SME
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Small and medium-sized enterprise |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Business & Finance |
SME has two meanings. It stands for Small and medium-sized enterprise (management & strategy) or Subject-matter expert (management & strategy).
Meanings of SME at a glance
| # | SME stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Small and medium-sized enterprise | Business & Finance › Management & Strategy |
| 2 | Subject-matter expert | Business & Finance › Management & Strategy |
1. Small and medium-sized enterprise
Business & Finance · Management & Strategy Abbreviations
Business whose headcount, turnover or balance sheet falls below set thresholds, a classification governments and lenders use to target support, grants and lighter regulation. In the EU an SME has fewer than 250 employees and either turnover of up to €50 million or a balance sheet of up to €43 million.
Example: The new loan guarantee scheme is open to SMEs with fewer than 250 staff that have traded for at least two years.
Pronounced as letters. Definitions differ by country: the US typically says "small business" or SMB, with size standards set industry by industry by the Small Business Administration. SMEs make up about 99 percent of businesses in the EU. When a project team asks for "an SME," the subject-matter-expert meaning is intended instead.
2. Subject-matter expert
Business & Finance · Management & Strategy Abbreviations · also used in general use
Person with deep, authoritative knowledge of a particular process, system or field who advises a project or reviews its output, such as a payroll specialist consulted during a software rollout. SMEs supply requirements, validate content and answer detailed questions, often alongside their regular job.
Example: We need an SME from tax to review the invoice logic before the release goes to testing.
Usually pronounced as letters, though "smee" is heard in some offices. The role is common in project management, instructional design, IT implementation and exam writing. When the context is company size or lending, SME means small and medium-sized enterprise.
Related abbreviations
More management & strategy abbreviations
- SAM – Serviceable addressable market
- SBU – Strategic business unit
- SLA – Service-level agreement
- SLT – Senior leadership team
- SMART – Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound
- SMB – Small and midsize business
- SOM – Serviceable obtainable market
- SOP – Standard operating procedure
- SPC – Statistical process control
- SSC – Shared services center
- SWOT – Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
- TAM – Total addressable market