When it comes to academic and scientific writing, the preference for abbreviating “million” can vary based on the mm for million specific style guide or publication. Whether you’re working in corporate finance, investment banking, or financial analysis, using “M” as an abbreviation for “million” will help you communicate efficiently. In this context, “MM” serves as an abbreviation for “thousand thousands,” signifying a million. Although less common than “M,” “MM” is extensively used in certain industries, particularly in investment banking and specific regions such as Europe and parts of Asia. I saw a headline recently in The Daily Journal of Commerce that read the new downtown post office was to be built for $89M.
What Does “MM” Stand for in Dollars?
Led by editor-in-chief, Kimberly Online Accounting Zhang, our editorial staff works hard to make each piece of content is to the highest standards. Our rigorous editorial process includes editing for accuracy, recency, and clarity. In financial operations – where every zero in a number is crucial – abbreviating large figures helps reduce potential errors when handling complex calculations and transactions. 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. It saves space and simplifies large numbers, making them easier to understand. By following these guidelines, you can confidently navigate the world of “M” and “MM” and abbreviate millions like a pro.
Fine-Tuning Your Abbreviations
“MM” is an old-fashioned abbreviation, but it still sees some usage today. You might come across “mm” in scientific or engineering fields, where different values are required, and they can reach Payroll Taxes well into the millions as a unit. For example, in an investment report, you might see values like ‘$5MM’ to indicate five million dollars.
Should I use $mm or $m for millions?
The seven letters in Roman numerals are I, V, X, L, C, D, and M. These figures have values of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000. The use of abbreviation varies based on the country and its language. For instance, “$5MM” abbreviation to indicate “five million dollars” would be better accepted in the US than in the UK. Various civilizations use unique forms of abbreviations throughout history. Classical scholars used symbols for denoting quantities and measurements.
- The standard for million, is a capital ‘M’, unlike one thousand which is a small ‘k’.
- Now that we have Car Dealership Accounting an understanding of the common abbreviations, let’s explore the specific contexts in which “M” and “MM” are used.
- As a general rule, abbreviations are not used in academic or other official writing; the word should always be fully written out.
- From myrias we get the English word myriad meaning “an extremely large number or amount”.
- 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.
K comes from the Greek world “kilo” which means one thousand and is used in metric / decimal systems. 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.
- However, there are official abbreviations out there that you might come across, and it would help to know about them.
- The horizontal line indicated the numeral was to be multiplied by 1000.
- The abbreviation “M” is widely used and recognized, especially when referring to monetary amounts.
- As a young banker in the mid-80s, I learned what had been taught for many decades before, that we abbreviate thousands in our analysis with a letter M.
- Rather than use the barred M, however, accounting went with MM as an abbreviation for a million.