Identification Initials, Enclosure Notations and CC Notations, Those Obscure Elements of a Business LetterBy Alya Leuca

Business letters are still a big part of contemporary business life. Writing and formatting them is habitual for almost any business person. Except, maybe, when it comes to some elements of a business letter which are not used as often as the others.

Proper way of inserting identification initials, enclosure notations and CC notation is often a roadblock for letter writers. It shouldn’t be anymore, though. So, let’s see how it is done.

Identification Initials

Identification initials in a business letter come immediately after the signature and are used when some assistant, secretary or other employee prepares a letter for his or her boss. In the old days the abbreviation 'p.p.' was used for this purpose. It stands for 'per pro' and means 'by one acting as an agent'.

Nowadays the companies usually use a simplified version of including identification initials in a letter which allows them to avoid using the 'p.p.' abbreviation. The person who prepared the letter for the boss first includes three of the boss’s initials in uppercase characters and then two of his or hers in all lowercase characters.

Below are three possible ways of formatting identification initials:

Yours sincerely,

Howard Lindham,Director

HKL:mr

Yours sincerely,

Howard Lindham,Director

HKL/mr

Yours sincerely,

Howard Lindham,Director

HKLindham/mr

Business Letter Enclosures

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Enclosure notations are usually typed one or two lines below the signature block and flush with the left margin. When more than one enclosure is involved, it is helpful to identify each of them by number; e. g., Enclosure 1, Enclosure 2.

Enclosure notations can look like this:

EnclosureEnclosures: 3Enclosures (3)Enclosures2 Enclosures

Enclosures can also include the actual description of the enclosed document:

Enclosure: Corporate Objectives Progress Report

CC Notation

Before computers came along 'CC' meant 'carbon copy'. Not any more though. Now it is 'courtesy copy', not to confuse the younger generation.

The 'CC' notation usually includes names of people to whom you distribute copies, with or without their positions and/or addresses. 'CC' is typed at the end of the letter after enclosure notations or identification initials, like this:

CC: Steven Carr orcc: Steven Carr

If you don’t want the addressee to know that a copy is being forwarded to a third party, use 'BCC' that can be shortened to 'BC' for blind copy. This notation appears on the office copy and the third-party copy only, not on the original.

Visit Savvy-Business-Correspondence.com to see a sample of a business letter with the above notations and to check out a great reference resource for writing and formatting business letters, emails, memos and faxes.

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