across the board

Meaning

Applying to all individuals, departments, or categories in a group without exception. This phrase originated in horse racing but is now widely used in business to describe sweeping changes, such as salary increases or budget cuts.

Examples

• The management decided to implement a five percent salary increase across the board.

  The management decided to implement a five percent salary increase across the board.

• We need to cut our department expenses by ten percent across the board.

  We need to cut our department expenses by ten percent across the board.

• The new security regulations will apply to all employees across the board.

  The new security regulations will apply to all employees across the board.

• We are seeing price increases across the board due to rising inflation.

  We are seeing price increases across the board due to rising inflation.

• The feedback from our clients was positive across the board.

  The feedback from our clients was positive across the board.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The policy applies across the boards.

  ✓ The policy applies across the board.

  The idiom is always singular ('board'), not plural ('boards').

• ✗ They made an across-the-board cut of the budget.

  ✓ They made an across-the-board cut to the budget.

  When using 'across-the-board' as an adjective before a noun, remember to use the correct preposition 'to' for the target of the cut, and hyphenate it as an adjective.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The CEO announced budget cuts ___ to deal with the financial crisis.

  💡 Applying to all departments equally.

  Show answer

  across the board

• We need to improve our customer service standards ___.

  💡 In every area of the company.

  Show answer

  across the board