos or trademark Address The registered office Telephone, Fax and Telex numbers, E - mail

Reference Number

alphanumeric reference number. This can be an organizations internal reference number.

When a letters sent between organizations , there is often an

While replying to a letter, you have to quote the reference number of the letter you had received.
You can quote this reference in the body of the letter in the form "With reference to your letter, ref num ABCD/03/07" or "This is with reference to your letter, ref num ABCD/03/07, dated 12th March, 2007".

Date Line

The date line is used to indicate the date the letter was written. When writing to companies within the United States, use the American date format. (The United States-based convention for formatting a date places the month before the day. For example: June 11, 2001. ) Write out the month, day and year two inches from the top of the page.

Inside Address

Receivers address Mr M/S Ms Mmes

Salutation

This is the greeting within the letter. This greeting can be "Dear Sir or Madam" if you do not know the name of the person with whom you are in the process of establishing a communication. If you know the name, then begin with a "Dear Mr./Ms./Mrs. Last-Name". In case, the business relationship between you and the other person is on a first-name basis, use the first name.

Attention Line

An attention line is used when the inside address does not include either the name of an individual or the name of the department. It appears two lines below the inside address. The word attention may have an initial capital letter or appear in all capitals. The use of a colon after the word is optional. If the word "ATTENTION" is written in all capital letters, the name following should also appear in all capitals.

Subject

Descriptive subject lines instantly inform a reader of the general content of the letter. They also permit accurate filing and retrieval from files. Subject lines specifically define the subject matter of the letter. They appear two lines below the salutation and two lines above the first line of the text, although the simplified letter format may have different spacing. Subject lines are highlighted by boldface type, underlining, or the use of all capital letters.

Complimentary Close

The complimentary close serves as a courteous good-bye signal at the end of each letter. It is to be typed two lines below the body of the letter. Keep your complimentary close professional. Never close a business letter with Love, Your Friend or any other personal notation. Some good, professional choices are:

Sincerely, Cordially, Regards, and Respectfully.

Signature

It is assent of the writer It consists of writers name, status, department, firm It should be legible If it is not, name should be should be written legibly in parentheses below the sign Seal

Reference initials

It appear two lines below the last line of the signature block and flush with the left margin. It shows writer's initials (capital) followed by a slash mark or colon, and then followed by the secretary's /typist's initials in lower case, e.g., TLM/rgn or TLM:rgn.

Postscripts
Postscripts (additions to the letter after it has been typed or items needing emphasis) appear two lines below the last line of courtesy copy notation. The use of the initials PS or PPS is optional

Enclosures

An enclosure notation reminds readers of enclosures and appears directly under reference initials. The following are examples of enclosure notation forms: Enclosure, Enc. , Enclosures

Full block format

Modified Form block style

In the modified formal letter styles, the following letter elements are aligned from the middle of the paper, making them seem as though they are aligned right: Senders address Date The Complimentary close The senders Name and signature

The following elements are aligned left:

The Recipients Name and title The Recipients address Salutation Body