BUSINESS LETTER WRITING FORMAT REQUIREMENTS

Standard Parts of a Formal Letter The number and location of the letter parts will depend on the format you have selected. It will also depend on the format your organization prefers. Most formal letters contain seven standard parts: 1. Heading 2. Inside address 3. Salutation 4. Body 5. Complimentary Close 6. Signature block 7. Reference Initials. 1. HEADING: Consists of the letterhead or the return address and the date. Business organizations use letterhead stationery for the first page of a letter. The stationery can be designed professionally or created using a personal computer. Individuals may prefer to use a return address and dateline rather than create their own letterhead. * Letterhead contains: * The name of the organization and the complete mailing address. * Phone number, fax number, email address * Optional organizational slogan, emblem or logo and other Information necessary for identification * Part of the information may be at the bottom of the page e.g. street address, telephone number of another branch. * Should use not more than 2 vertical inches of stationery space. * The date contains the month, day and year. The month should be spelt in full. Figures are used for the month because there is no general agreement on whether the day or the month should be placed first. Dates may be in one of the following two styles: - June 9, 2008 (preferred in the U.S.A) _ 9 June 2008 (note no comma after the day, style is preferred for international and military use) The horizontal placement of the dateline (or the keyed return address and dateline) depends on the letter format. The vertical placement of the dateline is determined by the length of the letter.

The dateline may be keyed two lines/spaces below the printed letterhead or two inches from the top edge of the letter. When a return address is keyed at the top of a personal business letter, the dateline is keyed on the line below it. When the return address appears below the signature block of a personal business letter, the date is usually placed between lines 10 and 15 from the top of the page. *Letterhead stationery is used only for the first page of a formal letter. Stationery of the same quality and color, but without the letterhead, is used for continuation pages. The heading of each additional page begins on Line 7, leaving a top margin of one inch. This continuation page should contain the first line of the inside address, the page number and the date. Two popular formats for continuation page headings are: Mr. Satish Naik Or Mr.Satish Naik Page 2 March 22, 2008 2 March 22, 2008

The body of the letter continues one double space below this heading. At least one complete paragraph should be carried to a continuation page. If you cannot do this, revise the letter so that it is only one page. NEVER divide individual words between pages. If you absolutely must carry over to the next page, divide a paragraph only if you can leave at least two lines on the preceding page and carry over at least two lines to the continuation page. You must leave at least a one inch margin at the bottom of the first page. 2. INSIDE ADDRESS Includes some or all of the following: The receivers courtesy title (Ms. Mrs. Mr.) , receivers name, receivers professional title (Dr., Prof.), department name, company name, receivers street address or some other mailing destination such as box office number, city, state and PIN code. Avoid using Dr.Mrs. Use only Dr. Abbreviate street addresses only when necessary to achieve balanced display. The inside address is keyed flush with the left margin. Normally the inside address is keyed 3 to 5 lines below the date. Blank spaces may be added if the letter is short, reduced if the letter is long.

3. SALUTATION Is the greeting that begins the letter? The content of the salutation depends on the first line of the inside address. When the letter is addressed to a company and contains an attention line, the salutation is directed to the company and not to the person named in the attention line. If the first line of the inside address is singular then the salutation must be singular. If the first line of the inside address is plural then the salutation must be plural. The formality of the salutation depends on the relationship between the sender and the receiver. A general guideline is to use the name that you would use if you met the person or persons face to face. Use Ms for a lady receiver unless you know that she specifies/prefers another title. If you do not know the gender of the receiver, use the receivers full name without the courtesy title (Dear Satish Naik) Incorrect salutations: Correct Salutations: Dear Mr. Satish Naik Dear Mr. Naik Dear Mr. Satish Dear Satish Dear Naik Dear Mr. Naik Dear Naiks Dear Mr. and Mrs.Naik Dear Gentlemen Dear Customers Dear Ladies and Gentlemen Ladies and Gentlemen The salutation is keyed flush with the left margin and placed a double space below the last line of the inside address or the attention line , if used. Either mixed or open punctuation may be used depending on the format chosen. 4. BODY This is the message/content section of the letter. It begins a double space below the salutation. The body is single spaced within paragraphs and double spaced between paragraphs. The paragraphs may be indented or blocked depending on the letter format selected. 5. COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE Ends the message. The word(s) used in the close should match the formality of the message. FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE Sincerely yours Sincerely

The complimentary close is keyed a double space below the last line of the body. The first character/letter of the close should begin at the same horizontal point as the first character of the date. Only the first character of the complimentary close is capitalized. The closing should be punctuated using the same style (mixed or open) as was used in the salutation. 6. SIGNATURE BLOCK Contains the writers signed name, keyed name and title. The name is keyed four spaces below the complimentary close. A courtesy title is optional in the signature block. It may be included with or without brackets when the gender of the person is unclear. The name and position may appear on the same line or on different lines whichever creates a more balanced display. If the name and position title are in the same line, a comma comes in between. The sender signs the letter in the space between the complimentary close and the keyed name. The signature does not include the title even if it is keyed in the signature block. 7. REFERENCE INITIALS Show who keyed the letter. When the letter is keyed by someone other than the one who wrote it, the keyboarder includes his or initials in the document. The initials of the writer may also be included but they are not required. If the writer is someone other than the one who signs the letter, display the writers initials along with the keyboarder. The writers initials should be uppercase, the keyboarders lowercase. The sets of initials must be separated either by a colon or a diagonal. Place the reference initials flush with the left margin double space below the senders title. Examples: ev (keyboarders initials) NRE: pd (writers initials: keyboarders initials) JHT/ras (writers initials/ keyboarders initials)

