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This is ambiguous; hence, if you wish to be unambiguous the use of M to mean either thousands or millions is to be avoided. Thus, we’re left with k and MM as to unambiguous ways to denote thousands and millions respectively. If K and MM are used, it’s bad style because the symbols are being mixed up. But if M and MM are used, non-experts might not even be aware that M is a symbol for thousands and get confused. It seems like that the safest choice to ensure comprehension is to use K and MM, but something about mixing the symbols just doesn’t seem right to me. Traditionally, M is used as the symbol for thousands and MM for millions in the business world, particularly in accounting.

• To further muddy the waters, K can also mean “kelvin,” which is the base unit of temperature.
• When plural, as in “millions,” it refers to multiples of 1,000,000.
• By placing the first occurrence of a given symbol (abbreviation) in each article or presentation within parentheses you remove all doubt about what you mean.
• This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.
• Darrel has over 30 years of proven success and is skilled in developing relationships with internal and external stakeholders to drive superior business results.
• One thing to consider is that when writing about large amounts of money, the words “million” or “billion” are often left out altogether, as are superfluous zeroes.

Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

For example, in a document that balance sheet requires the use of symbols because of limited space in a table, I see “500K-1MM” to stand for “500,000-1,000,000”. This document is written for a general professional audience. For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) hasworked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online. He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com.

• This can cause confusion since in the United States, “mil” traditionally means a thousandth of an inch.
• However, there has been a growing tendency to use K as the symbol for thousands instead of M.
• If you see an abbreviation that is confusing or unclear, please reach out to your local underwriter or branch for clarification, even if you are just asking for a friend.
• I worked in banking for 27 years (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Bank of America), and my experience in financial services was that M and MM were consistently used for thousands and millions, respectively.
• An abbreviation for million is most often seen in financial documents and paperwork.

Abbreviations for “Million”

As a result, “M” simply became shorthand for adding three zeros and thus “MM” became the shorthand for adding six zeros. I have seen million, billion, and trillion abbreviated as M, B, and T respectively. However, I would not bet that that is a standard abbreviation. Connect mm meaning and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

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A common shortening of millimetre in spoken English is “mil”. This can cause confusion since in the United States, “mil” traditionally means a thousandth of an inch. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. One thing to consider is that when writing https://www.bookstime.com/ about large amounts of money, the words “million” or “billion” are often left out altogether, as are superfluous zeroes.

” This abbreviation works for both spoken and written dialogue, and is easily recognizable.

What are the correct abbreviations for millions, billions and trillions in a financial context?

It would be bad form to mix K and MM because they are two different systems of notation. The best path would be to determine what your audience is most likely to understand. The word “million” is not a commonly abbreviated word, but its abbreviations still have their place. An abbreviation for million is most often seen in financial documents and paperwork. Swap the word “million” for “mil” or “mm” to avoid redundant language but to still be specific in how large numbers you’re working with.

If you’re confused about the letter designations that stand for thousands and millions, you’re not alone. For that reason, in financial contexts it’s best to define up front the convention you are using—whether it’s M and MM and MMM or K and M and B (or G) or something else—to make sure your readers are on the same page. Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. A. You’ve identified two commonly used conventions in finance, one derived from Greek and the other from Latin, but neither one is standard. The problem with M is that depending on the audience it can mean either thousands or millions.