The complimentary close is the short phrase that appears between your final paragraph and your signature block. "Yours sincerely." "Regards." "Respectfully yours." Most writers treat it as an afterthought. It isn't. The complimentary close signals the formality level of your letter, mirrors the tone of your salutation, and leaves a final impression before the reader reaches your name. Getting it wrong is a quiet credibility problem, especially in formal correspondence.
Where the complimentary close sits in the letter
In a standard business letter, the complimentary close appears two lines below the last paragraph of the body. The signature block follows two to four lines below the close, leaving space for a handwritten signature if the letter is printed. In a proper business letter format, both the close and the signature block align with the date line: flush left in block format, indented to the centre in modified block format.
Do not bury the close or crowd it against the body text. White space around the close makes the letter easier to read and gives the page a professional finish.
Choosing the right phrase
The complimentary close you choose depends on three things: how formal the letter is, how well you know the recipient, and what your salutation said. These three factors should point in the same direction. A mismatch, an intimate close on a formal letter, reads as careless.
For highly formal letters, particularly legal, governmental, or official correspondence, use one of these:
- Yours faithfully (use this when your salutation is "Dear Sir," "Dear Madam," or "Dear Sir or Madam")
- Yours truly (common in North American formal correspondence)
- Respectfully yours (standard when writing to a senior official or dignitary)
For standard professional letters to known contacts, the tone relaxes slightly. "Yours sincerely" is the workhorse of business correspondence. Use it when you've named the recipient in the salutation: "Dear Ms. Okonkwo" pairs naturally with "Yours sincerely." "Kind regards" and "With regards" work well at this level too, though they read as slightly less formal than "sincerely."
For regular colleagues or long-standing clients, shorter closes are fine. "Regards," "Best regards," and "Best wishes" all signal a warmer, more established relationship without sliding into informality.
The sincerely/faithfully rule
British and Australian business writing follows a specific convention that many writers don't know: if you know the recipient's name and used it in the salutation, close with "Yours sincerely." If you don't know the name and opened with "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam," close with "Yours faithfully." This rule is firm in traditional British correspondence. Mixing them up, "Dear Ms. Patel" followed by "Yours faithfully," signals unfamiliarity with the conventions of formal letter-writing.
North American practice is less rigid on this point. "Yours truly" and "Sincerely yours" work in both named and unnamed contexts. Still, consistency between salutation and close is always the safer choice.
Punctuation and capitalisation
Only the first word of the complimentary close is capitalised. "Yours sincerely" is correct. "Yours Sincerely" is not. This trips up writers constantly because the phrase feels like a title. It isn't.
In American English, a comma follows the close: "Sincerely," then a line break, then the signature. British English increasingly drops the comma, especially in block-format letters. Either is acceptable as long as you're consistent throughout the document. If your letter uses open punctuation (no comma after the salutation), drop the comma after the close too. Match the system.
Closes to avoid in formal letters
Several phrases have drifted into business letters from email and casual correspondence. They don't belong in formal letters.
"Cheers" is fine in a casual internal email. In a formal business letter to a new client or a senior executive, it reads as flippant. "Thanks" as a close implies the reader owes you something before they've done anything. "Take care" is personal. "Warmly" works in some professional contexts but sits closer to personal correspondence than business correspondence.
"Yours faithfully yours" and other doubled constructions appear occasionally and are simply errors. Pick one form and use it cleanly.
Matching close to salutation: a quick reference
The table below covers the most common pairings. Treat it as a starting point, not a rigid script.
| Salutation | Appropriate close | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Dear Sir / Dear Madam | Yours faithfully | Formal (UK/AU) |
| Dear Ms. Okonkwo / Dear Dr. Li | Yours sincerely / Kind regards | Formal |
| Dear James / Dear Sarah | Regards / Best regards | Professional |
| To Whom It May Concern | Yours truly / Respectfully | Formal (NA) |
What comes after the close
After the close comes the signature block: your handwritten signature (if printing), then your typed name, then your title, then your organisation. Some letters include a direct phone number or email address in the signature block if it differs from the letterhead. The enclosure line, if you have one, goes below the signature block, not above it.
Keep the signature block tight. Three lines is usually enough: name, title, organisation. Anything more starts to look like an email signature, which has different conventions.
One small decision that shapes the whole letter
A complimentary close takes three words at most. But the right three words confirm that the writer understood the register of the correspondence. The wrong three words introduce a small note of carelessness that the reader might not be able to name but will feel. Choose based on the salutation, match the punctuation system you're using, capitalise only the first word, and place it cleanly two lines below the body text. That's the whole rule.
If you're still building out the letter itself, it's worth revisiting how to write a formal business letter salutation, since the close and the opening need to mirror each other in tone and formality level to give the letter a coherent shape.