SUPPLEMENTARY PARTS OF A FORMAL LETTER

1.Attention line 2. Subject line 3.Company name in the signature block 4.Enclosure notation 5.Copy notation 6. Postscript 1. ATTENTION LINE When the company name is used as the first line of the inside address, the attention line can be used to direct the letter to a person, position title, or department within the company. Using a persons name in the first line of the inside address is preferred to using an attention line. The trend at present is to place the attention line beneath the company name in the inside address. The same format is used on the envelope. Placing the attention line double space below the last line of the inside address is more traditional. In either case, the attention line may be keyed with all capital letters or a combination of initial capital and lowercase letters. The word Attention should not be abbreviated. Placing a colon after the word Attention is optional. The salutation agrees with the first line of the address and not the attention. Examples: College Station Medical Centre Attention: Radiology 1604 Bambolim Avenue Bardez Goa 403521 Ladies and Gentlemen: Or

College Station Medical Centre 1604 Bambolim Avenue Bardez Goa 403521

Attention Line: Satish Naik , Assistant Director Ladies and Gentlemen:

2. SUBJECT LINE Identifies the topic of the letter. It is considered part of the body of the letter. It should be short, less than one line , and should not be a full sentence. Insurance companies, financial institutions and government institutions often replace the word Subject with the abbreviation RE or In re . Regardless of the term, the subject line is keyed a double space below the salutation . It may be centred,flush with the left margin,or indented the same number of spaces as the paragraphs. It may be keyed in all capital letters or keyed with initial capital and then lowercase letters. The word Subject is followed by a colon. If a letter contains a subject line and an attention line use the same format for both. 3. COMPANY NAME IN SIGNATURE BLOCK May be keyed in uppercase letters a double space below the complimentary close. The company name is placed in the signature block when the letter is contractual in nature or when the letter is printed on plain paper rather than on letterhead stationery. The first letter of the company name is aligned with the first character of the complimentary close.

Example: Sincerely, FALCON ACCOUNTING

Signature (Mr.) Satish Naik, President 4. ENCLOSURE OR ATTACHMENT NOTATION Any item sent with the letter such as a cheque etc. is considered an enclosure. When something is included with a letter , an enclosure notation should be keyed in a single or a double space below the reference initials. The writer may list the items enclosed or merely indicate the number as part of the notation. When items are attached/clipped/stapled to the letter,use Attachment or Att. in place of the Enclosure notation. Examples: Enclosure or Enc. Attachment or Att. Cheque enclosed Attachment : Reimbursement form Enclosures 3 Attachments (2) 3 Enc. Att. 3

5. COPY NOTATION A copy notation is used when a copy of the letter is being sent to someone other than the addressee.The copy notation may appear as cc for courtesy copy or c for copy.The copy notation is keyed flush with the left margin and a double space below the reference initials (or enclosure notation if used) . The names of individuals or groups to receive the copies should be keyed after the notation. Examples: cc: Gitesh Desai cc: Accounting A blind notation is used when it is unnecessary or inappropriate for the addressee to know that a copy is being sent to other individuals. The blind copy notation should appear only on copies of the letter, never on the original. Place it where the regular copy notation appears. Examples: bcc: Satish Naik, CEO , Ecoclean 6. POSTSCRIPT Avoid. Only to be used to add a personal comment ,or to emphasize an important point made in the body of the letter. It should never be used to add information omitted from the body of the letter. .The

postscript whether keyed or handwritten should follow the last notation and be formatted in the same style as the paragraphs of the message. The two styles of punctuation commonly used in business letters are mixed and open. Mixed punctuation requires a colon after the salutation and a comma after the complimentary close. Open punctuation omits the colon after the salutation and the comma after the compl. close. LETTER FORMATS : Check with your organization the preference. Most commonly used are fullblock and modified block. PERSONAL BUSINESS LETTERS Written by an individual e.g. application for employment, a request for information, a comment about services.Good grade paper should be used. Full block or modified full block format with mixed or open punctuation. Return address two inches from the top of the page. Date should be keyed in on the line below the return address. ENVELOPES: Should be of the same colour and quality as letterhead stationery.Should be of adequate size to hold the letter and any enclosures without any unnecessary folding.Letter should be folded in thirds where folding is necessary. RETURN ADDRESS: Senders address. Should be the same as the one used in the letterhead. Whether printed or keyed it is located in the upper lefthand corner of the envelope.

MAILING ADDRESS Should be identical to the inside address of the letter. Blocked and single spaced. STATIONERY Appearance of the stationery should make a good impression. Businesses usually select the stationery that matches the purpose of

the message. E.g. Stationery used for finalizing a major business transaction is of higher quality than that used for announcing an upcoming sale to credit card customers. Letters from business executives are sometimes placed on 7 1/4 by 10 inch high quality stationery called executive stationery.Most business letters are prepared on standard size paper 8 by 11 inches