abbreviations Mixing use of K for thousands and MM for millions English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Unfortunately, this practice can occasionally cause confusion within the financial industry as multiple numerical abbreviations are used interchangeably within society. The term “MM” originates from the Roman numeral M, which stands for one thousand. It is commonly used in financial documents, accounting, and stock market where space is a concern. The finance term MM, denoting ‘Million’, is important due to its wide usage in financial documents, reports, and communications to represent large quantities of money.

Streamlining Financial Documents

I have worked in equity markets for 20 years and poor abbreviations drive me crazy. Regretfully, until the USA goes metric there’s going to continue to be problem with this. It also saves space and enhances readability in financial reports, statements, or ledgers where space might be limited. Furthermore, using MM can make a large-scale monetary value easier to quickly grasp, both visually and conceptually, as it simplifies the financial quantities being discussed or presented. The term enables clarity and consistency, reducing the risk of misunderstandings due to different interpretations of number notation. In various aspects of finance such as budgeting, financial analysis, reporting, and forecasting, the use of MM aids in ensuring accuracy and precision.

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• Its significance also lies in its capability to provide clarity and prevent misunderstandings that could potentially occur if numbers were presented in their raw form.
• At Old Republic Surety we seek to deliver transparency and clarity in our communications.
• Frequently, in finance and accounting, an analyst will use k to denote thousands and a capitalized M to denote millions.
• 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.

At Old Republic Surety we seek to deliver transparency and clarity in our communications. 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. Despite some calls to modernize, MM persists because of its mm abbreviation money advantages for clarity, precision, and familiarity. After analyzing its history and modern use, I have a new appreciation for how deeply rooted MM is within finance culture, likely to endure for the foreseeable future. These examples underscore the need for abbreviations like MM to avoid ambiguity with large figures.

By Industry

The use of two m’s to denote millions is becoming less common. Frequently, in finance and accounting, an analyst will use k to denote thousands and a capitalized M to denote millions. Yes, MM is recognized globally in the world of finance and accounting to represent one million. However, it’s important to note that it may be less known in areas where the use of Roman numerals is not common and in non-English speaking countries who may use other abbreviations. Frequently, in finance and accounting settings now, an analyst will use k to denote thousands and a capitalized M to denote millions. This practice was across the board – exam reports, internal reporting, and so on.

Beyond Large Number Abbreviations

This guide will explore how the notation should be used, as well as alternative symbols that are used in practice. For example, in a document that 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. Territory includes Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Hawaii, Alaska, California, and Utah. Darrel has over 30 years of proven success and is skilled in developing relationships with internal and external stakeholders to drive superior business results. You can see it on ancient French and British ledgers from the 18th and 19th centuries where “M₤” represents £1000 and “MM₤” is £1million.

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Before “K” was adopted as the colloquial way of writing a thousand (i.e. $35k to mean $35,000), it was common to use “M” instead; “M” being the Roman Numeral for 1,000. As a result, “M” simply became shorthand for adding three zeros and thus “MM” became the shorthand for adding six zeros. 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.

If, say, you use it for both units and dollars in the same document, separate the different categories so your readers don’t get confused. Roman numerals are often used in accounting to help abbreviate and designate numbers. For example, the Roman numeral MM is frequently used to designate that the units used in presenting information (financial and non-financial) in millions. For example, an annual salary of $60,000 might appear as $60k instead of $60M. In this example, we intentionally chose a piece of analysis that contained various different units, such as dollars and shares. When an analyst must present various different types of units, it is recommended to add a “units” column so that each item contains a label for easy reference.

Because we have multiple options to choose from when selecting an abbreviation, it is important to use context to make the proper selection. To summarize, our modern numerical system is the same as the Hindu-Arabic numerical system. However, our abbreviations are a concoction of multiple cultural legacies ranging from Rome, Greece, India, China, and Arabia. If 1,000 multiplied by 1,000 equals 1,000,000, and 1,000 equals M, then we can use the abbreviations to create calculations. If you’re looking to avoid the word million altogether, you won’t have much luck.

• For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) hasworked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online.
• As a result, “M” simply became shorthand for adding three zeros and thus “MM” became the shorthand for adding six zeros.
• 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.
• It is commonly used in financial documents, contracts, and communication, especially those regarding large monetary amounts.
• The example below shows how figures can be portrayed in millions.

In this article, we will teach you how to abbreviate the word and how to use the abbreviation for “million.” Let’s first understand what million means. The barred M was necessary because the Romans didn’t use zero, and they didn’t like using more than three identical letters in a row. If you can’t go above three M’s in a row, you can’t get to 4,000, which would be MMMM. We don’t know for sure why the Romans used letters or why they chose the letters they did. One theory says the use of M was because Romans measured a mile as a thousand paces. Another theory is that it is a misprinting of the Greek letter phi.

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. Later on, the rise of typewriters and early digital spreadsheets continued this practice of using M and MM abbreviations. These technologies had character limits, so accountants and bankers adopted the shorthand to save space.