$m or $mm when abbreviating Million

$m or $mm?

I prefer $m.

There is only one 'm' in millions.

While M = 1000 in Roman numerology and M^2 = MM, that's a weak-arse justification and an unnecessary letter.

The second m is redundant. Who the hell would confuse $m as referring to anything other than millions.

Can anyone justify $mm on any basis other than "it's a stupid industry custom"?

Educate me.

M vs MM for finance abbreviations

When it comes to abbreviating million in financial documents and presentations, it is a matter of preference. Each firm will have a different preference and you should abide by what your firm's rule is. If you are working on a project independently you should simply pick one format and stick with it as consistency is what matters.

Read More About Abbreviations on WSO

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44 Comments
 
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My previous company used $mm. Current one uses $m. Honestly I'm indifferent but inconsistency causes confusion. If I had to pick one, I would pick $m though. In oil and gas, m is used for thousands and mm is for millions.

Based on that O&G usage, I prefer $Mm.

Fortes fortuna adiuvat.
 

yeah but the "dash above" just means to multiply by 1000. So in roman numerals, M=1000, thus M*M  is equal to a million. Thats why you are supposed to use "MM" because it denotes 1000*1000 aka a million

Array
 

taking this even further, if you a quote a bond trader $5mmm they will take that as 5 billion (unless it's obvious you mistyped and meant 5mm)

Array
 

I go with $Mm and and $Bn because it's consistency. For me, two letters make the notation a bit clearer. That's really it.

 
"undefined"

I go with $Mm and and $Bn because it's consistency. For me, two letters make the notation a bit clearer. That's really it.

Out of interest, why not use 'Mn' and 'Bn'?

 

If it's just a number, then I use Mn or Bn. If it's for currencies and dollar amounts, I always indicate with a currency symbol to indicate one, I'm talking about money, and two, the currency I'm using.

 

I hate the mm bullshit. I'll spell million before writing that. Also I write with a red pen.

 
"undefined"

Fuck this MM bullshit, and fuck the guys who first started using MM, and fuck the guys who made MM into a thing in finance, and fuck the guys who still use MM now

TL;DR MM can go fuck itself

+1 SB. Would give more if I could.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

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