Standard format of any business letter

Letterhead: Most companies have a specific letterhead that you will need to type letters on. This may make it necessary to adjust the margins so that words are not printed onto the letterhead area.

Name and address: Always try to have the name of someone that the letter should go to, even if you have to call to find it out.

Date: This is the date that the letter was written. It should be written out, such as January 15, 2018.

Reference: This gives a short description of what the purpose of the letter is. For example, one might write "lost invoice" or "account number 23654" or something like that.

Salutation: If you do not know the person, use a more formal one, such as Dr. Brian Lowden.

Subject matter/body: Single-space and left justify for modified block and block style letters. Have one blank line between paragraphs. The first paragraph should have a friendly opening and state the purpose of the letter. The subsequent paragraphs should support the purpose you stated in the first paragraph.

Closing: This should be "thank you," "sincerely," or something similar.

Signature: This is the actual signature of the person the letter is from, which may be different from the person who wrote the letter.

Typist initials: These are the initials of the person who typed the letter. These are not the initials of the person who it is from. If they are both the same person. then this line is not necessary. Usually the first initials would be that of the writer, and the second initials are of the typist and are in lowercase. For example: JW/sc.

Enclosures: List here anything else you may be sending, such as a brochure, samples, etc.

Each of these areas has a proper place, depending on which type of letter you are creating. What goes in each area also may vary, depending on whom the letter is being sent to and who is writing it. There are three main styles of business letter: block, modified block, and semi-block styles. Each is written in much the same way, including the same information, but the layout varies slightly for each one.