Business Letter Format
A business letter in full block, modified block or semi-block layout: letterhead, date, inside address, subject, greeting, body, closing, enclosures and copies.
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September 25, 2026
Dear Sir or Madam:
[your letter — one paragraph per line: why you are writing, the details, and what you would like to happen]
What is a Business Letter?
A business letter is a formal letter from a person or organisation to another organisation or its staff, set out in a fixed order: letterhead or sender’s address, date, inside address, subject, salutation, body, closing, signature, enclosures and copies. The business letter format lets the reader see who is writing, to whom, about what and with what attached before reading the body. Leave out the date or the subject, and the letter is harder to file, answer or cite.
Businesses write them to suppliers, customers, banks and public offices — to confirm an order, dispute an invoice or set out terms agreed on a call. Individuals use the same layout to write to a company or a landlord, and job seekers use it for cover letters. A letter suits any matter that needs a signature, a date and a copy on file, such as a formal complaint, a notice or a confirmation of terms, whether it goes by post or as a PDF attached to an email.
Conventions split between the US and British-influenced usage. US letters put a colon after the greeting (‘Dear Ms. Whitfield:’), close with ‘Sincerely’, date the letter September 25, 2026, and print on US Letter paper. British, Indian and Australian letters use a comma or no punctuation after the greeting, often drop the full stop after Ms and Dr, write 25 September 2026 and print on A4. They also match the close to the greeting: ‘Yours sincerely’ after a name, ‘Yours faithfully’ after ‘Dear Sir or Madam’. Follow your reader’s convention or your organisation’s house style.
A correct layout makes a letter easier to read, not more binding. A letter giving notice under a contract has to meet the contract’s own notice clause — the address, the delivery method and the timing it names. Nor does a letter prove it arrived: for anything with a deadline, send it by a method that records delivery and keep a dated copy. And typing a company name at the top creates a letterhead, not authority; write on an organisation’s behalf only when you are authorised to.
What to put in a Business Letter
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Layout | Full block puts everything at the left margin — the most common layout in the US |
| Your company, for a letterhead optional | For example: Barton Supply Co. |
| Your address | For example: Unit 7, Barton Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Phone and email optional | For example: (614) 555-0199 · office@bartonsupply.example |
| Recipient | For example: Ms. Dana Whitfield |
| Their title optional | For example: Director of Operations |
| Their company optional | For example: Northgate Logistics |
| Their address | For example: 500 Commerce Parkway, Columbus, OH 43219 |
| Subject line optional | For example: Revised delivery schedule for order 2026-114 |
| Greeting optional | Leave blank to build it from the recipient’s name — “Dear Ms. Whitfield:” in a US letter |
| Your letter | One paragraph per line |
| Sign-off | “Sincerely” in the US; elsewhere “Yours sincerely” after a name, “Yours faithfully” after “Dear Sir or Madam” |
| Your name | For example: Jordan Miller |
| Your title optional | For example: Operations Manager |
| Enclosures optional | One per line |
| Copy to (cc) optional | For example: Maria Lopez, Accounts |
How to write a Business Letter
Pick the layout before you type
Full block puts every line at the left margin, with no indents and a blank line between paragraphs; nothing needs aligning, so it is the easiest to get right. Modified block starts the date, the closing and the signature — and your address, if there is no letterhead — at the centre of the page. Semi-block does the same and indents the first line of each paragraph. The page redraws as you switch.
Build the letterhead, contact line and date
Enter your company name and the top becomes a letterhead, with your address and contact line beneath it; leave it blank and the letter opens with your address alone. Give a phone number and email someone will answer. Then pick the date. The page writes the month as a word, which avoids the 9/10/2026 problem: a US reader sees September 10, most others 9 October.
Address the recipient exactly as they do
Enter the recipient’s name with the courtesy title they use, then their job title, company and address, spelled as they spell them. Leave the greeting blank and the page writes it from the name: ‘Dear Ms. Whitfield:’ in a US letter, with a comma elsewhere, or ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ if there is no name. Unsure how someone is addressed? Enter the name without a title, and the greeting uses the full name.
Write a subject and one idea per paragraph
The subject line names the matter and any reference: ‘Invoice 4471 charged twice in August’ can be routed and answered; ‘Query’ cannot. The page labels it ‘Re:’ in US letters and ‘Subject:’ elsewhere. Type the body one paragraph per line: why you are writing, then the facts — dates, amounts, reference numbers — then what you want to happen and by when. Cut until it fits on one page.
Close, sign and list what is attached
Pick the sign-off that fits the greeting: ‘Sincerely’ in a US letter; in British usage, ‘Yours sincerely’ after a name and ‘Yours faithfully’ after ‘Dear Sir or Madam’; ‘Best regards’ or ‘Kind regards’ for someone you already deal with; ‘Respectfully’ for a senior official. Add your name and job title, and sign in the space above them. Name each enclosure, and each person copied after cc.
Common mistakes
- Writing a date in the body as 9/10/2026 leaves a US reader expecting September and a British one October, which matters the moment the letter sets a deadline.
- Closing a letter that opens ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ with ‘Yours sincerely’ breaks the British pairing, and a reader who knows the rule notices before reaching your request.
- A subject line such as ‘Query’ or ‘Update’ gives the receiving office nothing to route or file the letter by, so it waits on a general desk.
- Leaving off your job title leaves the reader unsure whether you can agree to what the letter proposes, and they may write to someone else to check.
- Mentioning attachments in the body without naming them on the enclosure line means a missing page goes unnoticed until someone needs it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the format of a business letter?
In order: your letterhead or address, the date, the inside address (the recipient’s name, title, company and address), an optional subject line, the salutation, the body, the complimentary close, space for your signature above your typed name and title, then any enclosure and cc lines. The layout you pick — full block, modified block or semi-block — changes where lines start, not the order.
What is the difference between block and modified block format?
In full block format, every line starts at the left margin, paragraphs are not indented, and a blank line separates them. Modified block keeps the paragraphs flush left but starts the date, the closing and the signature at the centre of the page, along with the sender’s address if there is no letterhead. Semi-block is modified block with the first line of each paragraph indented.
How do you address a business letter without a name?
First try to find one: the organisation’s website or a call to its main number can give a name, or at least a job title. With a title, greet the role — ‘Dear Accounts Manager’. With nothing at all, use ‘Dear Sir or Madam’, and in British usage close with ‘Yours faithfully’. If you know the name but not how the person is addressed, use the full name: ‘Dear Jordan Lee’.
Do you use a colon or a comma after Dear in a business letter?
In a US business letter, a colon: ‘Dear Ms. Whitfield:’. In British, Indian and Australian letters, a comma — ‘Dear Ms Whitfield,’ — or, in open punctuation, nothing at all. In the US, the comma belongs to personal letters. Leave the greeting box blank and the page chooses the punctuation for you; type your own only for different wording, and punctuate it yourself.
What do Enclosures and cc mean at the end of a letter?
The enclosure line, below the signature, lists documents sent with the letter — a contract, an invoice, a schedule — so the reader can check nothing is missing. ‘cc’, from carbon copy, names the people who receive a copy, which tells the recipient who else knows about the matter. Name each document and each person: ‘Enclosures: 3’ leaves the reader guessing which three.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.